Scarborough’s GB triathlon star Harry Butterworth secures fifth place in Grand Final

Harry travelled from his Cardiff University training base to the Mallory Park racing circuit in Leicester in the event that was the conclusion to the British Triathlon Super Series season.

The seniors event course comprised a 750 metre swim in the lake in the centre of the circuit, a 20 km draft-legal cycle leg and a 5Km run around the technical circuit.

Temperatures approaching 30 degrees C tested all of the athletes and meant the swim was a non-wetsuit race in a lake that made the exit difficult due to significantly reduced water levels.

However, this did not prevent Harry getting into his stroke, competing with the early leaders, heading out of the swim and into the first transition in 11 place in a time of 10 minutes dead.

Narrowly missing out on the main bike pack, Harry worked hard together with three other athletes to bridge the gap to join the main bike pack on the penultimate lap of the bike leg.

With tyre temperatures high, Harry was lucky to steer round a rider who slid out on one of the tight technical circuit corners. Into the bike/run transition in a good position, with temperatures soaring, the 5K run leg to the finish was a gruelling challenge.

Racing clever, Harry overcame the urge to compete with passing runners and conserved his energy for the later stages of the race.

Steadily increasing his pace over the second half of the race saw him regain his place with the leaders. A spring finish saw him finish the run in 16 minutes and 39 seconds and finishing a very impressive fifth overall in a time of 58 minutes and 12 seconds.

Harry’s final British Triathlon race of the season saw him finish up in 6th place in the series rankings after five races. An impressive overall performance, considering this was his first season as a senior triathlete competing against Commonwealth Games athletes and medallists and Olympic Games hopefuls.

In addition to Harry’s domestic race schedule, his season included representing Great Britain in the 2023 European Triathlon Premium Cup at Holten in The Netherlands and he was also recently invited to race at a French Grand Prix duathlon for the French team Stade Poitevin Triathlon.

With the triathlon season at a conclusion, Harry turns his efforts to a number of domestic races and will be competing at the forthcoming McCains 10K road race in Scarborough, hoping to retain the top spot he claimed in last year’s race.

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