07/07/2025
On Saturday 5th July 2025 the Police Sport Middle Distance Triathlon Championships took place within the Odyssey Triathlon organised by ATW events, Riverside Park, St Neots, Cambridgeshire. The race distance 1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21km run.
This event and venue proved popular within the race schedule as over 35 police entrants committed to the tough endurance test. As always it was good to catch up with many of our triathlon colleagues from across the UK. Special mention and appreciation must go to our Police Scotland colleagues who attended with a strong squad after a long arduous journey.
The swim section took place in the river Ouse with a water temperature of over 22 degrees. The weather was overcast but humid as the race started at a leisurely 0825 hours which is later than many are familiar with for triathlon. This was partly down to the full distance race starting earlier at 0630 hours. The police championships even had its own wave start with the rest of the main field starting 5 minutes later. The river had a moderate current and plenty of weeds close to both banks. The route was two laps up and straight back down. The police field was well spaced out by the end of two laps with some quick swimmers leading the way. The swim back was noticeably more choppy and rough in the water with the current likely playing a part. The overall swim times were slower for most over this distance suggesting the current played a part.
The bike route left St Neots with a gentle climb onto quite gently undulating rural roads with largely good road surfaces. A significant factor was the wind which felt much stronger out on the rural route compared to St Neots. For some reason it always felt like a headwind despite moving round the anti-clockwise route. The route was two laps with the end of the laps causing some challenges as athletes had to negotiate a mandatory stop point, multiple roundabouts and some Saturday traffic before heading back out into the countryside. The weather remained mainly overcast but the temperature was rising and humid.
It was now approaching midday as the first police triathletes entered transition 2 by the riverside and set out on a three lap 7km route. The run route was a mixture of surfaces on various footpaths with plenty of tight turns around the riverside park and beyond. The route was never far away from the river Ouse, but some sections were open and thoroughly exposed to that strong headwind again. The run was made tougher for most with there being two aid stations on the lap and the furthest only supplied water. However, many thanks and appreciation must go to all the marshals and volunteers out on the course all day whilst the event was in progress. The whole event was well organised by ATW events staff and many police colleagues commented positively about their experiences.
Well done to all our police triathletes completing this tough endurance test and achieving your personal targets. We had some impressive fast performances at the front end and significant achievements from our first timers at the distance.
Our prize winners are as follows.
Male
1st Craig Chapman (GMP)
2nd Matthew Hogg (Met)
3rd David Gorley (Leicestershire police)
1st V40 Karl Free (Met)
1st V50 Mark Draycott (Met)
1st V60 Michael Dobson (West Mids police)
Female
1st Jane Harris (Gloucestershire police)
2nd Libby Free (Met)
3rd Shauna Lawless (Met)
1st V50 Julie Bringloe (Norfolk police)
The link for the results as below.
ATW Odyssey Triathlon, Aquabike and Twelve
Our next Championship is the Sprint distance which is the final one of the season. This will be the Blithfield Triathlon on the 17th August. Link for entries below
Blithfield Standard Triathlon & Aquabike - PMA Racing
Karl and Libby Free
PSUK Triathlon section
