5 June 2014:  The sun shone on the first Montrose triathlon organised by social enterprise Tri Angus on Sunday (1 June), offering participants of all abilities a great sporting challenge in a fantastic setting Montrose has to offer. The event, which has received tremendous support from a number of local businesses including Genesis, Park and Links Hotels, MR Bikes, Angus Tyres, Agrii, NFU Mutual, Kirsty Hay Massage, Specsavers Montrose and Carnoustie Creative to name only a few, was full to capacity a number of weeks before registration was due to close seeing a full 180 competitors 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 Rory Fairbairn from Broughty Ferry, Dundee racing for M3 Tri Club who posted the fasted time of the day to clinch the 1^st male title. Ruth Hindshaw, was the winner of the 1^st female title in the sprint event.

The event attracted a huge number of people inspired to try the sport, with over half of the entrants making their triathlon debut at the Tri Angus event. The winner of the female novice race was Heather Milne from Forfar whilst the winner of the first novice male title went to David Culliton who had come all the way from Falkirk to take part.

“Three of us travelled up to take part in our first event and we have had a great time. It was really the scenery that Montrose has to offer that attracted us to this particular event and it has left us wanting to come back again to race next year” commented David who was also the winner of the novice veteran prize.

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 17 years it was Lewis Headridge from Kirriemuir who took the youth male title and Heather Ingram also 16 from Monifieth who sealed the win in the youth female category.

“I run for Dundee Hawkhill Harriers and also am a member of a swimming club but have been doing triathlons for two years now. I am pleased with how my event went today and might be back next year” said Heather when asked about her race.

The fantastic weather on the day of the event undoubtedly added to the success and enjoyment for everyone from the participants, the volunteers and the crowds of supporters and spectators. As the official charity for the event, MacMillan Cancer were there with lots of goodies at the finish line as well as a team of volunteers to help support the event and cheer everyone on.

Maggie Lawrie, Tri Angus Director, was pleased with the success of her first 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.

“The Tri Angus team are definitely keen to welcome everyone back to the event again next year and are looking into the possibility of adding a second race to the calendar. The dates haven’t been set just yet but make sure you follow us on Facebook and Twitter to be first to enter”.

The Tri Angus team are extremely pleased that the event has given the people of Angus an opportunity to get involved in the sport of triathlon and that it inspired so many people to enter their first event. There is talk of creating a new club in the area of Montrose now so the only way is up from here.

For more information about Tri Angus go to www.triangus.co.uk.

Full Results

	1	2	3
Male Sprint	Rory Fairbairn (Dundee)	Brian Smith (Newtonhill)	David Thompson (Montrose)
Female Sprint	Ruth Hindshaw (St Andrews)	Jacqueline Rainger (Musselburgh)	Sylvia Cranston (Montrose)
Male Novice	David Culliton (Falkirk)	Richie Wallace (Montrose)	Lewis Headridge (Kirriemuir)
Female Novice	Heather Milne (Forfar)	Katrina Nicholson (Aberdeen)	Aileen Alberts (St Cyrus)
Male Sprint Veteran	Brian Smith (Newtonhill)	–	–
Female Sprint Veteran	Sylvia Cranston (Montrose)	–	–
Male Novice Veteran	David Culliton (Falkirk)	–	–
Female Novice Veteran	Heather Milne (Forfar)	–	–
Male Novice Youth	Lewis Headridge (Kirriemuir)	–	–
Female Novice Youth	Heather Ingram (Monifieth)	–	–