Triathlon club delivers another successful sprint event.

As with all these events there had a great deal of time and preparation put in by event director Darren rains and a team of volunteers from the club. With support from several local businesses as well as the Worksop Charter trustees the event once again proved to be popular with triathletes from across the region.

Known from past events to be a friendly, well supported and marshalled event the entrant numbers were once again high. The weather was kind as the 150 plus competitors descended on the BPL Leisure centre for a race briefing making sure everyone was fully conversant with the finer details for the day.

Starting in waves every two minutes the pool was full of all ages, genders and abilities making the best times they could for the 16 lengths, 400 meter pool swim.

Transitioning out to the transition area the competitors were off on the bike section which made its way out past the Cannon crossroads through Carlton and Langold before swinging round through Letwell and back to Carlton for the return back into Worksop with a cheeky climb in the last couple of kilometres of the 23 km course.

Competitors then had a two lap 5 km run around the minor roads close to the leisure centre where there was great support, not just from family and friends but Worksop residents who have taken the event to heart. The run finishing with a sweet downhill to ensure everyone crossed the line with a joyous and proud smile on their face.

Every finisher received a T- shirt, finishers medal and Yorkshire Flapjack.

Overall winner as well as age category for the 50 to 59 age range was Ady Dench from Team Sheffield finishing in a time of 1 hour and 6 minutes, two minutes slower than his time last year when he also won! First female was Lucy Brown from the Doncaster triathlon club returning a time of 1 hour 15 minutes, which was also the time she returned last year when she won the female race last year.

The team relay was won by a team of three, Andy Bishop, Ady Hopkinson and Duncan McLaren. Finishing the event Andy commented “Back in 2014 my team consisting of Tim Doughty, myself & Mat Dobson set a new team relay course record & I managed to set the record on the Bike section.

My team for 2024 Adrian Hopkinson, myself and Duncan McLaren and we broke the team Course Record again and I was so pleased to further achieve a New Bike Course Record. Big thanks to my team mates for putting in such great efforts also to Bassetlaw Triathlon Club and all the people involved to make this happen. Such a great event for all abilities and if you’re considering giving it a try, get entered for 2025”.

Comments from other competitors included, Kris Ho from Merseyside: “Thank you Bassetlaw triathlon Club and to all the volunteers! And special thanks to the little lad with the mushroom “power up” sign.

It was another great event” and Scott Harriman said: “Thanks Bassetlaw Triathlon Club really enjoyed the event, well organised, very friendly, with clear instructions, took a lot of guess work away. Will be back next year."

Event director, Darren Raines, himself a seasoned triathlete, said after the event: “Firstly I want to pass on my gratitude to all of our club members and family members and friends who gave up their time in the build and on the day. We literally wouldn't have pulled it off without every single one of you and I truly mean it when I say thank you! .

"I personally received countless positive reviews regarding our volunteers and marshals throughout the weekend and the general vibes of event weekend were just unbelievably positive.

British Triathlon have been in touch to congratulate the club on the event being a resounding success and the British Triathlon CTO in attendance on the day scored us overall "excellent" in his race report.

With the sponsorship and healthy entry numbers we we're not only able to provide athletes with numerous goodies and benefits, we also managed to provide strong incentives to volunteers as well as provide financial stability to the club enabling us to invest in our members and equipment.

A huge thank you has to go out to the Events Team for pulling the event together: Stuart Turner & Andy Jones and a special thank you to Kat Wisniewski for months of hard work in coordinating volunteers and general support of the event.

I speak on behalf of the whole committee by saying thank you and bring on another strong year for BTC!!

Anyone who feels inspired by the event may want to put a date in the diary for next years event, which is currently set for Sunday, August 17, 2025.