2015 Montrose Triathlon Another Great Success!
1 June 15: Despite the rain the second Montrose Triathlon was another huge success. The event, which was organised by social enterprise Tri Angus Limited on Sunday (31 May), offered participants of all abilities a great sporting challenge in the fantastic setting Montrose has to offer.
Four members of the new ‘Ladies Who Tri’ group who work for Angus Council. Karen O’Donnell, Tricia Lowe and Alison Davidson. Image courtesy of John Dempsey, Montrose Images
The event received much needed support from a number of local businesses including, Park and Links Hotels, Agrii, Angus Tyres, Arbikie Highland Estates, Carnoustie Creative, Fresh Food Express, NFU Mutual, Pedal Monkey Cycles, Scotmid, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Specsavers Montrose and Sweatshop, was full to capacity within four and a half weeks of opening entries in January and saw a full 210 participants register to take up the challenge on the day.
The sprint event put some of the more experienced participants through their paces but it was GB Age Grade triathlete Andrew Woodroffe from Forfar, racing for Graeme Stewart Coaching, who posted the fasted time of the day to clinch the 1st male title. Kathy Robertson from Broughty Ferry, Dundee racing for Monifieth Triathlon Club, was the winner of the 1st female title in the sprint event.
Male Sprint Podium. 1st Andrew Woodroffe, 2nd Chris Watson and 3rd Kevin Watson. Image courtesy of John Dempsey, Montrose Images
The event attracted a huge number of people inspired to try the sport, with over about half of the entrants making their triathlon debut at the Tri Angus event. The winner of the female novice race was 15 year old Abigail Mason from Banchory, racing for Fleet Feet Triathletes, with Matthew Lemmon from Montrose winning the male novice title.
Novice Female Podium. 1st Abigail Mason, 2nd Jeni Warden, 3rd Jenny Warden. Image courtesy of John Dempsey, Montrose Images
Whilst the event attracted a fantastic mix of people of all different ages and abilities, there were some impressive results from the youth categories. Aged just 15 years it was Ross Brown from Forfar who took the Novice youth male title as well as second overall in the Novice male race. Abigail Mason’s winning time in the Novice race also clinched her the youth title as well. In the sprint event, it was Montrose Triathlon Club’s Jack Carter (17) who took the sprint youth male title.
In the veteran category, Stonehaven’s Edwin Coutts and Montrose Triathlon Club’s Jenny Warden clinched the Novice Veteran titles in the male and female categories respectively and in the Sprint event Angus Peden from Troon and Kathy Robertson from Monifieth took the Sprint veteran titles.
The soggy conditions on the day didn’t dampen spirits. The sun eventually came out and added to the success and enjoyment for everyone from the participants, the volunteers and the crowds of supporters and spectators. The event attracted about 60 volunteers on the day, all of whom contributed to the success of the event.
Maggie Lawrie, Tri Angus Director, was delighted with the success of Sunday’s event and is looking forward to next year already.
“It has been a fantastic event and after all the hard work of organising everything it was great to see everyone really enjoy themselves and feel proud of their achievements at the finish line” commented Maggie.
“The event has received great support from a number of local businesses and without them this event just wouldn’t be possible. The same goes for the number of volunteers who turned up to help with a whole host of different tasks. I have been overwhelmed by the response and would like to say a huge thank you to everyone.
“Given the success of our first two events The Tri Angus team are definitely keen to make this a firm fixture on the Triathlon Calendar and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to the event next year. The dates haven’t been set just yet but make sure you follow us on Facebook and Twitter to be first to enter”.
