The location, course and weather could not be faulted this weekend at the fourth Castle Howard Triathlon (Sunday 21st July), with classic architecture and glorious weather inspiring and motivating all 1,200 competitors who took part.
There was a strong elite pool with a mixture of Markel Castle Triathlon Series regulars and new talent checking it out. The Olympic male winner, Fraser Cartmell, enjoyed his first taste of the Series and was pleased to take home the first prize (just 23 seconds ahead of David Bishop who came in second), before heading out to be part of the British elite team at the Château de Chantilly Triathlon (25 August), he enthused; “Castle Howard Triathlon was a fantastic event. Alison (Rowatt) and I had a great day and were really glad to be involved – the Castle Tri Series team have done a superb job organising it!”
The female field was equally tough with Catherine Jameson, Alison Rowatt and Vicky Johnston taking the podium places consecutively. Jameson describes her race; "It was great to be able to return to Castle Howard over the weekend to defend my title. I managed to sit on Fraser's feet in the swim. It’s probably one of the most beautiful run courses in any triathlon as it is all around the grounds of the Castle.”
The afternoon saw 300 juniors racing including 65 pairs of siblings taking part on the Brownlee Brother’s home turf. Emily and Ciara Blount enthused; "We love this series. Castle Howard was fantastic. We pretended we were the Brownlee brothers for the day."
The festival promise was delivered with free archery, falconry, a climbing wall, live music and locally sourced food stalls all being enjoyed with many staying for the day soaking up the atmosphere.
If participants didn’t already have a chosen charity, triathletes were encouraged to raise money for the Markel Castle Triathlon Series national charity ‘Help for Heroes’, and local charity York Against Cancer.
Click here to register now for 2014 (26/27 July) and receive a 30% discount.
Click here to enter the remaining 2013 Markel Castle Triathlon Series events.
Each race offers a high quality, competitive and safe race set in beautiful grounds and truly spectacular surroundings. Over 1,000 are expected at Château de Chantilly Triathlon (25 August) and 5,000 at the flagship Hever Castle Triathlon (28/29 September).
