The largest Triathlon on record came to Guildford's Surrey Sports Park last week. A resounding success of fun and fitness, Hollie Light was there to give us all the details of an historic day
Sporting history was made over the Bank Holiday weekend, as over 450 competitors arrived to compete in what is now Guildford’s largest triathlon event on record. The inaugural event, affiliated with Triathlon England, took place over the Bank Holiday weekend at the state-of-the-art Surrey Sports Park.
Despite growing interest in the sport throughout the county, triathlon had not been readily available to Guildford residents; and so this early season race saw many first timers taking part amongst experienced triathletes who were grateful to race on home turf. Many of the competitors have expressed that they will now continue with the sport over the summer.
The event featured a 500m pool swim, a 22km road bike along quiet roads and 5.5km trail run across scenic farmland. Participants could enter solo or as part of a team. Aquathlon events (swim, run) were available for children, with the youngest competitor aged just 7. The distances of these events varied based on age categories.
First across the triathlon finish line was local athlete Tom Robertson (Phoenix Tri) in a cracking time of 01:04, followed by Bernie Spannagl and Dan Coomber. Tara Oxley was first in for the ladies in 01:19, followed by Dianne Ferguson around 3 minutes later, and Emily King in 3rd. They all received vouchers to honour their triumphs, generously donated by the sportswear company Salming.
There were fantastic displays of camaraderie and teamwork among the relay teams made up from neighbours, colleagues, family and friends. All members of each team worked together to complete the total race distance between them. The relay event served as both a great confidence booster and an accessible way for less experienced and nervous athletes to get involved.
Dolphin Kick awarded prizes to 1st, 2nd and 3rd places for all 3 Aquathlon categories: Imogen Lemon (Epsom SC), Jack Rickman, Micheal Gar, Ava Winter (PNSC Trifit), Adam Duke (Hart SC), and Jadie Munro (Croydon Amphibians) all being worthy winners of their respective categories.
Karen Burd, who started running with AAT events a number of years ago, was one of the many first timers who tried her hand – and legs! – at triathlon this weekend. Karen may have been “terrified of the swim”, but she completed the triathlon in 2hrs 30 minutes and raised over £400 for Cancer Research, a truly awesome achievement. AAT events salute those brave enough to rock a tri-suit and condense three different sports into one all before midday on a Sunday morning! Karen is now recognised as an ‘AAT legend’: a campaign started by the events company to recognise sporting achievements of local athletes.
There were plenty of goodies awaiting the tired athletes at the finish line. More than 450 Guildford Triathlon medals glinted in the sun, bright as the smiles of those who wore them. After receiving their medal, participants were given Bounce Energy Balls: an increasingly trendy and popular gluten free protein snack. They then went on to take advantage of the free sports massage and stretch zone provided by Optimum Physio and Bevan Wilson Physio.
Making a swift recovery from this fantastic event will be some of the Team KC triathletes, who will be back racing with AAT again this weekend in the Surrey Hills for The Hurt trail run this Saturday, June 4. Next up in the event calendar see’s the midweek Hard As Snails run as well as the County’s friendliest road cycling event: the Surrey Sportive on August 14.
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