The first of the three-race Hillingdon Triathlon Series this summer took place on Sunday 27th May. There wasn’t too much ‘summer’ about the event though, as the race was run in the torrential downpours which hit most of the South East over the weekend.

As highlighted in last week's How to succeed at: article, the event is run over an unusual swim-run-bike format. However, at times the cycle route was starting to look like another swim section... Despite the weather, 80 athletes lined up for the event – some even entered on the day, despite the conditions!

First out of the water was former World U23 Duathlon Champion Karen Sindall, with Darren Treadaway (Arctic Shorter Rochford) right on her toes and looking comfortable. Hillingdon’s Steve Hyett was 3rd onto dry land – and well on his way to a great overall finish.

At the end of the 6km, part off-road run, little had changed; Darren now had a comfortable lead, Steve still held second for the men – but Karen decided not to go out onto the bike despite entering transition second overall. It wasn’t a great day for the ladies, with at least 3 puncturing – including Melissa Arkinstall for the 2nd straight Hillingdon Event, and Suzanne Hopper whose rear tyre lasted all of 10 yards…

Despite the rain, there was some speedy cycling going on – Jez Cox, winner of the accompanying Duathlon almost matched Triathlon winner Treadaway (maybe he should learn to swim too?!). While Darren was in a class of his own in the Triathlon, Steve Hyett completed a great all round performance by surprising himself and holding on for 2nd overall, with Justin Corcoran taking 3rd. Ladies winner was Julie Milroy, while the 2nd to 4th positions were taken by Vets Jackie Wastell, Ann Pendred and Rachel Stanhope.

The successful event was mirrored by each of the competitors receiving wiiings from Red Bull to keep them energised through out the race. Red Bull is an energy drink which stimulates the body and mind, used by athletes around the world. Athletes on the day were impressed with the activity as well as the energy received, and the scheme has now been introduced across triathlon events nationwide. ‘Energise my Club’ allows clubs to request their own set of wiiings.

John Levison, part of the organising team at Hillingdon commented “We are thrilled to welcome Red Bull to the first of our 3 Triathlon Series races for 2007, and grateful for their generous support for grass-roots triathlon. We feel it’s a great fit for us – our unique race format, challenging course, yet fun atmosphere is exactly aligned to the brand values of Red Bull, and we look forward to being able to provide even greater value for money to our athletes thanks to this initiative”.

Thanks also go to www.trigirl.co.uk for providing further goodies for spot prizes.

Races 2 and 3 in the series (10th June & July 15th) are filling fast. With Race 3 also forming part of the Triathlon London League, Hillingdon Triathletes are expecting to be full well in advance of race day, so please get you entries in soon to avoid disappointment. Full details on www.hillingdontriathletes.co.uk