Was dreading the bike on the way there due to a lot of flooding on the roads, sensible decision made by event organisers to cancel as would have been dangerous. But disappointed to have trekked with my bike across a muddy field and racked it only to find out at that point, but understand they would have wanted to confirm at the last minute. Ended up a good fun off road duathlon, trail shoes were recommended which I did not have but wished I did as I was slipping all over the place!

Terrible value for money. It was meant to be my first triathlon, but the bike portion was cancelled due to poor weather. This was only communicated to us as we parked our car the morning of the race. For the remaining two legs, there was no visibility in the lake for the swim (literally pitch black) and the running track was muddy and slippery, I ended up twisting my ankle. When I asked the marshals how far it was to the finish, no one could definitively tell me until near the end, when I could see the finish line. This was the most expensive race I have paid for and I was expecting it to be much better organized with better facilities. I will not do another triathlon at this venue again.

This was my 10th year at Castle Howard so basically knew the event is no easy choice. Have done all the distances up to and including Gauntlet. The weather was pretty awful and I headed home once finished to find I'd won my age group! Have been sent a lovely momento and now this even no longer on, I have gone out on a high. A difficult weekend for anyone doing this event for the 1st time.

Lake was not fit for swimming - once agitated there was a very bad smell. Cycle leg was hazardous and poorly martialed. Run was not correctly measured. It’s expensive. Sign in and race briefing were both poor - no signs some unhelpful staff behavior. However it’s always fun to race - we had fun even on a rainy day and escaped without injury or sickness. I saw several injured. - I guess I was expecting better - as commented by others organizers we’re definitely a bit greedy. I will look for other events next year.

This was my first Triathlon so I have nothing to compare it to but overall I had a great experience. The lake has zero visibility and full of weeds but the temperature was good, not cold at all. The pre race briefing was not clear as to what buoys we were swimming through and had to be clarified with questions. The bike was clearly marked with signs and marshals and had regular distance markers on the route which was very useful but the frustrating thing was having to give way to traffic through a narrow gap on the estate where I lost time waiting for a line of cars to pass. The run was much hillier than I expected and all cross country but there was good support through the finish area and a welcome cup of water and snacks. The transition areas could have been better staffed as there was no one directing out to bike and run courses which would have been helpful. I did resent the spectators ticket price which I bought in advance as there was no one checking spectators tickets and an open gate just to walk into the event. I will be back next year to do it again and hopefully in better weather!

2nd year I've entered and will be my last. Very expensive and poor value for money. I resent the fact the medal is the same each year with no date. For the money I paid this should be individual. £12 for spectators is just greedy especially when a third of the race cancelled. Poor communication found out when I arrived that cycle cancelled and no refund. The lake is disgusting it stinks, it was like soup and even more weed than last year. My husband ended up marshalling on the last descent as he could see it was so slippy and nobody was warning runners. This is poor. On a positive note I loved the muddy run was like xc. I will not attend this event again and I hope others vote with their feet. I feel profit is put above anything else in this series and I would rather support local races where local clubs and charities see the profit instead of a company

Obviously Castle Events can't control the weather, but what they can control is their attitude towards doing the right thing for the customer. I was supposed to be doing a standard distance Duathlon (which was expensive to start with), but ended up paying a stupid amount of money to run a muddy 10k cross country. I feel completely ripped off. What could they have done better? 1) They could have offered a free transfer to run a longer distance. 2) They could have made the decision to cancel AND COMMUNICATED it earlier. 3) They could have chosen to not hide behind their T&C's whilst talking about an 'altered distance race'.... a 10k cross country is hardly an altered distance if you have purchased a Duathlon entry. 4) They could have offered a discount on next years race or the option to differ this years entry as gestures of good will. They had options to do the right thing for the customer, but sadly chose to look after themselves. Their team onside I found to be unhelpful and frankly next to useless. Beyond that, the event was at best average. Certainly doesn't live up to the marketing in the slightest. Hugely over priced for what they deliver (even if the bike leg had happened). This was my third race with them, the other two were far from 'good' experiences... Each time I get the sense that they just do the least they can possibly get away with, whilst over marketing and charging the most they can possibly imagine! I won't be spending anymore money with them, even if their events are somehow (miraculously) awarded qualifier status next year.

Entered for the Olympic relay. The briefings on the day were all aimed at people doing the full event (swim run as it happened). Not at all clear for the relay entrants. It would have been nice to be told we could regroup as the runner was approaching the finish and cross the line together. But it wasn't like that and I did the swim, my friend did the run almost as aeperate events and our poor friend who was doing the cyclist got nothing for her entry fee as she hadn't bought trail shoes or wetsuit with her . I did the swim part. The briefing was delivered just as we were about to enter the water and iit was apparent that this was the briefing for the full thing. It would have been useful for the other relay team members to be there as the person doing the running section never got a briefing. I was in the yellow wave and there were a lot of people on the platform it seemed a busy wave. Lake swim was expected as I had heads up from friends who have swam there before that it was weedy and full of duck/ geese poo. I wasn't expecting the silty mud on exit . I struggled to get out as got stuck in the mud and I cut the bottom of my foot on sharp reeds . There was a step on exit of the swim and I was lucky and judged it right but a teammate doing the Olympic caught the top of her foot. The marshal did his best to warn people as they exited the water but was a bit hit and miss. I have no mobility issues but it needs to be made clear on event info for people signing up that there is a 600m uphil distance to transition, as there may be people swimming who cannot run due to injury / disability who have deliberately chosen the swim . I handed the timing chip to my teammate and that was it. No one offered me any drinks or snacks . When my teammate finished the run and came into th finishing area she got her medal and a drink and had to ask for medals for myself and our other teammate. I appreciate the weather put a damper on things. But it felt a shame for the relay people in particular as one person out of the team had no option to race. We found out late the bike was cancelled and of course the cyclist on the team had brought her bike . Not trail shoes or wetsuit. So literally all she could do was spectate. Perhaps relay entrants should be given different colour swim caps and race numbers so Marshall's would know and could direct accordingly

I was very excited to take part in this event as it was supposed to be my 1st triathlon. I trained, bought all the kit, travelled 4hs by car, booked accommodation, took time off of work… as we arrived at the event and without previous warning via email or message and without being given any alternative we were told the bike leg had been cancelled and the event would be an Aquathon. We were extremely disappointed but no Marshall would give us much explanation besides “for safety reasons”, everybody was “don’t ask me, I don’t know, I can’t do anything for you”. It wasn’t raining much, the roads seem ok from our perspective driving over and the event the day before did the bike leg. Even a little explanation would have gone a long way. My understanding is that some potholes were covered in water but I am still unsure… As it happened it did not rain much more during the day and we saw another cycling race take place as we drove off. I understand safety is important, but treating customers well, with respect and humanity is too. They are offering no compensation for the troubles holding on to the section 4.10/4.11 of the T&Cs. In my opinion, just because their T&Cs cover them in any situation, it doesn’t mean they should not act with kindness and at the very least offer a small discount code for a future castle series race to those affected by the circumstances. They are not. Besides those issues, the marshals were not only clueless about the specifics of why the race had been changed (besides it had rained over night) but would not be able to answer simple questions like “how long to the finish line” from their station. The swimming map was wrong and was still wrong as printed at the event, making it quite confusing on the day. The run was all off trail and extremely muddy on the day. Trail shoes would have been needed.