Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire is usually a beautiful, serene, quintessentially British sort of place, where visitors happily amble around admiring the stately grandeur of the birthplace of Winston Churchill before enjoying afternoon tea and dithering over trinkets in the palace gift shop.

Next month however, the  peacefulness of the 300-year old building and its Capability Brown-designed grounds will be ruined as several thousand competitors, including me, descend upon the site for the annual Blenheim Triathlon.

The usually-serene courtyard will be packed full of row upon row of bikes underneath which will be piles of towels, shoes, helmets and other necessary kit, and throughout the weekend barefooted, wetsuited competitors will be seen gingerly making their way down to the start of the race, an icy plunge into the waters of Blenheim’s lake.

All around the grounds spectators will line the route to cheer on their friends and families as they first swim across the murky water and then cycle and run around the course before staggering, exhausted and muddy but cheerful, over the finishing line.

Getting so many triathletes round the course during the weekend is quite an incredible feat of organisation – especially considering there is so much equipment involved in a triathlon – and after many years of of planning, the race organisers have got it off to a fine art.

Everyone is given a time they can put their bikes and running kit in the transition area before their own race begins (big though the palace courtyard is, it can’t hold several thousand bikes at once) and while you are wheeling your bike in to your allotted stand, there is a constant blur of competitors in the middle of their races dashing by you to pick up or drop off their own bikes.

Once you’re set up, it’s off down the hill in your wetsuit to join the 30 or so other people in your race wave – and even time for a little warm up led by an exurberent Welshman who encourages everyone to have a hug before taking the plunge into the water. Two hours later (all being well) you are bedraggled but buoyant as you return to pick up your bike and associated clobber, but this time sporting a medal round your neck.

This year will be my fourth trip up the M40 to Blenheim Palace with my bike clinging onto the back of my car, and I am looking forward to it with my usual mix of nerves and trepidation. I never seem to find the time to do as much training as I’d like, and as a pretty hopeless swimmer I never look forward to the icy embrace of the lake.

However cycling through the beautiful (if surprisingly hilly) grounds is always a treat and the run at the end is usually just a painful blur which thankfully doesn’t last too long before someone is awarding me a medal and a bottle of energy drink.

In fact the highlight for me is usually the weekend in the Cotswolds I reward myself with afterwards, when I feel I can really indulge in some fine food and ale in some of Britain’s finest pubs, just because I spent two hours on the Saturday morning hurling myself through a 750m swim, 20k bike ride and 5k run to the point of exhaustion.

But of course there is a huge sense of achievement after getting round the course in one piece, and it does mean that for the month or so beforehand I am sufficiently panicked by the looming deadline to actually try and get fit. (Fit-ish anyway)

This year I am raising funds for the official Blenheim Triathlon charity, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, and am hoping to raise around £2000 for this very worthwhile cause.

You can donate through my website at www.virginmoneygiving.com/sarahbridge so please please please do include me in your summer charitable giving and I’ll let you know how I get on!

Many thanks for your support,
Sarah

www.theblenheimtriathlon.com

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