Around 150 athletes took part in Bradley Stoke’s first triathlon on Sunday 30th August.
Organised by Active Centres, in partnership with South Gloucestershire Council and Triathlon England, the beginner-friendly event consisted of a 400 metre pool swim at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, an 18km cycle and a 5km run. The cycling stage was held along Bradley Stoke Way, which was closed to traffic from 7am to around 11.30am, while the run was mostly along paths in the Three Brooks Nature Reserve.
The sell-out event was the idea of international triathlete Akhil Viz, who has been living and training in Bradley Stoke since October 2011. It was organised on a purely voluntary basis and any profits made will be reinvested into future events and other sport development projects within the local community.
Speaking after the event, Akhil said:
“The event ran very smoothly with no major incidents. I believe this was due to the fact that everything was planned out meticulously and that the team of volunteers were comprehensively briefed to their roles and responsibilities. The majority of the credit for the successful execution of the event must go to the volunteers who arrived in the early hours of Sunday morning and saw the event through until midday.”
Feedback from participants was generally positive, with many asking if the event would be repeated next year.
Bradley Stoke competitor Simon Ward, victorious in the Male Veteran category, commented:
“I thought the event was well organised, plenty of friendly and helpful marshals and an excellent location. The course was reasonably challenging, great for supporters to see competitors more than once and plenty of space on the bike course and a lovely off-road run.”
“I was reasonably pleased with my performance, having only arrived in the UK from USA the day before, and didn’t really do any training over there. My swim, bike and run were all slower than normal, but considering I wasn’t quite up to fitness I was very happy with winning my age group.”
“I hope this will be an annual event from now on, I’m sure even more people will want to take part next year, I know I’ll be there!”
Fiona West, Sales and Marketing Manager at Circadian Trust, said:
“Our first triathlon was a great success and we are really proud of everyone that took part. We’d like to take this as an opportunity to thank the local community for their support and we hope that this event will become an annual occasion following the feedback we have received.”
Prize winners
Male Open category
1. Martin Reed 00:55:48
2. Matthew Fratesi 00:57:24
3. Gary Stretton 00:57:57
Female Open category
1. Nikki Smith 01:06:02
2. Anna Britton 01:08:57
3. Sue Cooper 01:09:28
Male Veteran category
1. Simon Ward 01:00:40
2. Neil Kerfoot 01:00:57
3. Andy Hayes 01:03:51
Female Veteran category
1. Michelle Kerfoot 01:05:28
2. Stephanie Curtis 01:13:53
3. Helen Cooper 01:18:21
Full results: K2 Sports UK [PDF]; By category (OneDrive)
Photo: (1) Prize presentation to Male Veteran category winner Simon Ward (third from left), with (from left) international triathlete & race director Akhil Viz, sponsor representative Rob Gregory and GB para-triathlete David Hill; (2) Prize presentation to Female Open category winner Nikki Smith (third from left); (3) Cyclists on Bradley Stoke Way.
This is an extended version of an article that originally appeared in the September 2015 edition of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine, delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
