Forfar triathlon is back in its stride after a successful post-pandemic return.
The town’s community campus was the base for Sunday’s event, which drew a capacity entry.
And organisers Tri Angus were delighted with the number of newcomers.
The event started in 2018 and was an instant hit.
It was staged for a second time in 2019, before Covid halted it in its tracks.
Maggie Lawrie of Tri Angus said it was great to be back.
“We also organise an event in Montrose so I was a bit nervous about opening the entries for both after the pandemic,” she said.
“It was the seventh Montrose event and it sold out on the day we opened for entries in January.
“Forfar was the same, the places were all quickly snapped up and we had about 95 on the waiting list.
“People come from all over Scotland to take part and in the past we’ve had entries from as far away as Alaska.”
The event featured two races – a novice event for newcomers to the sport and sprint event for more experienced participants.
Forfar community campus was the base for the event, with both races starting in the pool there. Novices took on 400 metres – 16 lengths – with the sprint competitors tackling 750m.
The bike stage involved a 10.74km ride for novices and double the distance in the sprint category.
And both competitions finished with a 5km run from the campus to Forfar Loch and back.
‘Shows what Angus has to offer’
Maggie added: “It is great to see so many doing their first triathlon and we think this is a really good way of introducing them to it.
“The other big thing is that it brings people to Angus and really shows off what we have got to offer here.
“In previous years we’ve had at least 15 local authorities represented in terms of where the entries come from so it’s great that they are enjoying the course and seeing the best of Angus.”
The results
Forres Harriers junior Bruce Evans took the tape in the sprint event in a time of one hour three minutes and 35 seconds.
He heads Robert Harrison of Monifieth Triathlon Club (1:04:44) and unattached Stephen Clark (1:07:08).
In the women’s sprint, Monifieth Triathlon Club’s Michelle Bruce won in 1:16:04, ahead of East Fife’s Abigail Mason (1:17:35) and Fleet Feet Triathletes’ Lindsey Young (1:20:07).
The novice victory went the way of Sam Beattie from Pentland Triathletes in 46 minutes 20 seconds. Runner-up was Andrew Grant (49:41) and first placed female Alice Stewart (54:30).
The third place male was Mike Forbes (55:30), while Kate Garden (57:24) and Ava Macleod (57:33) completed the women’s podium.
Tayside Mountain Rescue is set to receive a boost from the success of the day as the event’s official charity partner.
More images from the day:
