This was my first middle distance triathlon, so I had very little to compare it to, at the time.

I chose Cowman as it was very local to me, however, now having done it, I'd say it's worth travelling for. Jenson Button certainly thought so, as he entered the race and racked up next to me (he was number 22, I was number 21!).

Registration process was very simple. The option of registering the day before, made race morning much less stressed.

With your entry fee you get a "Cowman" hoody, which is pretty decent, then the usual race stickers etc. Was a bit odd getting it before you finish the race, but hey ho.

Race morning was really stress free. Ample parking, and not far to transition. 

The race briefing was pretty standard.

the swim is 2 laps around emberton park lake. The water was a bit murky, but clean enough to be safe.

the bike is again 2 laps. It's a really fast route, on good condition roads, meaning I was able to go and extra 1.5mph than I thought. There are two proper hills each lap; one half way through and one near the end. The one half way through the lap is timed, which is a nice touch. After this climb there is adding station, too. Unfortunately it's not traffic free, however, it's not really feasible to make it traffic free as these are main roads.

The run is interesting to say the least. I knew it was mixed terrain, but didn't expect to be running around the headland of fields! In practice this was actually really good. The run starts off running around emberton park, before heading off in to emberton village. It climbs up through the village where the loudest and most enthusiastic Marshall I have ever seen was standing! Made the run a bit better! You then keep climbing in to the fields. Once in to the fields the you're running on hard packed ground around the headland, before it drops down back in to emberton park and back round to complete 4 laps of the course.

The finish chute is good and there were still plenty of people cheering. You get a print out and a banana etc after finishing and there's the opportunity to get a cheap massage and hot food /drink from the exhibitors.

overall I'm very happy with this race and will be doing it again in 2018. See you at the start.