Hever Castle 2022 Race Report
26.09.22
This weekend, athletes travelled from around the country and overseas to Anne Boleyn’s childhood home in Kent for our largest multisport meet of the season. This event started small in 2009, with one triathlon race. So, we always love returning to celebrate the end of the season with record numbers of athletes celebrating swim, bike and run racing.
Despite Friday downpours, the weekend stayed bright, dry and cool – a perfect setting for our ambitious athletes. Swimmers enjoyed exclusive access to Hever Castle’s lake with a briefing from Race Director Brian Adcock on the stunning Loggia. Cyclists endured undulating routes through Kent and East Sussex. Runners were rewarded with a sprint finish into the cheering crowds in the event village. Many athletes completing triathlons enjoyed all three!
The weekend kicked off with a full day of Sprint distances across all multisport disciplines – triathlon, duathlon, aquabike and aquathlon. These shorter races suit athletes who love to go flat out, are recovering from an injury, are building up their stamina or are brand new to the sport. We love to see the incredible mix of ages and abilities out of the courses!
Just before lunch, hundreds of swimmers made their way from the Loggia and across the lake, taking on our 5K, 2.5K or 1 mile course.
9-10 year old triathletes completed their course with so many of our team in awe of their speed and super sleek cycle dismounts!
Sunday saw The Gauntlet athletes complete the half iron triathlon distance (1.9k swim, 90k cycle, 21k run) and middle and standard distance triathletes, duathletes, aquathletes complete their distances.
Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K runners set off throughout the morning to complete their allocated laps of the grounds and surrounding countryside.
The juniors – this time 11-16 year olds – continued to impress the crowds as they took on their triathlon distances throughout the afternoon.
Notable performances came from…
- Gauntlet Triathlon – Tom Hill (04:56:20) and Julie Briggs (06:11:21).
- Standard Duathlon – Mike Holding (02:15:46) and Gemma Shadbolt (02:35:37).
- 5K Swim – Matthew Breckon (01:05:43) and Pippa Baker (01:20:38).
- Marathon – Joe Langham (03:11:16) and Samantha Innes (04:04:03).
- Team Phoenix returned for another year with an epic team of breast cancer survivors completing the sprint distance triathlon together.
- Castle Race Series Run Manager, Arthur Adcock donned his wetsuit and trainers and came a very impressive 25th in the Gauntlet.
Enthusiastic spectators make a huge different to our athletes and our events. We were delighted to see them come our in force this weekend, dotted around the courses clapping, cheering and often armed with motivational signs.
The spectators get to enjoy (and help make) the festival atmosphere around the venue and in the event village. Thank you to everyone who comes along to lend their support and voice to give all our athletes such a memorable race experience.
The event village buzzed across the two days. Timothy Taylor’s bar and the plenty of food and drink stalls kept athletes and their spectators fed and watered. Shoppers were able to stock up on sports kit from Bolle, Bat and Ball Sports, Big Bobble Hats and our Official Merchandise Partner, Scimitar.
There was fantastic live music from our house band Gobbledigook and Rock Choir, and many a photo opportunity between official prize givings on the Castle Race Series podium.
The spectacular setting of the lake and grounds at Hever Castle provided the perfect backdrop for a superb weekend of racing.
The fantastic weather and festival atmosphere made it a fantastic day out in Kent.
We hope to see you next year!
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