Oct 2025: Challenge Peguera

Every October we visit Mallorca for the fantastic, athlete friendly, warm and dry middle distance triathlon, and drag as many of our athletes along with us.  I have been racing this even for years, and still keep coming back. always with a handful of athletes from the team. This year we had Eric, Jack, Adam,  Gav, Jonathan, Matt (and his dad!) and myself in the middle distance, plus Mel and Lucy running the women’s challenge run the evening before. This year they changed the bike course, missing out a pretty stunning climb for a faster flatter section, which is a shame, however I completely understand the reasoning, as the there and back climb was an accident waiting to happen, and as numbers entering the race increased over the years, it was inevitable. However, the two lap course was still pretty scenic, and provided a perfect opportunity for me and Jack to have a game of cat and mouse for the entire course!

The race starts at a very sociable hour in the morning, with the men leading the way in Age group waves, the females going as a mass start at the back. As nice as it is to be in a female wave, having to plough through all the male back markers is a bit frustrating, however the swim course now has an Australian exit, which is great for short term goals. At least we didnt have the waves (or jellyfish) to battle against this year. Now the bike is my favourite place, and my goal was to chase down Jack (obviously!) and despite passing him quite early, he was not going to let me go.  On the flats he disappeared into the distance, but on the climbs I reeled him in, until we literally came into transition minutes apart. I have Jonathan to thank for that, as I was flagging towards the end, and as he past me, his words of wisdom gave me a boost to dig in over the last 10km of the ride to nip in in front of Jack off the bike. Then after spending the first 3/4 lap running together he pushed on, as sadly I was forced to walk due to severe cramp in my side causing breathing issues. Probably from taking in too much sea water then being in the TT position for too long. The run course is 4 laps of 5k with loads of there and backs (mostly being up a hill, then down a hill), and I think I saw everyone out there which is incredibly motivating. Matt was flying around the course and as soon as he finished was back out on the course supporting the rest of us still out there! After having quite a lead in my age group, walking was not doing much for keeping it, however the pain in my side was gradually improving, and by mid lap 3 I actually felt a bit better, and the forth lap was by far the best, fortunately, which gave me the opportunity to catch Jack back up and pass him, and to hang on to my lead for the 2nd year. Its a tough run course, but great from a spectator point of view, and for seeing fellow athletes. It was a massive pb for Jack, each race Matt does, he just gets faster and faster, and a really solid performance from Jonthan despite being ill and another solid performance from Gav and Eric. Looking forward to racing with you all again next year! So, who else will join us in 2026?