The 19th Ilkley Triathlon organised by Leeds and Bradford Triathlon Club again proved to be a big hit.

The early conditions were cool and damp and brightened up in the afternoon.

Among the early starters were Team Awesome, made up of members of the LBT Youth Team of Euan Hockey, Michael Knight and Mika Brown. They set a time of 53:43 and this survived the efforts of all other teams to take the team prize.

Zack and Co, a team from Dirtwheels Cycles came closest with 58:25.

Michael Knight had the fastest bike split of the day as part of the team.

The event always attracts a large entry from Ilkley and this year was no exception.

Bradford Council gives a gold card membership for its sports facilities to the first locals with a LS29 postcode to finish and this year the prizes went to Ralph Tench and Janet Grace Emma Hinkles took third place on the ladies podium, with Danica Bonello Spiteri, taking second having held top spot in the individual race for much of the day. Otley’s Racheal Bamford won the race, coming home in 59:28 and finishing in a very respectable seventh place overall.

A mixture of ages were stood on the podium for the men proving that age is no obstacle in the sport of triathlon, with Richard Bewell and Jason Newsome representing the older generation in third place and with Richard taking the fastest run of the day.

Euan Hockey, still a youth and having competed in and won the team event, with the fastest two swims of the day finished in second place only two seconds behind Jonty Bright from Harrogate, who limited his losses in the pool with a great bike split and run time.