Senior European Cup Santa Cruz, Tenerife

I would like to extend a massive thank you to the Jack Bloor Fund for their support towards my Senior European Cup race in Santa Cruz, Tenerife. 

The Grant enabled me to represent Great Britain in this international race, as it went towards travel and accommodation expenses. 

Whilst I was disappointed with my overall result, I had a good swim and a strong bike which allowed me to come onto the run in the first group. This was only my second ever Senior European Cup race, so it was an invaluable experience for me to learn and grow in my journey to becoming a professional triathlete. 

This would not have been possible without the Jack Bloor Fund’s support, and I am incredibly grateful.

Lilly and Evie headed to South Africa for the World Championships in biathle and triathle. Both were at the younger end of their two year age group – just qualifying was an amazing achievement.

The course was tough – sand and a hill in the run section and rough sea for the swim, both tackled these multiple times during the race week! 

First up both had to take part in a biathle heat, both successfully qualified for the final. Both girls then took part in a mixed Biathle relay. Lilly and her partner came 5th and Evie with her partner came 6th. 

The second day was the biathle finals. both girls fought hard, Evie finished 13th and Lilly 12th. Evie was 4th Brit back so just missed out on a team medal. Lilly was 3rd Brit back so made the team and came home with a team silver!

The third day of competition saw Evie do a triathle heat, which she comfortably made the final in. Lilly had another relay this time for mixed triathle. Lilly and her partner finished a respectable 6th place.

The fourth and final day saw both girls compete in the triathle final. Evie finished 14th and Lilly 7th. Evie was 4th Brit back so once again just missed out on a team medal. Lilly was 3rd Brit back meaning another silver team medal.

Thanks again for all the support the girls received from Jack Bloor – it was massively appreciated.

I would like to thank the Jack Bloor Fund for their generous support, which enabled me to travel to Chile to compete in two World Cup triathlon races.

In the World Cup in San Pedro de La Paz, I had a strong swim and made it into a breakaway of four athletes. Working together, we were able to build a 75 second lead. Although I was disappointed not to run to my full potential, I was pleased to finish in 9th place.

Competing in my first season at this level, I am happy to have come away from Chile with two World Cup top-10 finishes. These achievements would not have been possible without the financial assistance provided by the Jack Bloor Fund, which contributed to my travel and accommodation costs and allowed me to gain vital experience on the world stage.

Thank you for the continued support.

I travelled out to Middelkerke in Belgium with the GB squad to represent Great Britain in the Junior category of the UEC Cyclocross European Championships.  This was a fantastic opportunity for me to ride in my first Cyclocross race abroad as a junior.  The racing was hard and fast on a different type of course than I am used to with lots of sand. Unfortunately, I crashed on the first corner leaving me in last position, I managed to fight my way back to finish in 32nd place overall out of 64 riders.  Not the result I was hoping for, but lots learnt and a great experience with lots of positives to take away.  Really looking forward to doing more racing in in Europe and hopefully improving with each race I do.

Thank you to the Jack Bloor fund for supporting me and helping make the trip possible.

Thank you for the generous contribution towards my European Cup Competition. 

This event was only my second ever senior European Cup, and it went well! I placed 37th in a strong field — a solid result to build on. The grant enabled me to take part in this international event by contributing to my travel expenses, accommodation and race entry fees. It has also allowed me to compete again on the international stage this weekend in Alanya, Turkey, at the final Senior European Cup of the year.

Events like these are crucial to my development as an athlete and to my goal of becoming a full-time elite triathlete.

During my in Arber Germany I had the chance to experience different cultures, training styles, and new ways to cope with before and after races. The International Biathlon Union (IBU) required 4 athletes from each chosen country to participate in the camp to develop as athletes, and I was lucky enough to be chosen to take part in the camp. The countries varied from places like Estonian all the way to Brazil, and Chile. This have the camp an amazing atmosphere where during the evenings people could share there different cultures even if there was a language barrier. 

The coaches that the IBU provided where highly skilled and knowledgeable with there teachings as well as bringing a positive attitude towards the sessions. The coaches also varied in nationalities which gave for a wider range of coaching styles that the athletes can use to develop there own skills and techniques. Having a coach that you can talk to and rely on also makes a massive difference to how you as an athlete train and compete, and this is what made these coaches stand out from other coaches. From my experience when I didn’t get something correct the first time they didn’t give negative feedback but instead they said how we could improve the exercise or find a new drill that could give the same benefit as the other, and this is what made them perfect for this camp helping undeveloped counties who might not have the services or opportunities to grow as athletes. 

In the evenings all the countries gathered together to have evening meetings to showcase was to develop as athletes. An example would be that one of the nights we had a highly skilled coach come to talk to us about what makes a good athlete and how to prepare for races. And what he said was to “have a simple plan” this plan would include your warm up what you eat and what time you do things ether day before race day, or on race day. Additionally he also told us to write down a “what if list” to get ride of race day nerves as this is “wasted energy”. I found this the most useful out of all the meeting that took place during the camp because it helped me to change the way I view competing in races making me more efficient. 

Finally at the end of the week we had a mixed relay where you have to shoot 5 shots prone and 5 shots stand and where the total circuit was a distance of 5km. This race I felt like I was most efficient with both shooting and skiing due to the fact that I put into practice what I had learnt during that week to the best of my ability. 

