200 take part in first Borders triathlon since 2019

The event signalled the first Triathlon since the end of the 2019 season, with close to 200 participants taking part in the event over Saturday and Sunday.

In the Come & Tri, 20 participants toed the start line for the 400m swim, 10km bike and 2.5km run event.

 Sam Heward was first male over the line and the only participant dipping under the 45-minute mark in 43:59.

 First female, Katie Scott, was less than five minutes behind Sam and an impressive fourth overall, finishing in 48:52.

Next it was the turn of the TriStars, with over 70 young athletes taking part.

Kicking off with the TriStar Starts (age 8), Rhuari Toole was the first boy (09:19) with Abigail Brooke first girl over the line (12:23). In the TriStar 1 (age 9-10) race, Branna Kenny won in 15:09, 30 seconds ahead of her brother, Seamus Kenny, who was joint first male alongside Eddie Niven (15:41).

Iain Veitch

It was another family affair in the TriStar 2 (age 11-12) event, with Charlie Lyne first over the line (19:38) just four seconds ahead of twin sister Olivia Lyne (19:42). Branna & Seamus’ big sister, Morven Kenny, was just two seconds behind Olivia in third.

In the TriStar 3s (age 13-14), Jai Diddee, took the win in 25:21, 30 seconds clear of the rest of the field. Katy Otterson was first female in 26:17. The older Youth (age 15-16) athletes were last up, with Theo Cunningham finishing with a really strong run leg to take the win (26:14), just two seconds ahead of Cameron Caves. Mili Diddee followed in her brother’s footsteps to be first female (27:14).

All Triathlon Scotland members in the youth races will earn valuable National Triathlon Series points.

On Sunday, there were 85 finishers in the Sprint event, with athletes completing a 750m pool swim, a hilly 20km bike and a final 5km run.

Veteran Iain Veitch had the fastest cycle and run of the day on his way to victory in 01:03:32. In the women’s race, Alice Loudon had a consistent race and posted the fastest run to take the win in 01:12:23.

The local Triathlon Series, one of the biggest events of its type in Scotland, is organised and hosted by the Live Borders Sports Development and Leisure Centre teams, with many local clubs and other volunteers making the event possible on race event days.

Lynne Lauder from the Live Borders Triathlon Team said the event was a great success.

“Everyone was so pleased to be back and it was great to see previous competitors coming back and supporting the new Series. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” she said.

“We had people doing their very first triathlon, and also some seasoned triathletes taking part in their first event since the pandemic after a two year break.

“We hope that the success of the Galashiels event will help boost the remaining events in Eyemouth, Kelso and Peebles.

“We must say a huge thank you for the 30-plus volunteers who came and helped us run arguably the best event we have ever done.”

Full results can be found on the Live Borders website.

The Series will now move to Eyemouth for a Come & Tri and Sprint event on Sunday 19 June.