Harborough Triathlon a hit...now bring on the zombies!

Almost 300 people took part in this year's Harborough Triathlon at the weekend.

And with running getting more and more popular in the area, organisers Race Harborough are adding another event to the town’s running calendar - ‘The Zombie Run’ in October.

The third annual Archway Health Harborough Triathlon, based at Harborough Leisure Centre, had three different distances this year.

The newest and longest was ‘The Bridge’ which included a 600m swim, a 34.5k cycle and 7.5k run. This was in addition to the returning ‘Try a Tri’ and ‘Sprint’ distances.

Finishers were greeted by a crowd of well-wishers and supporters at the finish line.

Carl Shaw and Gemma Royles were the first man and woman past the line for the Sprint distance.

The ‘Try a Tri’ title was claimed by Tom Glason and Charlotte Matthews.

While first man and woman to complete the new Bridge distance were Thomas Greeves and Louise Davies.

The Tri County Cup was won for the first time by The Welland Valley Tri Club.

Gemma Royles and Mark Gray won the club championship title.

Alec Welton from event sponsor Archway Health Hub commented “It was great to see so many returning faces. For me what makes the event so special is the volume and diversity of people taking part from all ages and standards.”

Competitor Alice Burleigh from Harborough, now studying at The University of Birmingham, said: The Harborough Triathlon has introduced me to the sport. It was great to take part again.”

The triathlon’s organisers Brian Corcoran and Amy Kingston from Race Harborough will be launching a new running event next month themed around Halloween.

The ‘Zombie Run’ is taking place on October 30 and will be a four- mile run based around Robert Smyth Academy, where competitors will be pursued by zombies.

“There has been nothing like it in the town before and we are hoping it will appeal to runners of all levels with a sense of fun” said Brian.