On Sunday 20 May, around 1400 athletes came to Dorney Lake for the second day of racing at the Eton Sprints Weekend with close to 700 of those fighting for the place in the ITU World Championships in either the Gold Coast (Australia) in 2018 or Lausanne (Switzerland) in 2019. The crisp morning air was showing no signs of wind and without a cloud in the sky, the stage was set for some perfect racing conditions.

As the temperature swiftly headed towards the 20s, the event village started filling up with nervous triathletes and their loyal supporters. Our official mechanics from VONCRANK were on hand to provide last minute bike checks, while Zone3 were there offering wetsuit hire and purchase for those who were looking for an edge over their opponents in the wetsuit optional swim. Our new nutrition sponsor – Optimum Nutrition – had provided all participants with an energy gel and energy drinks on the course and were busy mixing their post-race protein shakes.

The ITU Qualifying waves made up the first half of the race schedule and the first wave to test their skills was the U35 female category at 8:40am. The third year of being a draft legal course made for a thrilling spectacle and only added to the excitement of the day. The speed and sound of the group of cyclists as they hurtled around the bike course was a joy to behold and set the tone for some very quick bike leg times. The first finisher of the day and the winner of this wave was Olivia Matthews in 1:06:20 followed by Michelle Willcocks in 1:06:53 and Ida Burrows in 1:07:37 in third. Best of luck to them for the World Championships!

As the event went on and the sun continued to shine, it was lucky that the finish line was being manned by the ERDINGER Alkoholfrei team and their never ending supply of refreshing, isotonic recovery drink. The waves then set off thick and fast with the next wave, women’s 35-49, won by Michelle Dillon in 1:08:54 followed by the women’s 50+ won by Maria Powell in a time of 1:10:30.

The men’s waves kicked off shortly after the women and continued to impress with some very quick times, the fastest of the day set by James Hodgson in a time off 1:00:19 followed closely by Jack Hutchens in 1:00:35. With the draft legal qualification racing now complete it was time to turn our attention to the non-drafting sprint distance races. There was a noticeable change in atmosphere as the participants were now a greater mix of experienced and beginner triathletes. Nevertheless we were really impressed with the quality of the racing and some of the winning times, in particular Pawel Traczyk, who retained his title with a time of 1:02:59, and Katie Allan who achieved 1:17:07, the two fastest non-drafting sprinters.

To round things off we had the famous SuperSprint races. Taking the crown in the men’s event was last years winner Angus Whitfield with a time of 1:01:50 and the women’s was Fiona Slevin-Brown in 1:14.30.

Post event there were plenty of options to entertain both triathletes and their supporters. After taking in some much deserved recovery nutrition from Optimum Nutrition and ERDINGER Alkoholfrei there were burger vans, Oatopia and an ice-cream van to satisfy everyone’s needs. Furthermore Worryless Design and Scimitar sports were providing event day memorabilia. Despite the heat of the day we were really impressed with the amount of finishers and PBs!

The day of racing was full of action, personal bests and achievements, which we can’t do justice to in this small summary. You can see all the results on the Human Race website here, view our Facebook photos here or the official event photos from AWOL Adventure here.

The next triathlon for Human Race is our flagship Royal Windsor Triathlon, the most decorated triathlon in UK history. There are still a few weeks left to enter – find out more on the event page.