It may not have been at hot as the JLL Property Triathlon at Dorney Lake near Eton, Berkshire, at the beginning of July, but competition at the firm’s inaugural Property Triathlon North at MediaCityUK in Salford, Greater Manchester, was just as heated.
The event, in partnership with Peel Holdings, took place on a slightly grey and eventually damp 24 July. Some 700 competitors from across the property industry took part, swimming 750m in the Salford Quays, before cycling 20km and running 5km around MediaCityUK.
The fastest man of the day was Paul Horsfall of Hydrock, who crossed the line in 59.26, with the ladies’ winner, Kirsten Walters of Brown Jacobson, getting round the course in 1.15.29.
The triathlon even attracted BBC Breakfast’s Louise Minchin who, fresh from her early morning television broadcast, nipped out of the office to compete in a relay race with brother Mark Grayson, who works in JLL’s corporate solutions team, and husband David. They completed the course in 1.13.38
Competitors helped raise more than £22,000 for the event’s two charities – Starlight and The Christie Charitable Fund – adding to the £167,000 raised earlier in the month at Dorney Lake.
JLL UK chief executive Guy Grainger said: “The atmosphere was brilliant. It’s very different to Dorney Lake. It’s great to be up here in Manchester, and what a great setting at MediaCityUK in Salford. It feels more urban, a bit more buzzy and dynamic and they’re definitely making a good fist of it up here.”
Peel Land & Property development director James Whittaker added: “It’s been a brilliant success. To get 700 people doing it in the first year is great.”
