The West Wins | Weekend Review 27-28 July

Both events on the Scottish calendar showcased the stunning scenery of the Scottish west coast – the Beastie Triathlons taking place on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond and the Hebrides Triathlon on the Isle of Lewis. 

Beastie Triathlons

A regular on the event calendar, Lomond Swimming & Triathlon Club delivered another fantastic event this year. The Beastie and Wee Beastie Triathlons offer a great introduction to triathlon for those new to the sport.

With 90 competitors toeing the start line of the Beastie, it was set to be a competitive race. Ewan Mitchell took an early lead in the open race with a swim time of 10:23, with Finn Trenholm and Alex Hodge hot on his heels.

Out on the bike the competitors jostled for position, with Paul McGonigle’s skills on the bike placing him in 1st place coming into T2. A solid run from McGonigle saw him retain his position to take the win.

With Trenholm, James Scott and Ewan Mitchell coming into T2 in quick succession, the race for 2nd and 3rd place was on. Amongst the three, Trenholm was first to exit transition, with Mitchell moving up a place after a lightening fast T2 of 18 seconds. Recording the fastest two run times of the open race, Mitchell and Scott ran past Trenholm to secure their places on the podium.

In the female race, Fiona Trayner, Elli Robinson and Hannah Terrence exited the water in quick succession. Nothing separating them as they went out onto the bike. Terrence soon took a confident lead, and with the quickest female run, 19:54, took the win.

Exiting T2, Robinson established a small lead ahead of Trayner, Julia Loecherbach and Mel Wardle. A solid run kept her in 2nd place to the finish line, leaving Trayner and Loecherbach to battle it out for 3rd place. With a quicker time on the run, Loecherbach took the final place on the podium.

The Wee Beastie is a perfect race for those that want to try triathlon with an open water swim. The swim hugs the edge of the loch allowing participants to stand, if required, and the bike and run are off road within the park taking away the worry of traffic.

Congratulations to all that took part in the event. Gavin Maclean 1st, Jamie Slater 2nd and Peter Houston 3rd completed the podium in the open race, and Helen Howl 1st, Abey Hennessey 2nd and Lynsey Wilkie 3rd complete the podium in the female race.

Full results can be found here.

Hebrides Triathlon

The Isle of Lewis is an incredible location for a triathlon, with just under 30 competitors and teams toeing the start line of the Olympic distance triathlon.

The day started with a choppy swim, but that didn’t put the competitors off. Thibaud Le Gallou, Cameron Read, Amy Walsh and Megan Cleary exited the 1.5km swim first and headed out onto the 40k bike.

Read recorded the fastest bike leg of the day, with Calum MacLeod and Sarah Attwood close behind coming into T2. During the 10k run, Read held onto 1st place and took the top spot on the podium. Attwood’s run, 42:13, secured her 2nd place with MacLeod taking 3rd.

Full results can be found here.

T100 London

Lining up against some of the best long distance athletes was never going to be easy, but David McNamee put in a gritty performance on home soil to finish in 13th place in London.

Points, standings and race results can be found here.