Search
shop

255 Triathlon debuts in great style at Goodwood

Rain, wind, smiles and plenty of emotions were all part of a fantastic debut edition of the 255 Triathlon at Goodwood on Sunday.
Chief Correspondent
Last updated -
Get the ultimate guide to destination racing

There’s one constant in triathlon – whatever the distance, terrain or challenge, there will always be something longer, hillier or tougher on offer sooner or later – enter 255 Triathlon.

Sunday’s event fitted into the category of ‘when an iron-distance race isn’t quite enough’, with its 5km swim, 200km and 50km run offerings.

The official line is ‘The World’s Longest Single-Day Triathlon‘ – which I can neither confirm or deny – but bottom line, throw in some significant wind and rain, and it will have provided plenty of challenges to its debut entrants, irrespective of marketing tag-lines.

Advertisement

255 Triathlon course – lots of laps

The event was primarily based at Goodwood Motor Racing circuit in West Sussex, with the swim taking place nearby at Chichester Watersports, Westhampnett Lake.

Four x 1.25km laps of swimming (with an Australian exit), followed by 52 (!) traffic-free laps of the circuit on the bike, and then ten x 5km run laps around the perimeter of the circuit.

255 Triathlon

Dean Kirkham calls on Kona experience

Men’s winner Dean Kirkham is an experienced iron-distance athlete, and raced the 255 because “I just wanted to test myself”. While the distance was new, he still had goals. Having done his first IRONMAN 10 years ago under 11 hours, he wanted to see if a decade later – over a longer distance – he could still break 11 hours. He did just that, winning in 10:55:39.

He was also happy to be make in a mass start racing environment, enjoying the closed roads of the racing circuit – and also the total lack of pot holes, which are part of his regular rides!

255 Triathlon - Dean Kirkham
Dean Kirkham finished inside his 11 hours target

Gill Fullen’s fairwell

If you’ve read the pages of this website for any length of time, you’ll surely have seen the name of Gill Fullen appear. If you need a catch-up, then this interview and this summary will help. We’ve got more coming soon too..

Gill, as far as I’m aware, has not raced in a triathlon since she completed her incredible Age-Group C.V. with a 27-minute margin of victory at the 2019 IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii. She’d won everything… and along comes something else, so, may as well have a stab at that too.

She may be turning 57 this year… but that’s never stopped her before, and she was the fastest female by well over an hour. A fine ‘goodbye’ to the British triathlon scene, as the Bedford Harrier will be departing to live in New Zealand within the next two weeks.

Gill Fullen 255 Triathlon
Gill with her support crew

I spoke to Gill about her 255 Triathlon experience:

“The lake was lovely, course well marked and the water nice. I really enjoyed the Australian exit each lap, as it gave you a chance to regroup. I managed to find some lovely feet too, and was making great progress… until the zip on my wetsuit failed, and soon filled with water! I had to stop and try and fix that without much success, but got through the swim ok in the end.

“The bike at times was ridiculously windy. From a tailwind on a straight, into a headwind via a bend needed some good bike handling to stay upright at times.

“I was surprised that I didn’t get bored with all the laps. It was almost a ‘like Zwift in real life’ type scenario, as you got used to seeing the same people and passing, or being passed by, familiar figures as the laps went on. One of those was Dean, the men’s winner, he really looked superb and was truly racing this distance.

“You also had the whole width of the track, and so there was no need to draft, something I thought might be an issue, but it really wasn’t. The circuit is also flatter than I expected with a great surface – there really is the potential, with the right conditions, for this to be a really fast bike course.

“After the first run lap, my legs felt surprisingly good. The 5km run laps, mentally, were really nice.

“The course layout, with the pit lane, also meant that you could tailor your own fuelling, without having to take everything on-course with you, or use a special needs bag etc.

“There were also lots of relay teams, and with the multiple laps and flexibility to race in the format you choose, lots of clubs and teams having a great time.”

