Will Munday, who’s been doing the washing up as punishment for coming 3rd in a recent race that his wife won, says he’s delighted to have won the bragging rights this time. A strong field of elites took to the course, revelling in the innovative Australian exit style swim, with the podium welcoming Castle Triathlon Series elite favourites.

Ecstatic on the finish line, Hannah Munday commented: “It’s my first Castle Triathlon event and hope to do more in the summer. The marshals and support on the course was fantastic. I am really happy to come second, Catherine James is a great athlete and there are loads of really great girls on the course today. I’m pleased to make the podium and look forward to my next race with the Castle Triathlon Series.”

A race and festival for all

The ultimate triathlon, run and swim festival saw thousands of athletes bask in glory and bathed in sunshine as they raced around the Cholmondeley Castle estate and Cheshire countryside this weekend, the second leg of the 2018 Castle Triathlon Series celebrating its 9th year.

The eclectic sporting event at Cholmondeley Castle, from the Castle Triathlon Series, presented 10 different triathlon race distances including the innovative Mixed Team Relay, TENW (Triathlon England North West) junior drafting qualifier races, and also hosted off-road runs (half marathon and 10k) and stunning swim only events (1 mile, 2.5k and 5k) as part of the new Castle Run and Castle Swim Series.

There were many winners with lots of hot and fast racing over the weekend reported from each distance:

The Gauntlet:
British Cycling Champion, Kevin Dawson, took the Gauntlet with a time of 04:30:55 winning prize money and the Wheelscience Performance race wheels for the fastest bike split. Emma Deary came in 6th place and first for the female race with an impressive time of 04:50:29. See here the full podium details. 160 competitors took on the half iron distance which takes in three castles, an Australian swim exit, three lap bike course through the event village lined by spectator cheers and finally finishing with a run down the castle lawn to the finishing line.

Emma Deary and Kevin Dawson

Sprint Races:
There were three sprint race distances on offer from the starters dipping their toe in the lake for their first time at triathlon, to Super speedy Super-Sprints and Sprint-Plus’s. There were so many amazing performances and achievements, PB’s and first time performances!

Mixed Team Relay: New Olympic Triathlon format
Following the successful first Mixed Team Relay event at Cholmondeley Castle Triathlon last year, this weekend played host to the TENW Senior Mixed Team Relay Club Championships, with ‘Ollie’s Olympians’ a team from the North West Academy, taking the gold medal. See full results here.

Junior Triathlon
Hundreds of children and juniors aged between 8-15 years enjoyed the afternoons racing inside the castle estate with wonderful nurturing support from the crowds and parents! Many sprinted through the finishing line beaming as they claimed their winning medal and signing up for the next year!

Paul Ekgren from TENW enthused: “The marshals were excellent and we’ve had many comments about how good they were and every one had a great weekend with fantastic weather.”

Castle Run Series:
The inaugural 10k and half marathon saw hundreds of runners enjoy the off-road run course which has been enjoyed by triathletes for the last nine years. Course records were set with the winning 10k being taken by Race Director’s, Brian Adcock, cousin, Matt Adcock with a time of 00:34:04.

Castle Swim Series
Competitors to the new swims (1 mile / 2.5km and 5km) included para-triathlete, Lizzy Tench, who placed fifth in the recent Commonwealth Games. Lizzie made her international debut in Madrid in September 2014 where she won a silver medal.

See the link to the full race results and breakdown here.

Hundreds camped by the castle lake, bands played and the Rock Choir of 60 strong singers motivated competitors on course and entertained spectators in the event village supporting Macmillan Cancer resulting in a true sports festival. The event village even offered free entertainment for children and yoga every hour!

Sign up now to Cholmondeley Castle Triathlon, Swim or Run on 22nd and 23rd June 2019 with a 30% discount for a limited period of time (ends Friday 29th June 2018).