Blenheim Palace Triathlon preview
We'll be there – will you?
Are you one of the 7,000 expected to race Blenheim Palace Triathlon this weekend? Feeling ready? 220 will be there, both racing and manning a subs’ stand, come and say hi!
Age-group events taking place are the super-sprint (400m/13km/3km) and sprint on both days (13/14 June), sprint team relay on Saturday, and youth super-sprint on Sunday. The hardiest 20 souls will also be tackling the Weekend Warrior challenge of as many races as they can manage over the course of the weekend.
The British Super Series get underway on Sunday (14 June), when elites including Mark Buckingham, Lestyn Harrett, Emma Pallant, Alice Sharpe and Sophie Coldwell will shoot for the podium over sprint distance (750m/20km/5km).
Relay teams from three Formula One teams are expected to go head-to-head on Sunday. Situated within Britain’s ‘Motorsport Valley’, the event will see Mercedes AMG, Red Bull and Force India under starter’s orders with three relay teams each
Back for a second year are Scarlett’s Dragons, a 164-strong team, who have rallied together to support 10 year-old Scarlett Clarkson who is currently receiving treatment for leukaemia. Last year the team comprised of 22 dads of children at the Dragon School in Oxford, who took on the Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Blenheim Palace Triathlon to raise an astonishing £120,000 for the charity.
Matt Sharp and Emma Pallant won last year’s elite races over the sprint distance, with Sharp and second-placed male athlete Mark Buckingham just sneaking in under the 1hr mark. Pallant and Buckingham went on to win last year’s Super Series, and will be looking to make a strong start in this year’s opener.
If you’re racing the sprint distance then check out these race tips from last year’s winner Charlie Pennington. Good luck out there!
Are you racing Blenheim Palace Triathlon? Let us know in the comments below!
220 Triathlon Team
Journalists, reviewers, coaches and athletes 