In conclusion the Jack Bloor Memorial Fund has helped me to be able to travel to this amazing place with the best facilities and coaches to help make we the best version of myself. 

Once again I would like to send a massive thank you to the Jack Bloor Memorial Fund.

Finding out incredibly late that I was going to be running for Great Britain and Northern Island became the first challenge of the week! With only a day to book flights and trains, pack kit and prepare myself for the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Canfranc, Spain, this was only made possible with support from the Jack Bloor Fund helping cover costs.

It all began on Thursday the 25th September at 4am driving to the airport ready for a long day of travel. 

On the Friday we had the opportunity to walk the course, a fast start and finish, with lots of switchbacks in the middle-my favourite! On Saturday we relaxed and had a pre race meeting. Sunday was the big day. We had an early start (an even earlier start for the U20 Women!) to get to the race in time for warming up and then it was race time. Our race was over a 7.8km course with 400m of ascent. 

It was an incredibly fast and aggressive start which left me entering the uphill switchbacks quite far back in the field. As the pace dropped I started to work my way through the field pushing with my teammates to keep going. At the top I was in 12th and now for my favourite part! Back and forth through the woods I managed to catch two more places and finished 10th overall! I was over the moon with my result but wanted to see how my team had done. Were we in with a chance of a medal? Uganda took first team clearing up all the medals individually too! But with my teammates Jack Sanderson in 6th, Ewan Busfield in 13th and Rowan Taylor in 28th we got second team!

I had such a great trip made better with such amazing people.

Thanks so much to the Jack Bloor Fund for supporting me I am incredibly grateful.

At the end of September this year I travelled to Molveno, Italy, to race in the Xterra World championships at the full distance race. Which would be my first off road triathlon race at an international level and only my second I have done after Weston Park earlier this year where I qualified for my slot in this race. Thank you very much for the generous support of the Jack Bloor Fund and Trustees for helping to make the trip possible.

I was incredibly excited to race on what looked like an incredibly picturesque, tough and exciting course, in one of the clearest lakes I have seen and some of the most amazing mountains my main aims due to being a relatively new discipline to me being to perform my best and enjoy myself.

My swim set me off to a good start, I managed to follow the slightly faster swimmers ahead, allowing me to exit the water in 8^th place, placing me well as I went through transition and then out onto my two laps of the bike course. 

Due to incredibly wet weather in the days beforehand the bike course was incredibly tough, with some uphill sections so boggy it was rendered almost unrideable, and the mud was sticking to my tyres and blocking up my bike frame leading to an uphill which was a combination of riding and hopping off the bike to run through the sections with no traction. The downhill then started off on a well-maintained trail where I could gain time back on people, before leading into a challenging section on more slippery mud. Once back in the town there was a combination of stairs, drops and ramps around the transition area, which was a very fun sector before the lap started again. 

Unfortunately, on my second lap during the uphill section my bike became too clogged with mud, leading to my chain repeatedly coming off my front chainring. Despite this I managed to find a gear where the chain would stay on and get to the top of the hill and then tackle the descent to bring me to the end of the ride.

I felt good on lap one of my 10km run, settling in on the flats, pushing the uphill and navigating myself through the technical section. My second run lap started similarly, but in the steep uphill my efforts on the bike caught up with me, with my quads starting to cramp. However, I carried on pushing and managed to hold the cramp off to get to the finish.

Overall, this was probably the toughest race I have ever completed, with the extreme conditions presenting unexpected challenges. While I placed slightly lower than hoped, finishing 12th in my age group is a result I’m proud of. I had a lot of fun, pushed my skills to the limit, and look forward to competing in more Xterra races in the future.

 Thank you once again to the Jack Bloor Fund and Trustees for supporting my goals and making this amazing trip possible.

In September, the Jack Bloor Fund was able to fund my trip to the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in the Pyrenees in Canfranc, Spain, in which I competed for Great Britain. This trip was my favourite international trip I had been on, as I got to experience a new place and compete at the highest level in the sport, in some magnificent scenery. It was made even better by the people I shared it with and the support I received from the team, athletes and staff.

My race covered a distance of 7.8km with 400m elevation gain, over some stunning trails in the Pyrenees. I had one of the best races of my life, coming 6th in the U20 men’s category, which left me over the moon with my result. Alongside my result, my teammates also had great races, allowing us to achieve a team silver medal, behind Uganda in the gold medal position.

Without the support of the Jack Bloor Fund, this opportunity wouldn’t have been possible. So, I am extremely grateful for the result I was able to achieve and the experience I gained.

Photo Credits: Jamie Rutherford and Marco Gulberti

This year’s European Championships were held in Belgium, with a focus on the sprint disciplines as the World Championships had been in the forest. It was my first sprint competition as a senior so whilst I didn’t have high expectations, I was nonetheless excited to gain some more experience.

The first race was the mixed sprint relay, which I wasn’t competing in, and a crazy race saw GB claim 5th place which was a great start to the championships. Next up was the knockout qualification, where the margins were fine. I was happy with my race, being just under 30 seconds of qualifying. The highlight for the team here was Freddie making it all the way to the semi-final. The final competition was the individual sprint where I made a frustrating mistake at the map flip which put me out of the running for qualifying despite a good race otherwise.

Overall, I was happy with my performances and have learned a lot of lessons for the future. Many thanks to the Jack Bloor Fund for making it possible!