Morning endurance fans…

The summer endurance season has most definitely arrived, with a weekend of huge races across triathlon’s wide spectrum.

We have the T100 World Tour rolling into San Francisco later today, Hamburg could see the first-ever sub-8-hour women’s IRONMAN tomorrow, and Supertri returns to the spectacular surroundings of Blenheim Palace as short-course racing continues to build momentum.

We also offer a huge congratulations to Britain's Caroline Livesey, who has once again rewritten the record books with a stunning new fastest known time around Scotland’s legendary North Coast 500 route. She tells us all about her incredible achievement.

Let's get stuck in…

🦿 INSPIRING: Amputee Chris Arthey will take part in his seventh Blenheim Palace triathlon this weekend at the latest Supertri event. Read HERE.

🥇 LEGEND: Double-gold medallist Alistair Brownlee will fulfil a lifetime’s ambition when he lines up for the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon. Read HERE.

🥾 EQUALITY: Gemma Hillier-Moses believes women need to feel more comfortable if more are to take part in trail-running events. Read HERE.

🎽 RUNNING: The greatest men’s ultrarunner of all time, Kilian Jornet, has confirmed that he plans to line up at the Western States. Read HERE.

The spectacular setting of San Francisco plays host to the second men’s race of the 2026 T100 Triathlon World Tour – and we look to have a cracking event in prospect later today.

The Sokin T100 San Francisco will be part of the legendary Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon weekend, and we have a stellar 21-man field lining up, albeit not quite as strong as it might have been.

Starting at 06:35 local time, this corresponds to 14:35 in the UK, 15:35 in Central Europe, 09:35 on the US West Coast, 23:35 on Australia’s Gold Coast and 01:35 on Sunday in New Zealand.

The live broadcast begins five minutes beforehand and is available in a multitude of ways.

Viewers around the world will be able to watch the event live and for free by downloading and registering for an account via Triathlonlive.tv.

There is no doubting who wears the #1 bib – Hayden Wilde. The Kiwi has raced eight times in this format and notched seven victories. And the odd one out was that lap-counting fiasco in Dubai.

He looked as dominant as ever in the season opener in Singapore, but there might just be a ray of hope for his rivals as he did miss last weekend’s WTCS race in Alghero because of illness. But as things stand, he’s back for this.

The next five in the PTO World Rankings had all been set to take him on in San Francisco, but #2 Jelle Geens and #6 Marten Van Riel have since been scratched from the start list and now #3 Mika Noodt (GER) has gone too after six T100 podiums from his last seven races, the odd one out being fourth place in the Grand Final in Qatar.

But last year’s winner, Rico Bogen (GER), is back to defend his title, and the PTO #4 warmed up with a second place at IRONMAN 70.3 Aix-en-Provence last month.

Home fans should have plenty of cheer, too if #5-ranked Morgan Pearson continues his T100 progress.

Hamburg is a city steeped in triathlon folklore, and it could witness history on Sunday with the first sub-eight-hour time in a women’s full-distance race.

That mark was under threat for a while last year when Laura Philipp, Kat Matthews and Solveig Løvseth pushed each other all the way, with Philipp stopping the clock in 8:03:13 as torrential rain drenched everyone in the closing stages.

And similar strength in depth is on show this year as Philipp and reigning IRONMAN World Champion Løvseth both return, along with a host of other big names.

Those names include Marjolaine Pierré (FRA), who will be a threat to all and arrives in form, having beaten Philipp and co at 70.3 Aix-en-Provence. Lisa Perterer (AUT) had a superb 2025, followed by a frustrating time early in 2026, but is hopefully back on track now, while Brits Holly Lawrence and India Lee are others to watch, as is Denmark’s Katrine Græsbøll Christensen.

No fewer than six Kona spots are up for grabs in what is the women’s IRONMAN European Championship – there is no pro men’s race, with the equivalent taking place at IRONMAN Frankfurt later this month.

IRONMAN Hamburg will take place tomorrow, with the professional race beginning at 06:15 local time (which is CEST), which corresponds to 05:15 in the UK, 00:15 on the East Coast and 21:15 on the West Coast on Saturday evening.

The race will be broadcast live on the IRONMAN YouTube channel.

A world-class field will line up at Blenheim Palace this weekend as the second Supertri Pro Series event of the season takes place within the splendour of its historic grounds.

France’s Léonie Périault, one of the most decorated athletes on the international circuit, and compatriot Emma Lombardi race in the women’s field alongside Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen and Slovakia’s Zuzana Michaličková, who finished third at the series opener in Austin.

Racing on home soil, Great Britain’s Jess Fullagar and Olivia Mathias will be among those carrying the hopes of the home crowd, with both athletes looking to make their mark on an international stage on a course they know well.

​On the men’s side, Australia’s Luke Willian, Italy’s Alessio Crociani and Canada’s Charles Paquet add international depth to a field dominated by young British talent. Former Supertri E World Champion Chase McQueen (USA) and the Netherlands’ Mitch Kolkman are also among the confirmed starters.

