FAQ

Absolutely! If you want to have fun and achieve something this is for you. You don’t need to be ‘superfit’ or excel at all 3 sports …… in fact you don’t need to excel at any of them! However, if you are embarking on this as a challenge to get fit or you have any worries at all about your health it is always wise to consult your GP.

Not at all! As long as you have a bike, a helmet, shoes you can run in and swimming kit you can join in. many first time triathletes use their mountain bike and then progress to buying a lighter, racier style bike once they are hooked on triathlon. Your bike does need to be in roadworthy condition so if in doubt get it checked over by a bike shop. You will also need a well fitting helmet and will not be allowed to race without one.

Most people start off by wearing their regular swimming kit for their first triathlon and pull shorts and t-shirt over the top in transition. Ladies may find it useful to wear a crop top underneath a swimming costume for support and to make life easy a lightweight pair of cycling shorts under their costume for the swim too. It’s easy then to add a t-shirt in transition.

More experienced competitors will wear a tri-suit. This is either one or two pieces and is designed to swim, bike and run in.

Yes it does although it’s not as bad as it sounds! You will not be able to enter transition via the changing rooms and we really don’t want people stripping off in transition so please plan what you will wear carefully and practice training in it. You will be able to put extra layers over the top in transition and a carefully placed towel is always useful to stand on so your feet dry a little before slipping your shoes on. No nudity please!

No, as long as you are moving forward you are welcome. Many people will worry about being in the way of faster athletes but we organise our pool based triathlons to try and avoid this as much as possible. Competitors will start the swim at 30 second intervals, females first and then males. The swim order is sorted by the time you submitted at entry with the fastest swimmers going first. This minimises the chance of being caught on the swim and spreads out the field for the rest of the event, for your safety.

We appreciate that it isn’t always easy to get your 100m swim time right. You can therefore email us at any time and ask for us to change this for you. We will also contact you by email a few weeks before the event to check if training has gone well (or not) and to give you a chance to update your swim time. When you time your 100m swim please make it as accurate as possible to the nearest second without rounding up or down.

We do publish the rule book to our race websites but appreciate it isn’t everyone’s idea of a good read. As long as you read the ‘Race Details’ and attend the pre-race briefing there is really nothing to worry about. Race Officials will be at the event to make things run smoothly but they are friendly and will help you get things right with a friendly comment if at all possible. Most of the rules are common sense, such as having a safe and road worthy bike and wearing a helmet. If in doubt, please ask, our qualified coaches are always happy to help. Both the Rule Book and the Race Details may be found by clicking through from our race websites.

Triathlon is fun and social so feel free to bring all your friends along. You can register together, set up in transition and arrange to meet for well earned refreshments after the event, however, you won’t be able to race side by side. Please make sure you enter your own swim time so we get competitors in the right order to minimise overtaking. Please also note that you won’t be able to have a chat while cycling due to the rules on drafting.

Drafting means you are gaining an advantage by being close enough to another competitor to be sucked along in their slipstream. Our Active Outdoor Sport events are NOT draft legal and we therefore apply the relevant Triathlon England rules. A full explanation of the drafting rules may be found under Race Details on each race website. In summary, this means you can not get close enough to chat! It also prevents large groups or pelotons from forming which in turn enhances your safety.

Enjoy yourself, and if you have any questions at all please ask. Read the race details before race day and make sure you understand the course. Again, these are all available on the race websites. We have event groups on Facebook where you can share advice and worries with other competitors, so please join in. Remember triathletes are a fun and social crowd and lots of the other competitors will be having the same thoughts as you.

Our pool based Super Sprints do not need a mammoth amount of training although you may need to put a bit of work in to make the event comfortable to get around. If you want to train with others there are a number of clubs out there but many entrants will train on their own or with friends. Some of our events have specific training sessions available for competitors. For example, Stradbroke Swim and Fitness Centre run a number of training sessions for entrants to Stradbroke triathlon which need to be booked direct through the swimming pool. To find out about these opportunities keep your eyes on social media and contact the site offering training. Training opportunities will also be available at Fritton Lake with details published via social media and via the website, www.frittonlakeoc.co.uk

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