Sally climbs to age group win at Castle Howard Triathlon

Castle Howard Olympic Triathlon – Even the finish was up a hill!
Castle Howard plays host to one of the Castle Triathlon Series events, and having family in the area means we have visited this part of North Yorkshire quite frequently, so this event has been on my to-do list since I started doing triathlons a few short years ago.
Whenever possible, I like to know what I’m up against before a race, so on Saturday we took the opportunity to refresh my memory and drive the bike route. I almost wish I hadn’t, as I’d forgotten quite how “undulating” the route is.
In fact, “undulating” was quite the theme of this event, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the lake wasn’t up-hill as well - although this omission was more than countered by a surfeit of mud and weed around the course. Yuk!
It’s fair to say that the swim isn’t my strongest of the three disciplines, so I’m always pleased when it’s over – and having had a few more open-water swims under my belt this season certainly helped my confidence in the water, and I finished in a respectable time by my standards. The run back to transition was quite long, and up-hill, of course, but fortunately the organisers had spared no expense and laid out all of their available (blue) matting…
Out on the road, the recce proved it’s worth, as I had a good idea where I needed to spin and where it was worth “burning a few matches” to push up to the summit. This was less relevant for the final section of the lap along “The Stray”, which according to the briefing, is the longest, straight road in the UK. Well it might not stray left or right, but it sure makes up for it in ups and downs!
Of course, when I saw Phil at the top, camera in hand, I was sorely tempted to play to that camera and pull a wheelie Sagan-Style, but I decided that energy conservation was key and held-back… (nothing to do with lack of ability, of course! )
The 2nd lap was busier, as riders from the sprint distances started to join us on course. One great thing for me about Triathlon events is the variety of competitors taking part, and nothing epitomises this more than the variety of bikes; From the gorgeous carbon aero-wheeled TT monsters that rocketed past me on lap one through to the mud-guard clad, fat tyred mountain bikes that I was now dispatching. Surprisingly, I didn’t see a basket this time, although I did see Fraser Cartmell (a professional Ironman Triathlete and overall winner on the day) at the other end of the spectrum!
The run was, of course, undulating and took us on a picturesque tour of the grounds and around the Castle buildings, but being off road, and in active farmland, meant that the obstacles were many, varied, and often steaming! The run finished to-theme, with a steep downhill through the orchard followed by an equally steep up hill to the line, which I crossed in 2:58:14, finishing 8th lady overall and 1st in my age group!
This is the most enjoyable triathlon I have done this year, the weather certainly helped, but it really is in the most beautiful setting and I would thoroughly recommend it! Here’s to next year!