Seventy-six kilometres. My first ultramarathon. A journey from Aldershot Army Barracks to Portsmouth Naval Base, with the South Downs standing between the start line and the finish. The Combat Stress Race to Remember promised to be my longest run yet—and a step into the unknown.

October in the UK sees the end of the outdoor triathlon season - but brings another challenge - cross country. By late October, normal service had been resumed and conditions for the Surrey Masters Cross County Championships were more typical - blustery winds and steady rain!

Finally, 14 months after qualifying and adopting perhaps a questionable training/rest day ratio in the build-up, the Standard Distance Age Group World Championships in Pontevedra came around.

I competed in the Westminster Vitality Road Mile in the BMC wave, which also doubled as the UK and England Athletics Road Mile Championships.

I finished 3rd in a strong field, alongside professional athletes including Kate Axford and Holly Dixon, to win my first British senior medal and run a 10-second PB of 4:40.

2026 World Triathlon Championship Finals – Pontevedra: Spain

Thursday evening saw the Optima Racing Team head over to Shepperton Open Water Lake for the latest race in the Open Water Swim Series.

Bala is a beautiful long valley in North Wales, with the town of Y Bala at the north end of a long narrow lake. This was the venue for the British Standard AG Championships. The organisers and BTF had scheduled multiple events, Sprint, Standard and Legends (70.3ish) distances, preceded by the last round of the elite Super Series as a sprint race. So we got to see the cream of British triathlon elite (apart from Betsy, Tom etc).

We had the whole Optima Racing Team PE¹crew out at a wet and windy Mallory Park Race Track this weekend for a day of racing. A challenging but entertaining day out for the team, with plenty of positives to take away and lots learned from the racing.

What a weekend for the London based Optima Racing Team, with three big Ironman efforts and some special performances. Ironman Leeds and Ironman Kalmar race report.

The British Triathlon Super Series headed to Bristol for another exciting round of racing, with four Optima PE1 athletes competing.

Warsaw 70.3 Race report

Warsaw 70.3 was my return to the distance after a year and a half of focusing on full Ironman racing, which had left me thirsty for some speed. I had also just moved into the 40–44 age group and was determined to keep challenging myself to embrace intensity rather than settling into comfortable Ironman paces.

You should race an Ironman a week before your Ironman

On 28 June I won the full-distance Northumbrian Triathlon. A week later, on 5 July, I raced Challenge Roth. Northumbrian took 10:05. Roth took 9:01:58. They were both awesome experienced.

This weekend (27/06/26) most of the Optima Racing Team PE1 team went to Mallory Park racing circuit for the British super series heats and finals covering Saturday and Sunday.