The St Ives Biathlon, sponsored by Penwith College and organised by St Ives Surf Life Saving Club, has returned after a three-year break.
More than 250 people entered across all age groups and categories, with returning multi-year winner Neil Eddy first over the main ‘open’ race finish line, hand-in-hand with Connor Keeler (pictured above). They took the winner’s position together.
Annie Williams won the women’s open, with Edie Price and William Davies winning the female and male juniors. Ruth Glover and Chris Crowle won women’s and men’s in the novice race.
The veterans’ race (aged over 40) was won by David Green and Alison Browning, while the winning super veterans (50 and over) were Glenn Eldridge and Jane Hushon.
The event also included team entries, where competitors buddied up, one running and one swimming. The open was won by Alex Cooley and Abbi Stevens, and the juniors by Grace Everitt and Bethany Perkin.
New and returning participants travelled from as far afield as Bristol to take part, with the most senior competitor aged 71. With 20 over-60s taking part this year, the organisers are looking to introduce a new age category for 2024.
Women’s open winner, Annie Williams
“Hundreds of people enjoyed this year’s biathlon, both in and out of the water,” said Chris Simpson, chair of St Ives Surf Life Saving Club and biathlon event lead. “This is with huge thanks to many local organisations who support us in organising the event and keeping people safe whilst participating.
“We would like to thank everyone involved, including SISLSC committee members, RNLI Lifeguards for their continued dedication and support late into a Saturday evening, RNLI inshore lifeboat crew, club board paddlers and lifeguards, marshals, stallholders, goody bag packers, those who transported kit, Sunday school for use of their room, the Fisherman’s Lodge for the use of the lodges, Ocean Supplies for the bags, DM designs for designing our t- shirts, Mel Thomas for First Aid Cover, St Ives Signs for Banners, The Sloop for Korev tokens, Cornish Bakehouse for pasty tokens, Carbis Bay Hotel for supplying a water station, Wind and Sea for printing our tshirts, and many local businesses for raffle prizes.
“Alongside the phenomenal support we receive in organising and hosting the event, we are also reliant on the generosity of local businesses who sponsor it and donate gifts in kind, so that we can meet growing costs, whilst also raising vital funds for our club. We would like to thank all of our business sponsors, many of whom have supported us year on year.”
The starting line at the Fishermen’s Lodges
Participants ran through the streets of St Ives, starting from the Fishermen’s Lodges in the harbour, following the coast path towards Carbis Bay beach for approximately two kilometres, before entering the water and swimming back to the harbour slipway for another two kilometres. Juniors and novices ran to Porthminster beach before swimming back.
