Swanage Challenge

Swanage Challenge Events - Triathlon 

Sunday 29th June 2025 - (1500m swim, 38km bike, 10km run)

Official welcome message on their website makes it look like a pleasant day out. 

The Original Swanage Triathlon Festival is set in the seaside town of Swanage, which resides in an area of outstanding beauty known as The Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. The open water swim is within Swanage Bay, where, if the water's clear, you may be able to spot some great sea life. The bike section is not for the faint-hearted as it includes several hill climbs, but when you go up, you must come down, including a great descent on Kingston Hill! You head out of Swanage to Wareham and back over the Purbeck Mountains. The run heads North out of Swanage Town and up onto Ballard Down Ridge, an area of chalk downland on the Purbeck Hills. The routes are challenging, but the views are worth it, we promise!

Lauren and Michael signed up for the Swanage Challenge Events - Triathlon. Susan, Robert and I went as support and encouragement when they reached the low points and wanted to quit. We would never let that happen; it would be a wasted day out for us. We were there to see them push themselves to the limit. They would be expected to start at 07:30 with a swim of 1500m. As the weather was slightly overcast and the air temperature was 20 degrees C, they all donned wetsuits. First mistake, it is the middle of summer and we, spectators, expect to see young, fit men and women in skimpy swimsuits, frolicking in the water. Apparently, the wetsuit gives them buoyancy.

Modern triathletes now have a special tri-suit; they can swim in it and then jump on their bikes and do their ride, only having to change their footwear, same for the run. Lauren and Michael can be seen showing off the advantages of these multipurpose suits further down the page. 

Lauren and Michael registered for the event the day before to avoid the last-minute rush. Beautiful, sunny. warm day, and Swanage was not that busy. After registration, we wandered into town for Fish and Chips, managing to avoid the hungry seagulls, waiting for the opportunity to dive into our trays of chips. We were promised ice cream. Swanage never disappoints, and with full tummies, we headed home for a BBQ and pasta for the triathletes.

Back to the triathlon, whether it be running, riding or swimming. Triathloning gains its strength from the drama and excitement of the contest, but also, I suspect, from its reliance on the individual, its dependence on the endurance of the human body, and its familiarity, both physical and verbal. Be that as it may, these triathletes are fit, well, they should be. For Lauren, it is a passion; she puts her all into the training, giving her the reassurance that she is physically capable of competing and has that overwhelming desire to do well. Michael is always as prepared, he does not let it get to him, he seems to have an air of confidence, it will be what it will be, and he always seems to enjoy the contest, with himself and against the other competitors. Just to be clear, Triathloning refers to the sport of triathlon, an endurance event consisting of swimming, cycling, and running in sequence, including the transitions between each leg. Interestingly, Lauren was much faster than Michael when transitioning from swimming to cycling. He is a boy, so he took a few moments to comb his hair and fit his helmet on just right. Lauren even had time to do a quick touchup to her makeup.

Let me not make light of their achievement. 

When the early morning sun comes up, 7:30 am is fast approaching, they are ready. All the early morning training swims, the late evening hours on training runs and the long weekend rides are all behind them now. They are at the point of no return. The tension builds, time seems to stand still, until that starter gun breaks the silence, and they swim, then they ride, and then they run. They are triathletes, challenging themselves, believing in themselves. The song about triathlons puts it in a beautiful way. “You and me, the challenge family’

Lauren and Michael finished in 3 hrs 2 minutes. Putting Lauren in 8th in the women’s group and Michael 29th in the men's out of a total of 85 men and women competing.

When they were done, we listened to the stories of the race. How good it was to start the swim together, jump on their bikes after the transition and seeing Susan and Robert while riding down the hill at Corfe Castle. Lauren commented on the final kilometre of her run.

"I knew there were no more hills, the hard work was done, and I went for it to get my run done in under an hour and got a 1km personal best."

We begin to see their event in a different light, how they felt and how they pushed and how pleased they were to finish. They glow in what they have achieved, so they should. We are all proud of them, and we hope to see them doing it all again in August. 

Listen to the full song here -

01 - We Are Triathlon

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