Entrants are being encouraged to get their bookings in now for the Montgomery Canal Triathlon to be held on Saturday 18 May 2024 – with the last day to book being 18 April.

The popular Triathlon is run by the Friends of the Montgomery Canal to support further restoration of the canal. The route of the event is 27 miles long – about Marathon length.

Along the way entrants will:

  • cycle 12½ miles along a cycleway-standard canal towpath from Newtown to Whitehouse Bridge, south of Welshpool,
  • canoe 5 miles through Welshpool to Pool Quay with two locks,
  • and walk (or run) 9½ miles from Pool Quay across the border to Schoolhouse Bridge, Crickheath, south of Oswestry.

Organisers stress that the Montgomery Canal Triathlon is not a race, and entrants will have to take care both on the towpath and when crossing roads where they currently block the canal.

Christine Palin, Chairman of the Friends of the Montgomery Canal said: “The Montgomery Canal Triathlon is one of the highlights of a year when so many exciting things are happening on the canal.

“The Triathlon shows everything that the Montgomery Canal has to offer: sections of canal which still have to be restored; the navigable section through Welshpool which has been open for 28 years; nature reserves specially created to safeguard special plants and wildlife; bridges to be rebuilt in the next year or so with UK Government Levelling-Up funding; Schoolhouse Bridge, the canal’s last highway obstruction in Shropshire, recently reconstructed and now open to road traffic.”

Volunteer restoration work on the canal is supported by the Restore the Montgomery Canal! appeal jointly promoted by the Friends of the Montgomery Canal with the other local canal charities the Shropshire Union Canal Society and the Shrewsbury District & North Wales branch of the Inland Waterways Association. With donations and proceeds of the Triathlon the Friends of the Montgomery Canal have given well over £30,000 to the Restore the Montgomery Canal! Appeal with much more coming from individual members.

On the basis of bookings to date, at least 200 entrants are expected and as entries close on 18th April (or earlier if all places are taken), anyone wishing to enter should secure their place no at https://themontgomerycanal.org.uk/events/book-online-for-the-2024-montgomery-canal-triathlon/.