The first thing to say is that the organisation and atmosphere instilled by Race New Forest, is so friendly that for that reason alone I would like to race here again.

The course is utterly beautiful, but not for the faint-hearted! It is also not a standard distance for an Olympic triathlon, with a shortened 1.1km swim, followed by an advertised 1km run to transition (Garmin measured it is 1.6km!), 33km bike and a 9km run. The bike course is on open roads through the New Forest, but due to the early start, few cars were encountered - mostly cows, donkeys and horses! The run was altered due to forestry works, meaning that it was a 2 laps of an out-and-back... up some massive hills! It was also quite rocky underfoot in places, which would not be enjoyable to those not used to running off-road. 

The only possible downsides were the lack of support of feed stations (only one water station on the run) and the incredibly early start! Big wins after the beautiful course itself and great atmosphere were a good quality t-shirt and solid medal.

Race New Forest events = highly recommended!