255 Triathlon - Gill Fullen
Gill Fullen with long-time coach, Perry Agass

Claire Danson’s Delight

If the Olympics didn’t provide enough tears, there were certainly plenty around courtesy of the efforts of Claire Danson. As we highlighted a few weeks back, Claire was taking on the 255 Triathlon less than two years after a collision while cycling left her paralysed.

Claire was a regular feature on the pages of TRI247 via her regular medal-winning performances in the British AG team in European and World Championship competition, and I got to see Claire’s return to triathlon a few weeks back when racing at the British Paratriathlon Championships at Dorney Lake.

That jump from sprint to more than iron-distance… some feat. Claire was supported by the surgeon who operated on her back in 2019, and for the last couple of laps was accompanied by Olympic gold medal-winning sister, Alex, who was part of the Rio 2016 victorious GB Hockey team.

You can still sponsor Claire, who was raising funds for Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation HERE.

Relays – lots of them

The distances may be some, well, distance away from what the British gold medal winning team achieved in Tokyo, but one thing the 255 Triathlon did very well was attract a significant number of relay teams. With flexibility on the format (how many in a team, how much of each leg you race, how you order allocated distance etc), that proved very popular with lots of clubs racing, of all standards, benefitting from a central location from which to cheer on their team mates and swap laps etc.

When you are adding a new full distance race – a massive undertaking, and a risky one – then attracting more athletes through this route is a hugely positive one.

255 Triathlon Results

MEN – Individual

  • Dean Kirkham (Real Fitness Race Team) – 10:55:39
  • Nathan Newton (Tavistock Triathlon Club) – 12:03:07
  • William Galvin (Chichester Westgate Triathlon Club) – 12:25:43

WOMEN – Individual

  • Gill Fullen (Bedford Harriers) – 12:34:23
  • Alice Rogers – 13:51:33
  • Debby Saunders (Port Talbot Harriers) – 14:16:36
255 Triathlon - Gill Fullen

HANDBIKE / WHEELCHAIR

  • Claire Danson (Precision Race Team) – 14:08:31
255 Triathlon - Claire Danson

RELAY TEAM WINNERS (Provisional)

  • Team of 2 – BAD – Bristol and District – 11:35:30
  • Team of 3 – Team Cooper – 10:42:52
  • Team of 4 – Tri Surrey – 9:20:39

John Levison
Written by
John Levison
TRI247's Chief Correspondent, John has been involved in triathlon for well over 30 years, 15 of those writing on these pages, whilst he can also be found commentating for events across the UK.
Discover more
TRI247 podcast p/b Challenge Family episode 2
Go behind the scenes at Challenge Roth with the latest episode of the TRI247 podcast
Cadomotus Chronos triathlon cycling shoes
The triathlon cycling shoe that promises a 10-watt saving: Cadomotus Chronos Aero triathlon cycling shoes review
Challenge Family Roth
Five things you need to know about the Challenge Roth bike course
Challenge St. Pölten 2024 - image credit Jose Luis Hourcade / Challenge Family
Expert swim coach on the three most common swim mistakes age group triathletes make (and how to fix them!)
TRI-FIT VANGUARD tri suit review
The entry-level tri suit with a serious amount of performance for the price point – TRI-FIT VANGUARD review
latest News
ironman hamburg 2025 podium laura philipp kat matthews solveig lovseth beer
Challenge Roth 2025: Laura Philipp backed to make triathlon history by crashing through magical time barrier
Challenge Roth press conference 2025
Challenge Roth 2025: Date, start times, how to watch live and who’s racing
Georgia Taylor Brown wins supertri Toulouse 2024
British Olympic legend Georgia Taylor-Brown to make triathlon return
Gwen Jorgensen reflective World Triathlon Cup Vina del Mer 2023
‘Unbreakable’ Gwen Jorgensen ‘bruised’ after bike crash but vows to bounce back
IRONMAN CEO Scott DeRue Women For Tri 2024
IRONMAN announce new age-group qualification system for Kona and 70.3 Worlds
triathlon on your terms
Never miss out with our triathlon alerts & digest. Get a dose of adventure & inspiration with Boundless.
The 247 Group

The home of endurance sports

Share to...