Great to see Event of the North host a British Middle Distance champs, was a good competition field. The event was really well organised and you can appreciate they've learnt in their 5 years of Tri and the countless Running events they have experienced it was a great day! The Scottish weather didn't disappoint even between some of the UK's heatwaves! Unfortunately some riders didn't hither to the courses windy fast descents. The events team did well and great to see parts of the course closed off. The run was lovely and well supported! Only thing that cannot be managed are the midges! CRAZY! May consider doing the full here one year!

Beautiful scenery helps distract from the challenging course! Despite the hills I really enjoyed it. Be prepared to manage the midges by the swim start and watch out for them getting into your socks before you start the bike...the little buggers took to my ankles and left me with nibbled ankles post event! Aid stations were great and I used them plenty on the run!

Absolutely loved this event. The staff were fab as was the lovely deep black water, and both the bike and run courses were everything I’d expected and hoped for The only thing I’d have loved would have been a caddy to help me wheel my bike and all my (wet) kit back to the car park up the hill and a personal midge swatter!

I did the aquabike unusual for me as a triathlete but nursing a run injury and as my partner was doing the half I thought I’d use the race as training. Lovely location staff organisers very friendly and understanding. Swapped my top for a smaller one. However what an anti climax doing an AB is in terms of finishing. The event was in my opinion run well and felt relaxed however it was quite expensive entry and it rained the whole way round on bike route. I was very cold when I finished. Two gripes 1. food this was inadequate - no cafe on site shop didn’t have any decent food in and the only other outlet was a restaurant which most folk didn’t want. The coffee van was good but again only a few cakes on offer. 2. start time of race was incredibly early! I understand why but when u have to get up at 4am it puts a bit of a downer on the day.

Amazing event. Really well organised and efficient race in a beautiful location. The half course was very challenging but such a good feeling to complete it. Next time, fewer midges and fewer hills on the run would be appreciated :) Brilliant support and encouragement from all volunteers too. Awesome event and truly deserving of being the British championships!

I so wanted to enjoy this event especially as it was my birthday weekend, but it ended up being 1 of the least favourite ultra's I've done. I'll start with the negatives - The pre event emails had advised us of the gel brand that would be available on race day (Maurten) and as expected they advised us to train with that so no GI issues on the day, which i did. On the day it was high 5 gels, and no heads up in any email prior, if they had given us a heads up i could have brought my own, therefore I was short of fuel as those gels don't agree with me. We got our goodie bags on the morning prior to the event starting, I was advised sorry no T-shirts left in your size so I didn't get 1. We queued at the porta loos forever and gave up in the end, to then be advised from another competitor on the start line that they were all locked with no one in them, and that they had just opened them. Then the race director told us all to remove our headphones or we'd be disqualified, even although they were bone conductor, we were advised it was in the pre race email - NO IT WASNT! All of that combined lead to a shambles of a race start organisation, if I hadn't known I'd have thought it was their first ever event. Yes there were midges and a lot of them but at least we were pre warned of this, i packed a face net but on the day just decided to deal with them. Not quite sure why a bivvy bag and head torch were mandatory kit at a summer event, foil blanket maybe, but rules are rules and you have to respect that, just tough having to carry extra weight during a heatwave. Thankfully we did get a short light rain shower which was very welcome. Positives - The parking was straightforward and there were plenty of event staff to direct us. The route is nice and fairly scenic with great views at the top, I really enjoyed the downhill cycle section. The double loop at the end is soul destroying but that's probably just down to me not enjoying it as it was so hot and muggy and by that point i was flagging mentally without my usual music to get me through, and I'm just not a fan of loops. The marshals on course were fantastic and a special shout out to the marshals who were stationed at the highest aid station point as the midges up there were something else, swarms of them, it was hard to even stand still for 2 mins to fill up a water bottle as they were all over us. The photographers on course were good and one sneaked a side photo from behind a tree which I found quite funny, he was like a Ninja. And it was a nice medal. Would i do this 1 again - No. Purely down the the pre race organisation and the patronising way the RD spoke down to us regarding the use of bone conductor headphones.