Tenby’s Benjamin Griffiths has celebrated a podium finish at the inaugural Long Course Weekend Mallorca.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ben claimed bronze medal honours at the event held in Alcudia, a natural paradise for endurance sports.

Greenhill School Year 11 student Dylan Johns also celebrated a third place in the 1,500 metres swim in a time of 26 minutes 14 seconds.

The event - a sister to the Long Course Weekend Tenby and Jervis Bay in Australia, which was held the previous week - was a great success with more than 1,000 athletes taking part in the three-day sporting festival.

Among the athletes competing were Long Course Weekend local legends Nicky Rees, who just happens to be Ben’s uncle, and Stephen Rogers who have taken part in every single LCW in Tenby.

In fact it was Nicky who got Ben into the sport of triathlon in 2011.

Born and brought up in Tenby, Ben, whose dad Simon was also taking part, currently lives and works in Manchester after studying for his masters degree in Sheffield.

He works for a small start-up company who make wearable technology for the sports and medical industry called Smartlife. In fact, Ben was wearing a triathlon kit he designed himself for the event!

“I got into triathlon when I was 21 after suffering from a shoulder injury I sustained playing rugby,” explained Ben.

“It was my uncle, Nicky, who inspired me to take up triathlon after hearing about his many adventures with Steve and Mathew Evans, of Activity Wales.

“I took part in the Long Course Weekend back in 2011 and then after completing my undergraduate degree, I spent the summer working and training with my dad, we both went on to do Ironman Wales that summer (2012). Since then, I have been to the age group world championships in duathlon and competed in a large number of swim/bike/run events.”

Ben, who completed LCW Mallorca in eight hours 23 minutes 51, added: “I thought the race was exceptional. The organisers did a great job of putting their own spin on the race, making it different to LCW back home, but still with the same fun and friendly atmosphere.

“The swim was amazing in the calm, clear water and it was great starting it early (more time for a post race beer). It was really fun racing the bike on closed roads and the terrain made for some interesting bike tactics. Doing loops of the town was great as there was a fair amount of support and you could see friends and family multiple times for a motivation boost. Hopefully, I’ll be back again next year.”

Sadly, Nicky’s LCW Mallorca journey ended dramatically when an accident on the bike course resulted in him receiving hospital treatment. The incident rocked the local contingent taking part, but as the true hero he is, Nicky was back out supporting on the Sunday for the marathon event. He is wished well for his recovery.

To kick-off the weekend on Friday morning, the Long Course athletes have to complete a 3.8km open water swim. The swim also has a 1.9km distance, 1.5km and 750m, all to correspond with triathlon’s most popular distances. On the Saturday, the attention turns to the sportive, the bike day, and 172km of ondulating countryside that also incorporates 86km, distance to attract athletes of all abilities. To finish the weekend on Sunday, the athletes will complete the run day - a 42.2km marathon. There is also a 21.1km run, 10km run and a 5km run which allows everyone to be involved.

The event was a cracking feast of triathlon at its very best with the last day bringing a thrilling marathon run race. After 42,195 metres, Ironman Wales champion Lucy Gossage and Tom Vickery, who appeared on our front page when he hoisted his running colleague onto his shoulders at July’s Long Course Weekend event here, became the first winners of the competition.

Vickery was second after the bike day, and on his debut in a marathon distance, he took the victory in 8h15:39 with one minute gap to James Elgar, second of the full Long Course Weekend distance. Benjamin Griffiths finished third, while Andrew Diplock, the leader after the swimming, went down to the seventh position.

In the female category, Lucy Gossage confirmed her control over the distance every day and won the marathon too running the 42km in three hours two minutes 14. Gossage got a smooth victory leading the three days. German Birgit Metzler was the second, 52 minutes behind, while Jill Cliff made an awesome run to overtake Dominique Lothaller and got the third position in the general standings.

Said Matthew Evans, of Activity Wales Events: “It was an incredible three weeks in both Australia and Mallorca, with LCW Wales now having sister races overseas.

“The demand for a LCW franchise overseas has been huge for a few years now, but finding the right mix of organiser, location and the other integral ingredients has been difficult.

“However, both the teams from Australia and Mallorca were perfect. They came to Wales last year and were blown away by not only the event, but community interaction, something they both worked on in their events to huge success.

“Next years races are now open and the response has been overwhelming with over half of Mallorca capacity already gone!

“So many people have been involved in this event since 2010 and we thank them all. Another location is already planned for 2018 and 2019 and should they come to fruition, we will have a very strong European product.

“Ben Griffiths was outstanding in Mallorca as was Dylan Johns. Two get two podium finishers from Tenby was very special.”

Entries have now opened for LCW Mallorca 2018, October 27-29.

Further information and this year’s results can be found at www.lcwmallorca.com

Long Course Weekend Mallorca is organised by Kumulus and Ajuntament d’Alcúdia.