Staff Writer Richan Drever writes about KCL Triathlon’s build-up to the 2026 Varsity duathlon race.
King’s College London’s (KCL’s) Triathlon have enjoyed a thoroughly successful season so far, having already competed in the BUCS duathlon in November, up in Leicester. President Tim Lee described it as a ‘really successful good day out for people just new to multisports, but also for those who wanted to absolutely send it on the bike and the run’. The club is hoping to build off this good form and is looking forward to facing University College London (UCL) on Wednesday, 25 March.
The club is currently in an excellent position with a mixture of returning members from last year, as well as new young members which Tim describes as ‘a new guard who are ready to fight and compete.’ KCL Triathlon has experienced amazing growth this past year, with higher commitment to the many training hours, comprising sessions every day apart from Monday, with some days having multiple sessions on offer.
This year’s varsity race will be a duathlon, following the exact same format as the BUCS duathlon championship. The race consists of a 20-kilometre cycle sandwiched between two runs, with the first run being five kilometres and the final run being 2.5 kilometres. Despite being somewhat shorter than other triathlon events, it will still be a tough course for the athletes, as Tim shared that their ‘legs will feel like jelly‘ before the last run after the cycle phase, making it extremely difficult physically and mentally.
Beyond just the challenging cycling and running phases, the transitions between each event are highly important and could potentially make or break your race. He claims that athletes can ‘completely mess up their race’ if their transition phase goes wrong, having a substantial effect on the outcome. It will be very interesting to see how our athletes will approach this come race day, with the president also saying there are various techniques which are ‘high risk, high reward’ such as the flyinng mount which requires you to mount your bike whilst moving with your shoes already clipped onto the bike prior.
This race will feature about 20 to 25 athletes competing across both clubs, competing in both an open and female field. The top three finishers in each field will receive points, which will then go to the overall Varsity total. One thing the club is proud of is having a roughly even 50/50 split of male and female athletes and such a great turnout is something that Tim mentioned he is ‘really happy’ about.
The race will take place at Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. According to Tim, the club is especially excited to compete in such a prestigious location due to the ‘smooth road surfaces, nice twist turns, climbs and descents‘, which will lead to faster times. From a fan’s perspective, there will also be several excellent spots to watch the race. In particular, Tim recommends the home straight as ‘it’s the first place the athletes will go, as well as being where the cyclists will be bombing down the downhill’.
You can watch KCL Triathlon take on UCL at the Lee Valley Velo Park at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 25 March from 11:00.
