Gear restrictions are designed to ensure children do not push gears that are too big (or two high). This is to ensure riders are not pushing too hard a gear and potentially damaging developing bodies, and to offer a level playing field in races. Please see the British Triathlon Gear & Maximum Rollout Distance Tables to see the exact gears required. At our Sprint Torbay Triathlon on Sunday 7th April, which is a South West Junior Series Event, we will be checking all gears for Tristar 1, Tristar 2 & Tristar 3 competitors. If gears are too high we will use the adjustment screws to disable the top one or two gears on the bike.

We're doing our best to minimise our environmental impact. Here are a few of our initiatives. Trees Not Tees For all the events where we include a t-shirt, we're now offering the option to plant a tree instead. We've partnered with Treesnottees.com to make this happen. Avoiding Single Use Plastics We use paper cups designed to be fully recycled back into high grade paper. Medals now optional We know quite a lot of competitors are not interested in finishers medals so they are now optional. We make a £2 charity donation for every medal not selected. Swim hats on request We still supply swim hats for our open water swim events as they help the water safety teams keep track of swimmers. However for all our pool events, swim hats are now on request to reduce wastage. Zip Ties & waste We only use reusable zip ties. We minimise single use plastics & sort rubbish for recycling after our events. Food is not wasted For events, such as our cycling sportives, where we're know for our excellent feed stations, all left over food goes to the local foodbank. Reducing Car use In Devon where most of our events take place this is easier said than done. However at our Burrator 10K running race we offer a £5 discount to anyone who commits to walking or cycling to the event. We'll be looking to add this to other events in the future. To read more about our sustainability policies read our article

Yes, these are provided and should be attached with the velcro strap to your left ankle. Please ensure it is not covered up by a wetsuit or tracksuit or we may not be able to read your chip. Please return your chip at the end of the event.

No, all our events are open to all whether you're a member of a club or not.

What Triathlon is all about?  Click here for our Guide to Junior Triathlons Or to find a local junior triathlon club use the Club Find on the British Triathlon website - www.britishtriathlon.org/clubs If you can't find a local triathlon club with a junior section the next best thing is to get your child involved with the local swimming club, running club or cycling club. For example Mid Devon Cycling Club offers excellent junior bike coaching at Torbay Velopark for children aged 7 and above.

Sorry, we are not able to offer refunds as we start to incur costs as soon as we announce an event. However we now offer free name changes up to 7 days before an event with our booking software Eventrac and the chance to transfer yourself to a different event. Just scroll to the bottom of your email receipt and click the link which says  'online receipt'. You will then see options to transfer your entry to another event or another competitor. For all deferrals you must contact us a minimum of 7 days before the event and transfers are subject to an admin fee of £8 plus any difference in price. We've now enabled Refund Protect on all our events. That means you can pay a fee at the time of registration to insure against not being able to attend due to illness, injury, bereavement etc! Read what's covered when you sign up. If you need to make a claim click here

Yes you can. If you are transferring to a more expensive option (eg moving from GO TRI to Sprint you will need to pay the difference. There is no partial refund if you are transferring to a shorter race.  Just scroll to the bottom of your email receipt from Eventrac and click the link which says  'online receipt'. You will then see options to transfer your entry. We are also happy to transfer your entry to a different event for a charge of £8 provided you contact us a minimum of 7 days before the date of the event.

For triathlons & duathlons your age group or your child's age group is calculated from your age on 31st December in the year of the competition. If, for example, you are 39 but turn 40 on 30th December you will compete as a Vet 40 for the whole of that year. Similarly if your child is 7 but turns 8 in December they are eligible to enter any Tristar Start event.
For events on open roads the minimum age is 15 or 17 for the longer Standard/Olympic distance events. However for our Pool-based triathlons the minimum age is 8 by 31st Dec in the year of competition or 5 for the Torbay Triathlons. And at our Donut Duathlon we have a mini duathlon with a bike or scoot followed by a run for children aged 3-7.
Just to confuse matters England Athletics (under whose rules we run most of our running events) use age on the day of the race instead of age at the end of the year.
Here is a summary of all the age groups (all ages are on 31st Dec of year of competition). Distances increase as children progress through TriStar. On our registration form just choose Tristar or Novice & you'll be automatically allocated to the correct category. The Novice events are aimed at children who are less  confident swimmers or trying triathlon for the first time.
Mini Duathlon ages 3-7 (only at our Donut Duathlon)
Mini Tri age 5, 6 & 7 (only at our Tavistock & Torbay Triathlons)
Tristar Start aged 8 (includes 8 year old novices)
Tristar 1 - aged 9-10
Tristar 2 - aged 11-12
Tristar 3 - aged 13-14
Youth - aged 15-16
Junior - aged 17-19
Novice 1 - aged 9-10 (same distances as Tristar Start)
Novice 2 - aged 11-14 (same distances as Tristar 2)
Senior - aged 20-39
Vet 40 - aged 40-49
Vet 50 - aged 50-59
Vet 60 - aged 60-69
Vet 70 - aged 70+

The special kit you need is minimal. There really is no need to buy expensive equipment before your first duathlon or triathlon For Duathlons you need

• A road worthy bike (hybrids, mountain bikes & gravel bikes are all fine)
• A helmet
• A pair of trainers to run and cycle in
• A waterproof jacket and some gloves in case the weather is bad

For our pool based triathlons you need

• The equipment listed above for a duathlon
• A swimming costume
• Swimming goggles (not 100 percent essential but almost everybody uses them)

For our Open Water Triathlons

• You will probably need a wetsuit for the Dartmouth Triathlon.  They are usually optional for the English Riviera Triathlon and for the Dawlish Triathlon.  Under British Triathlon rules are compulsory if the water is below 14C. However they can be hired if you're trying an open water triathlon for the first time

Other recommended kit

• A race belt. These can save you time in transition as you can just clip on your number instead of having to put on a t-shirt with your race number on. Display your number at the back for the bike leg, then turn it to the front for the run. Sportiva Race Belts cost just £6.95 from our Shop
• Elastic laces . These cost from about £5. They replace the normal laces in your trainers and can really speed up the switch from biking to running!
• Trisuit. This is a one piece suit suitable for a complete triathlon. See our Triathlon Tips article for further details.
• Bottle cage & bottle for your bike. These cost from about £10 . The bike is the easiest place to take on fluid in a triathlon or duathlon so definitely a good idea to get one.

All our triathlons are British Triathlon affiliated and listed on britishtriathlon.org/. In late 2023, British Triathlon changed their Day Membership scheme to a new Race Pass system. You will now pay £8 for a Race Pass if you are aged 25 or over by 31st December in the year of competition. For anyone under 25 by that date the race pass costs £2. So if you're over 25 & planning to compete regularly a British Triathlon membership probably makes more sense. Find out more at www.britishtriathlon.org/join Swim Bike Run events, formerly GO TRI, aimed at beginners do not require a Race Pass which means the cost to take part is as little as £5.  To keep entry costs down our Donut Duathlon and our Open Water Swims are not British Triathlon affiliated which means you do not need to purchase a day membership to take part. The Donut Duathlon is run under British Triathlon rules however.