Great Britain’s Oliver Conway and Hugo Milner represent some of the most exciting emerging British talent in the field, racing in front of a home crowd at one of triathlon’s most iconic venues.

We have a busy weekend of triathlon action ahead with ten further IRONMAN-badged events taking place around the world.

These include both a full-distance and a 70.3 race at IM Philippines, as well as 70.3s in venues such as Alghero (Italy), Warsaw (Poland), Bolton (UK), Rapperswil-Jona (Switzerland), Western Massachusetts (USA), Omaha (USA), Barranquilla (Columbia) and Durban (South Africa).

The XTERRA is also taking place in Belgium on what is undoubtedly the busiest weekend of the season so far.

Giro d’Italia (Women): Célia Gery out-sprinted Lucinda Brand and Chantal Pegolo to win stage seven of the Giro d'Italia Women after a daring descent.

The 20-year-old FDJ United-SUEZ rider got herself into a winning position and recorded her first career victory, after bridging to the break on the day's only classified climb, with Brand (Lidl - Trek) and Pegolo (Isolmant - Premac - Vittori) taking second and third place, respectively.

Earlier in the day, race leader Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) and Marlen Reusser (Movistar) were caught up in a crash involving multiple riders. However, Van der Breggen remains in pink.

For more information, head to Cycling Weekly, HERE.

Tired, sore and unable to fully comprehend the enormity of her incredible achievement, Caroline Livesey reflected on this week’s record-breaking North Coast 500 ride and insisted, ‘I could not have gone any quicker’.

The endurance superstar had clearly given everything she had. Six months of meticulous planning had culminated in an astonishing 32 hours and 22 minutes of pure pedal power around the Scottish Highlands, and she knew there was nothing left in the tank.

Even when her support crew informed her that she was three hours ahead of record pace, she refused to let up. While 35 hours was enough to claim the world record for a supported female – ratified by the World Ultra Cycling Association (WUCA) and Guinness World Records – she had other ideas.

The triathlete and gravel bike champion had trained so well in the lead-up to this week’s challenge that simply beating the old time of 36 hours and 39 minutes was not going to be enough for an athlete who clearly loves to push her body to the absolute limit.

Having set off from Inverness Castle at 4am on Wednesday, she whizzed through the towns and villages of Applecross and Achmelvich in the west and Durness and Duncansby Head in the north on a nonstop 830km (516 miles) clockwise trek around the scenic yet seriously punishing roads of north Scotland.

While it rained for 80% of her journey, crucially, there had been very little in the way of wind, and she returned to the Highland city having smashed the previous FKT by more than four hours.

Speaking to TRI247 as she continued her recovery from the ride this week, she said: “It was amazing. My body was very, very sore last night, and I was still kind of wired, so I didn’t sleep that well. I went up for another sleep just now, and I woke thinking that of all the hard things I’ve done so far, I think this might be the one I’ve enjoyed the most.

“A lot of that is because my preparation was so meticulous. I really had a very successful training block. Sometimes when you’re doing training blocks for hard things, you get injured, you get sick, or things just don’t go to plan, but I just had an amazing time.

“It made things easier, and it wasn’t easy, don’t get me wrong. It really wasn’t easy, but it made it easier to enjoy it because I was in a physical place where I was just able to go out there and do it at a pace that I knew I could hold.”

That pace ended up being a remarkable 27kph (16.7mph); something she knew she was capable of, having already achieved something similar on one of her many training runs.

“I was never just going there to simply try and break this record,” she said. “I have this approach with all the endurance events I do. I want to go there, and I want to execute it in the best way that I possibly can.

“When the team were saying to me that I was three hours ahead of the record pace, it meant nothing to me. I wasn’t going to relax and go, ‘Oh, OK, well, I’ll just chill then and have a cup of tea’. For me, it was all about knowing what I could do, and in my head, I worked out that 32 hours was the fastest possible physical time that I could do.

“Somewhere between 32 and 35 was the goal. If it’s in the 33/34 hour mark, I would be really happy. If it’s 32 and something, I’ll know that I’ve executed it perfectly and that everything has gone to plan, there have been no problems, and I’ve absolutely nailed it.

“So, when I finished, I asked someone the running clock time, because by then my maths brain had gone out the window, and they said 32 hours, 22 minutes. Yeah. I was absolutely delighted. I could not have gone any quicker.”

Forced to dig deep both mentally and physically, she pushed on through her darkest hours by reminding herself of the main reason she took on this ‘crazy’ challenge in the first place – raising funds for her charity, Peak Education Nepal.

Founded with her husband, Mark, they provide children who cannot afford it with the opportunity to get an education. It was the faces of those students that gave Caroline the momentum to ride on through the night without sleep.

“It was really important to us that we had a foundation for fundraising for the charity and actually getting the name of the charity out there,” she said. “The whole idea in the first place was to do something crazy that people would engage with and raise awareness and funds for the charity.

“One of the things that kept me going during the dark moments on that ride was thinking about each of the children that we currently support. I know each of them personally because we were there in December and we met all of them.

