Race Report | 2024 Scottish National Standard Distance Triathlon Championships

The next Scottish Championship race of the season took place on Sunday, 1 September, with athletes coming from all over Scotland to compete in the Scottish National Standard Distance Triathlon Championships, hosted by Fleet Feet Triathletes.

Over 150 competitors arrived at the race location of Knockburn Sports Loch, with the water temperature sitting at a chilly 14.8 degrees, making it a compulsory wetsuit swim. The first wave of athletes started at 10:00 a.m. sharp, with two waves taking off 5 minutes apart from a deep-water start.

The race began with a 1500m swim consisting of two laps of 750m around Knockburn Loch before making the exit out of the water and into transition.

In the Open race, the dominant force on the Scottish racing scene at the moment, Rory Strachan, emerged from the water with a significant lead over the rest of his competitors, clocking a time of 19:08. Thomas Robertson was second out of the water in 20:37, and Adam Lewis sat in third with a 20:43 split.

Heading onto the bike, Strachan extended his lead over the field on the undulating but scenic course. It was a solo effort for the entire 40km bike ride for the Stirling-based athlete, as he finished the bike leg in a time of 1:03.14. Behind him, there was a battle for the other positions. Craig Dale and Thomas Robertson found themselves riding together for much of the two-lap course and entered T2 neck-and-neck, tussling for a podium spot. They clocked times of 1:07.09 and 1:07.22, respectively.

Out on the run, Strachan had built up a significant lead, allowing him to pace himself over the 10km run, which featured a mix of terrains. He remained unchallenged and crossed the finish line comfortably in an overall time of 2:02.41. In the duel behind him, Robertson pulled away from Dale during the run, securing second place in a time of 2:08.43, with Dale finishing just under a minute later to take third in 2:09.41.

In the women’s race, Miriam Gilbride, Ailie McGowan-Bolton and Kirsty O’Brien were all in close proximity out of the water and heading into T1.

On the bike, Gilbride extended her lead even further, completing the bike leg with the fastest split of the day and giving herself plenty of daylight heading into T2 and out onto the run. Behind her, Victoria Reid moved into second position, looking strong for the podium heading into the run. O’Brien remained in third after clocking a bike split of 1:16.56.

On the run, Gilbride pushed on and eventually cruised down the finishing chute, completing the race in an overall time of 2:22.30. Reid followed just under two and a half minutes later, finishing in 2:24.23, with Hannah Terrance putting together a great run split to move through the field and onto the podium in third, finishing in 2:25.58.

Triathlon Scotland would like to extend a huge thank you to our hosts, Fleet Feet Triathletes, and their team of friendly marshals and event supporters. There were many brilliant performances on the day across all age categories.

Please see our 2024 Scottish National Standard Distance Triathlon Championship gold medalists here.

Full results can be found here.