Having completed the sprint and super-sprint on the Saturday, we returned to race Sunday morning in the Olympic distance event.

Once again we arrived early which made registration and racking a smooth/easy process aided by the pleasant staff.

A really warm start and a fair few people (as in the super-sprint the afternoon previous) were opting to swim without wetsuits, but not me! A (finishing) field of 169 meant a 2 wave swim start which seemed to work well. A picturesque/nice lake and a good swim for me but partly marred by a poor chip tag which flapped about and concerned me it might come off, it didn't!

The bike leg was 2 laps of the sprint distance route, gently rolling in places and a real mix of quiet lanes and bigger/busier roads with some good tarmac fast stretches and some heavily dressed leg draining stretches. Hardly a breeze and full sun made it a hot/tough second lap for me, I felt much slower than the day previous but actually wasn't too far off. The support coming past the venue entrance at the start of the second lap was great and a real boost.

The run was tough given the aforementioned conditions. The run route loops round woodland trail, park roads/paths and grass. Great that it was bone dry surfaces. 3 times snaking round felt longer than 10k and a small criticism was not enough drinks/water stations. Loads of competitors were finding it tough and walking in places and I'm sure there were lots of 'slow' run times, including mine! Great support though, especially with a nice long stretch to the finish line.

This olympic distance event had a good mix of age/gender/ability competitors with I suspect a fair few more serious/faster folk than the prior days races. I thought it was a really good event which completed a great weekend and really reasonably priced. A big thank you to the organisers, staff/marshalls and supporters for making it rewarding and enjoyable.