St. Mary’s Loch Standard Distance Triathlon and Aquabike are set at the spectacular St. Mary’s Loch in the heart of the Scottish Borders – a relatively quiet, unknown and off-the-beaten-track area of massive forests, high rounded moorland hills and beautiful clean rivers.
1500m Swim.
2-Lap Open Water (the exceptionally clean freshwater St. Mary’s Loch).
Deep Water Start.
40km Road Bike.
After exiting the race HQ area, you’ll turn left onto the A708 towards Moffat. This 2-lane quiet road takes you along the Yarrow Valley past the Loch of the Lowes, you then gently climb to the pass that forms the boundary between the Scottish Borders and Dumfries & Galloway. A fast, swoopy descent alongside the juvenile Moffat Water takes you past the mouth of the Grey Mares Tail waterfall.
You will carry on on the undulating road in the Moffat Water valley floor until you reach the turn point near Waterside. Retrace your steps/bike tracks back to St. Mary’s Loch. The road quality is generally very good, and has been recently resurfaced in several sections.
Bike Course Description (PDF).
10km Run.
Entirely off-road, but don’t panic!. You’ll be taking the well established and mostly well surfaced (there are several short sections of well-drained grass field – each around 300m in length, plus a couple of short potentially muddy bits) Southern Upland Way to the eastern end of the Loch, where there will be a dead turn, and you’ll come back the way you went out.
It’s almost completely flat (really!) – a couple of small undulations – maybe 5m climb on each. There are several stiles, gates and ‘kissing gates’ that will need to be negotiated. Road racing flats are not recommended – whilst you won’t need a full-on trail shoe, you should run in something with some grip.
If competing in the Aquabike the course is exactly the same minus the run course.
You will be set off according to age group alongside the triathlon competitors.
Don’t panic, this is not the biking underwater activity you see advertised at some swimming pools, we do not expect your bike to be submerged in water at any point, unless we get biblical rainfall!
This is strictly a swim first, bike second, let the others get on with that running nonsense while you celebrate type of event. Aquabike is the perfect low impact activity for those averse to running or injured and unable to run.
