Club Members Smash Their Previous Times at Holly Hill
It was a weekend of fast legs, quick transitions, and personal triumphs at the Holly Hill Sprint & Super Sprint Triathlon, another brilliantly run event by Challenging Events, held on Sunday 20th July. Several of our club members took part in the event, and new club Chairman Mark achieved something extra special, beating his time from last year by 7 minutes.
The sprint-distance course (400m pool swim, 28km bike, 6km run) is no easy feat, but a perfect beginners-level and a great test of speed and endurance. The course was the same as last season, making it a perfect benchmark for progress. Despite some windy conditions on the bike leg and torential downpours on the run, our athletes powered through with impressive results.
The finish line buzzed with smiles, high-fives, and well-earned medals. It’s always motivating to see hard work in training translate to real improvement on race day.
As the season continues, it’s clear that our athletes are leveling up! Congrats Mark, Lisa and Helen.
Did you know that many events organisations, including Challenging Events, offer a free race pass in exchange for giving up a few hours to marshal at these events? Triathlons are notoriously expensive - for good reason, as there is a lot of planning and safety elements around road closures, open water swims, and using private land - but this is a great way of side stepping the expense as well as gaining experience of the event, soaking up the atmosphere, and cheering on other triathletes!
Club Members Conquer the Swashbuckler Triathlon
Date: 6th July 2025
Location: Bucklers Hard, New Forest
Race Report - Race to the Bill - Sunday 19th June
Race Report for Race to The Bill - Warning..... The rumours are correct, it's hilly!
3am alarm set to travel to the Isle of Portland, a limestone tied island, just 1.7 x 4miles, which lies just south of Weymouth on the jurassic coast.
Virtual ride from Lands End to John O’Groats!
So, I decided to sign up for a virtual ride from Lands End to John O’Groats! I was a bit nervous as I was only a week post diagnosis of Covid-19!
It was a brilliant challenge, completing around 28 miles a day for 7 days alongside working full time and trying to catch up with my MSC! It was such good fun, working alongside a group of people, some of whom I have never met!
I tried to do most of my miles in the mornings, getting up at 6am and doing 20+miles before work! I really want to do this ride for real but it has just shown me how challenging it will be!
Paula.
Race Report - Windsor Triathlon - 12th June - From Andy
Windsor Triathlon (Windsor) 12 June 2016. Sprint (750m swim/30km bike/5km run) and Olympic (1500m swim/40km bike/10km run)
Only previous triathlon was Winchester sprint, which has a pool swim, so wanted to do a sprint distance with a reasonably straight forward open water swim to gain a bit of confidence. It's also won numerous awards (7 time BTF event of the year) and gets very good reviews.