Basstlaw Triathlon Club’s Mark Bringloe made a great start to the new season as he conquered the Chester Deva Middle Distance event.

On the first weekend of June the weather provided a great day for the race, organised by the Chester Triathlon Club, which attracts a large entry of around 750 competitors.

The swim route starts from the Groves in Chester town centre and initially goes upstream in the River Dee for 1000m before a turn round and back to the town centre for transition.

Being a wide river there was plenty of room for a rolling start for all the competitors.

Mark Bringloe at the Chester Deva competition.

placeholder image — Mark Bringloe at the Chester Deva competition.

The 87km bike route, consisting of two undulating loops, took the competitors south from Chester over the Welsh border on towards Wrexham before returning to Grosvenor Park in Chester town to start the third and final element of the event.

The run, made up of five laps, followed the Dee but with a sting in the tail as it rose back to the park for the finish.

In his first race of the season, Bringloe came home in a time of five hours and 37 minutes.

He said: “The Chester middle distance started with a tough, cold swim up river, followed with a run up to the park for transition one.

"Then it was out on an undulating bike course back to transition two before going out on a hot, well-spectated run across and along the River Dee, finishing with a tough short climb to finish in the park.

"It was an excellent race that I would recommend to anyone - it was good fun.”

Anyone interested in learning more about triathlons or how to get started should visit the club’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/BassetlawTriClub.