Olympic Distance Buckingham Palace course sells-out for Hyde Park

Entries for the 2011 Dextro Energy Triathlon London, presented by Tata Steel, on August 6 and 7, are selling in record time. Last week, organisers announced that the race route would, for the first time, feature a trip out of Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace.



Entries opened at 9am last Thursday and over 1,000 had already been sold by mid-afternoon – an unprecedented pick-up for an event which only began in 2009 under the auspices of British Triathlon and the International Triathlon Union.



Places for the Olympic Distance Buckingham Palace Course sold out this morning. Places still remain for the Sprint or Olympic Distance on Saturday August 6, within the park, as well as for the Sprint Distance on Sunday August 7 on the Buckingham Palace Route. As there are only a handful of entries left for the Sunday those interested in competing need to act fast.



Age Groupers on Saturday will race on the hugely successful 2010 Hyde Park Course and do not need to worry about an early morning start. The Age Group races on Saturday over Sprint and Olympic Distance will be staged from 11.30 - 20.00. There is no entry standard as the races are open to everyone - whether participating in their first triathlon or entering as an experienced triathlete.



Whatever distance and day chosen, all participants will be treated like the pros and experience a slice of what is to come in 2012..



“We knew this event was a chance of a lifetime and thought entries would go quite quickly but had no idea it would prove so popular so soon”, said Robert Puestow, representing Upsolut Sports UK who organise and promote the event.



“For those who have missed out on the Buckingham Palace Route there is still the chance, though, to soak up the atmosphere on the day and race alongside the stars of the sport within the Hyde Park Route”, he added.



This year’s event will also feature an extended EXPO area in Hyde Park with trade stands and stalls and exhibitions targeted at participants and spectators.



The elite races, once again backed by UK Sport, will provide the world’s best with an opportunity to test their abilities on the potential Olympic course. Brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee tasted despair and delight respectively in 2010 with the younger brother taking his first senior silver whilst the then world champion, Alistair, broke down in the final 100m after battling with eventual winner Javier Gomez of Spain – a memory he will want to banish in 2011.



Britain’s Helen Jenkins, winner of bronze in 2009 and 10, looks set to lead the British women’s effort against the rest of the world with the women’s race taking place on the Saturday while the elite men race on the Sunday.



Whilst Olympic Distance places have sold out on the Buckingham Palace Route places still remain for the Sprint Distance on this Route as well as for both distances on the Hyde Park Route. Early bird options on entry fees are also available until 31st December, 2010, at www.triathlon-wcs-london.org.