Tri247 editor John Levison was on hand at yesterday's Rugby Sprint Triathlon, and is pleased to report that in line with last year's reviews, the event continues to go from strength-to-strength.

Yesterday saw the third running of the Rugby Sprint Triathlon, which is based at Bilton Grange School, Dunchurch, and organised by Rugby Triathlon Club.

We (Colette and I), first attended the event in 2006, primarily because it's just 10 minutes away from my parents, and hence is great for a cheap weekend and keeping in the good books with Mum and Dad. I didn't get to race that year due to illness, but could tell from the organisation, atmosphere and Colette's feedback that it was a fun event. We both returned to race in 2007, and after this year, expect we'll be back again in 2009 and beyond.

Once again, Rugby Tri Club delivered a great event. For the first time, the event was over-subscribed and entries closed well in advance of race day. New for this year was the addition of chip timing operated by the StuWeb (www.stuweb.co.uk) crew, and very efficient it was too. I'm also pleased that I managed not to break the system by running out of transition without my number belt, and having to return back over the timing mats to get it...how long have I been doing this? Muppet!

The swim takes place in a five lane, 25 metre pool within the school, with athletes set off in waves (one per lane), at two-minute intervals. The lanes are relatively narrow, so we were briefed to only overtake at the end of the lane to avoid crashes, and this seemed to work fine.

The cycle leg is a one-lap, 20km route which has a good mix of flat/fast sections, plus a not ultra-steep, but challenging and rolling climb in the middle. Despite not starting until after 9am, the roads were pretty quiet, save for one near miss (which was my fault anyway...).

The run course, at first glance, could be termed 'two laps around the school playing fields', but that doesn't do it justice! Aside from the last 200m, all of the run route is on grass and winds it's way around the grounds of Bilton Grange School - which isn't your average inner-city Comprehensive! It's flat, but very enjoyable, scenic and not at all boring - it's actually one of my favourite courses. The laps pass right by the finish line / transition area too, so there is plenty for spectators to see and the enthusiastic commentator to talk about too.

A great, practical goody bag (t-shirt, bottle, gel, energy drink), drinks and banana's at the finish line, swift results and presentation, free (and close) parking, refreshments available. What else do you want?!

Well done to all the members of Rugby Tri for putting on an extremely efficient, but fun event, which would appeal to the whole spectrum from novice to hard-core elite (of which both kinds were present).

The event was won by local athlete, and recent Double Ironman winner Hywel Davies (who had spent most of the morning marshalling), in 54:13, and Rownna Neunhoffer in 1:03:01. Colette improved on her previous times here to finish second lady overall and first vet in 1:04:35, while first male vet was John Stather in a swift 56 minutes exactly.

Full results are avilable here.