Race Report | 2024 MM Search Scottish National Middle Distance Triathlon Championships

The next event on our Scottish Championship calendar took place over the weekend, with the long-established Aberfeldy Middle Distance Triathlon (part of the larger Aberfeldy Multi Sport Festival) giving keen multisport athletes a chance to race for the 2024 MM Search Scottish National Middle Distance Triathlon Championships.

Over 250 individual athletes and 25 teams were met with favorable dry conditions for racing at the start of the day. The first athletes of the rolling start began by running into the waters of Loch Tay, which had a temperature of 13.9 degrees, at 6:45 am. They undertook a 1900m swim, starting at the nearby marina and exiting at Kenmore Beach.

In the open race, Cameron Harris and Rory Strachan were neck-and-neck in the swim section, with Harris just inching ahead at the end to be the first athlete out in 25:01. Strachan followed closely in 25:04. The fastest swim of the day went to Christopher De Ryce, who clocked 24:30 but had started the race further behind in the rolling start.

In the female race, Nicole Campbell was in fine form as she mimicked last year’s performance, coming out of the water over two minutes faster than her time from last year in 27:38 and over 30 seconds ahead of the next best, Anina Louise Atkinson, who exited in 28:15. Abigail Wheel came out of Loch Tay in third place in 29:07.

Through T1, located in Kenmore Recreation Ground, athletes then hopped onto their bikes and headed out for the scenic yet challenging 90km bike section. The famous location, which has had a few routes over the years, certainly lived up to its name once again this year. The route included the 8km climb up Schiehallion before circumnavigating the beautiful Loch Rannoch. Arriving back to T2 within Aberfeldy Golf Course Meadow, Strachan took everyone, including the marshals, by surprise, clocking a bike split a whole six minutes faster than anyone else in 2:20:22. Alisdair Coupar was the second fastest on the bike in 2:26:29, and Andrew Scott was the third fastest in 2:27:31.

In the female category, pro triathlete Claire Weller stormed ahead of the rest of the field, stopping the clock on her bike leg in 2:24:49. The next athlete to follow her into T2 was Cecilia Bosman, who rode the course in 2:47:15, and Heleen De Hooge sat in third with a 2:50:33 split.

On to the run, and competitors faced an out-and-back 21km to Strathtay before a final dash to the finish chute in Wade’s Park. In the open race, with a large time gap at the start, Strachan had given himself the chance to go out at his own pace. It turned out to be a far closer race than anyone expected, with Strachan struggling on the run stage towards the end and a fast-finishing James Irvine and Matthias Wuest closing in at speed. In the end, they just ran out of road, and Strachan was able to lift his arms in delight as he crossed the line first in 4:15:44, claiming the Scottish Middle Distance title. Irvine took a well-deserved second place (4:17:46), and Wuest got himself on the Scottish Championships overall podium in third (4:20:34).

In the female race, there was really no stopping Claire Weller on her day, as she took a dominating victory in the event, coming across the line in 4:40:15. Cecilia Bosman put together a well-rounded race, finishing second in 4:49:05, and Victoria Ried rounded out the Scottish Championships podium in third in 4:54:23.

Triathlon Scotland would like to say thank you to our hosts, Still Going Strong, all their event crew, the many volunteers for making the event such a success and our Championship sponsors MM Search.

Well done to all participants who completed the race in all age groups and categories.

Full results can be found here.

See the list of our category champions here.