A TRIATHLON which took place by a popular lake near Whitchurch has been hailed by its organisers after attracting hundreds of competitors.
The Ultimate Triathlon took place outside Alderford Lake in Tilstock Road, starting at 6.30am, with the challenge seeing athletes swimming, cycling and running, with all the entrants finishing over the course of 17 hours on Sunday.
People gathered by the lake and along roads to cheer on the competitors taking part.
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Race director, Keith Hancock was pleased with how the event went.
He said: "It was perfect and brilliant.
"Even the weather didn't dampen it with the storms.
"It is one of those races in our calender we really look forward to and I think it is the most rewarding one."
There were three different races going on throughout the day and in the first one the competitors swam 2.4 miles, then cycled 112 miles before running a 26.2 mile run.
Competitors were seen cycling down the busy main roads near Whitchurch, including the A41, A49 and A525.
Keith spoke about the tough nature of the race but also spoke about how it can be positive as well.
He said: "Everything in sport is hard even when you put the training in.
"It is incredibly rewarding when you cross that finishing line after doing something like that.
"Some of the people are in tears when they cross the finishing line.
"And jumping around and being happy is the nature of sport. It is tough."
Competitors turned up for the event from different parts of the country and the race director was pleased with the numbers taking part.
Keith said: "We do get a lot of local people.
"But we had people from Southampton and Scotland.
"It is pretty good, we had over 500 in total.
"Pre-Covid 19 we have had 700 in it. It is still great. Things are starting to get back to how they were, it does take a couple of years to get back to normal."
This is the 11th time the race has been held near Whitchurch and Keith spoke highly about Alderford Lake as a location.
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He said: "It is brilliant. We could not ask for anything better really.
"It has got a beautiful lake to swim in and a great area for an arena.
"Lots of competitors can camp here. "The facilities are second to none."
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