“I was thinking about one of our girls. She wants to go on and do a nursing degree, and now we have the money to fund that for her. It’s a very tangible thing that I’m doing. Getting this money donated. I know where this money’s going… and I know how much good it is going to do.”

You can read more about the Peak Education Nepal charity and donate to their cause on the website HERE.

A frustrated Lionel Sanders has revealed that he is once again struggling to recover from injury – and is seeking answers as to why his body continues to break down on him.

In his latest Instagram post, the Canadian superstar of triathlon explained that while ‘sick’ of being injured, he was still keen to get to the bottom of the issues as he pushes to get his career back on track.

“Really sick of being injured. This is now my second or third run-related injury in the last year, and I’m very motivated to figure out how to stop this cycle from continuing.

“A lot of these injuries seem to stem from impact and bone stress, so I’m actually excited to explore a different approach moving forward: more treadmill running, more controlled loading, and hopefully a more sustainable path back to consistent training.

“In the meantime, I’ve tried to use this time away from running productively. I’ve gotten back to enjoying quality biking and swimming again, putting in good work, and reconnecting with the process instead of just chasing outcomes.

“One step at a time. Heal fully. Build smarter. Keep moving forward.”

Sanders struggled at his last race, IRONMAN Texas, and had hoped that turning to the ‘Norwegian Method’ of training might improve his prospects, but injuries continue to deny him that opportunity.

At Supertri Blenheim Palace this weekend, triathlon legend Jonny Brownlee will line up for the Weekend Warrior, attempting to do something no triathlete has ever done before: complete ten full sprint triathlons in a single weekend.

Roughly 7.5km of swimming, 200km on the bike and 50km of running, stacked back-to-back across two days, all of it ridden and run on the same closed-road course as the thousands of amateurs lining up beside him.

It sounds like a simple story of endurance. But for a three-time Olympic medallist who is fit and strong and well prepared, the physical distance should be achievable. The thing that will actually decide whether Brownlee makes history is far less romantic: a clock and two uncompromising cut-off times.

Each day, the swim entry closes at a fixed time. Miss it, and you don't start the next race – no appeals, no exceptions.

Saturday: First wave 9:10, swim cut-off 15:40.

Sunday: First wave 10:30, swim cut-off 14:20.

Every lap of the challenge is a swim, a bike, a run and then a reset and a jog back to the swim start to slot into the next available wave. Brownlee puts a single race at between 64 minutes – the time of the male winner of this event for a single sprint-distance triathlon last year – and 70-75 minutes… plus roughly five minutes to get back to the start line.

Call it a 75-minute turnaround per triathlon when it’s flowing well.

That number is the whole game, and here’s why.

The Saturday window runs from 9:10 to 15:40 – six and a half hours, or 390 minutes. To get six swims away within that time, Brownlee has to launch his sixth and final swim by 15:40. That allows five gaps between six starts, which works out at a hard ceiling of 78 minutes per lap.

Hold 75-minute laps, and he will start his swims at 09:10, 10:25, 11:40, 12:55, 14:10, and 15:25… but should those 75-minute laps edge out to 80 per lap, then he won’t have enough time to get back for the final swim start of the day… and his challenge will be over.

Sunday is tighter still, with only three hours and 50 minutes for him to get four races in, with the swim cut-off at 14:20.

Strip away the headline distances, and the record comes down to one instruction that Brownlee has to obey for two days straight: keep every lap under roughly 75 minutes, start to start.

Six races on Saturday, four on Sunday: That’s the only route to ten – Sunday’s window physically can’t hold a fifth, so Saturday has to deliver the full six.

Protect the turnaround, not the race: His racing speed is unlikely to be the issue; the gap between is where minutes leak away. Five wasted minutes a lap is the difference between 75 and 80 — and on Saturday, 80 costs him a race.

Recover overnight: By his own admission, the plan only holds ‘if the legs recover well’. Sunday's tighter cut-off leaves no margin for stiffness.

Ten sprint triathlons in one single weekend would be a first in the challenge’s history. Whether it happens is less likely to be settled by how fast Jonny Brownlee can swim, bike and run, but more about whether he can keep beating a clock that, twice a day, stops waiting.

Below is an insight from Jonny himself into the kind of training he has been undertaking for this historic challenge... while also balancing the duties of recently becoming a father.

🏊🏻‍♂️ Swim: “This has been the hardest discipline to keep consistent now that I have other priorities!

“I have aimed for three sessions a week. One on technique, one on threshold and one on VO2. I have not done this too many times, but I have probably averaged 11km a week. I used to average nearly 25km.”

🚴‍♂️ Bike: I love riding my bike – I did a lot of riding over the winter and kept it going. I average about 12 hours a week and just under 400km.

“I have a combination of sessions, ranging from riding on my own to chaingangs and fun group rides.”

🏃‍♀️ Run: “Since I got over my injury, I have been consistent – I have done six weeks at about 100km. No sessions. Just easy running with a couple of builds at the end of long runs. Speed won’t be the limiting factor in my challenge.”

Together, we go the distance. — @247_endurance 🏃‍♂️🚴‍♀️🏊‍♂️