Overall this event was an utter shambles. To hold a triathlon in The New Forest on a Bank Holiday was a bad idea with large queues of stationary traffic around the start and finish [which was the only place where roads were closed] caused mayhem for day-visitors, locals, and competitors alike and compromised road safety. The course around transition was overly complicated and caused a large number of cyclists to take the incorrect route. The overall winner was disqualified because he was directed to the finishing line rather than to lap 2. The subsequent winner was incorrectly directed by a marshal onto the wrong route: a supporter subsequently ran and stopped and redirected the rider. There were dozens of riders who did not obey the obligatory stop at the first junction which, incidentally was on a hill, and who were not penalised. However a cyclist was disqualified by the race director [against the recommendation of the BF Officials] for overtaking a long line of stationary traffic despite it not being an infringement of the Highway Code to do so. The same Race director who argued that towels are not permitted in transition despite the BTF rules stating clearly that they are. Te race brief was muddled and incoherent and a flow map of the swim and other briefing information was provided at HQ and looked as if it had been written by a five year old. Overall, not a race that would suit a first-timer [because of the poor organisation, confusing routes, and poor attitude of some of the race staff].

Great event! Kelly's enthusiasm, support and professionalism radiates throughout her whole team which really makes a difference. It was a hot one that was handled extremely well. Challenging Events adapted to the conditions to ensure that the athletes competing were kept hydrated and cool. Thank you. It's appreciated.

Excellent event! Lovely swim and very supportive team. Cycle in the New Forest is always special, you have to look out for the odd foal or donkey wanting to see what all the excitement is about. Run this year was a scorcher but the tree sections provided some respite. Good amount of aid stations and great energy from staff, supporters and athletes.

First Triathlon. I was nervous and the staff and volunteers were absolutely incredible. The course is amazing and the event is planned to perfection. Plenty of parking, the whole day flowed faultlessly. The Marshalls were great, very knowledgeable and friendly. Im signing up for the next event today.

I really enjoy all events from challenging events and this one was no different. A lovely lake swim, nice marshals everywhere, fantastic bike route and good run. aid stations could have more choice but thats me being picky. not an issue for me though :) and i would have liked to race more with the other distances, but would mean having to start middle distance earlier or others later, just to give all distances a better race day feel. I spent most of the bike on my own and running with 1 or 2 others. other than that an outstanding race, and cant wait for the rest of the series

Great event, all the marshalls were really encouraging even after 7 hours. Loved the sanitary products in the loos, I didn't have need of them at this event but there are plenty of other occasions when they would have been very useful! Minor quibble that the mount/dismount line was a long way from transition, there are no obvious alternatives, but it was not mentioned in the race pack (which was otherwise very detailed and useful)

Really great event as usual. Safe friendly brilliantly organised. For beginners or seasoned triathletes. Thank you for putting sanitary products in the portaloos, whether you needed them or not it was so good to see it had been thought about. Lots of pedestrian traffic on Ellingham drove making it a bit difficult to navigate for people still racing. I prefer the event when the transition is at the school, better atmosphere and no issue with a mile long queue of people, but that's just me. Very welcome road closures. Great day, thanks all

A really lovely event. The briefing pack was helpful and I appreciated being able to listen to it a few times. Marshalls were helpful and kind to new people doing their first event; the other entrants were lovely and encouraging even during their own races; the course is stunning. It was a bit weird being cheered and congratulated before the finish line but logistically you couldn’t have had supporters at the very finish because of the layout. It would have helped if runners ran on the left instead of in both directions on both sides of the road. It felt a little uncomfortable cycling in with runners in different directions on both sides when you’re trying to race to the dismount line. Having said all that I would do it all again!