Legendary triathlete Alistair Brownlee will be donning his trisuit and running shoes once again after laying down the challenge of a lifetime for amateur athletes to try and beat him in a race.
The double Olympic champion and multiple world champion has revealed that he will be attending the Skipton Triathlon in Yorkshire, England, later this month and will be competing against a host of relay teams who have signed up for the charity event.
Since his retirement in 2024, the 38-year-old has taken on a wide range of endurance challenges, including a race up the Empire State Building in New York, gravel cycling in South Africa, taking part in the brutal Patagonman Xtri, and, more recently, tackling a 64km SkiMo trek across the Alps from Zermatt to Verbier.
Skipton event added to calendar
That last effort took its toll, as he admitted the experience had left him exhausted and in need of a break, but he is ready to compete once again at a race organised by his own The Brownlee Foundation Events team.
Partner and TBF Events director, fellow triathlete Ruth Astle, announced the return of the Skipton Multi-Sport Festival back in January, as the foundation continues to raise funds and opportunities for children looking to get involved in triathlon.
The Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonny, launched their foundation in 2014 with the goal of delivering free events and opportunities for children to take part in the triathlon disciplines of swimming, cycling and running. TBF Events was then set up ten years later as the mass-participation arm of the foundation, designed to channel profits back into the organisation.
Two Yorkshire-based events have been added to their calendar for 2026, with a multi-sport festival in Skipton and a gravel duathlon at Bramham Park, Leeds, joining the already successful Ripon Triathlon Festival and Helvellyn Triathlon.
Chance to race an Olympic champion
And with Alistair confirming that he will not only be at Skipton on May 24 but also be competing, the event is sure to draw in huge crowds of amateur athletes – many who have surely dreamt of one day racing against an Olympic champion.
Alistair announced his participation in a special video message, which was released on social media, saying: “What are you doing on Sunday, 24th of May? Well, you should be at Skipton as the TBF – The Brownlee Foundation’s event company – is hosting the Skipton triathlon, and you have the chance to race me as a relay team.
“It will be great fun; it is a sprint-distance event, with one person doing the swim, one on the bike and one on the run… and while I have not been doing that much training, I am pretty confident, so for every team that beats me, I will donate £10 to the Brownlee Foundation.
“Good luck; get yourself enrolled, please come along. All profits go to the Brownlee Foundation, which helps young people experience triathlon for the first time.”
An inspiration to so many
When she announced the festival back in January, Astle said: “I think the Brownlee name does open doors, but I actually think the bigger thing is still how many people have them as their main inspiration,” she said. “When I was at Ripon last year, the number of kids who were so excited to meet them and the parents who were saying they were the reason their children started triathlons.
“I think it can be easy to forget that sometimes. Because I obviously spend quite a lot of time with Ali – to me, he is a normal human being – but you sort of forget that to most people, actually, these guys have inspired so many people to get into sport.”
The Skipton Multi-Sport Festival takes place on May 23-24, and you can find out all you need to know, as well as enter the races, by clicking HERE.
