Race the Sun Keswick: A triathlon-style challenge in an idyllic setting
On Saturday September 6 2025, three friends and I took on the Race the Sun challenge Keswick in the Lake District. The challenge has three sections: a 40-mile bike ride, 11-mile hike and a 2.5-mile kayak. I have had my eye on completing this challenge for a couple of years, so in December 2024, I signed us up for it. The first thing I needed to do was buy myself a road bike off E-bay (£250) and start training for the cycle part of the challenge. Having never done any road cycling, this was going to be the most difficult part of the day for me so I wanted to be prepared.
Prior to taking on the challenge, teams are expected to raise money for the Action Research charity. Teams of two aim to raise £1,000 and teams of four need to raise £2,000. Our team has managed to raise £1,530 at the time of writing – a good effort considering we had a last minute change of personnel due to an injury.
What is the Race the Sun challenge?
Race the Sun is a fun, triathlon-style team fundraising challenge of either teams of two or teams of four. The idea is simple – race against other teams to complete all three sections and record the fastest time possible. There are five locations to choose from: Snowdonia, Jurassic Coast, South Downs, Cheddar Gorge and The Lake District. The money raised by the teams taking part all goes towards Action Research – a charity raising money for sick and vulnerable children.
What to expect completing Race the sun challenge Kewsick
It goes without saying that you need a good level of fitness to complete this challenge, but what else can you expect on the day? Well one thing you can be confident about is that the event will be expertly organised from start to finish. Given the number of people taking part the day is split – everyone begins the day completing the bike section (split into smaller waves of starts from 7am to 8.20am) and then either moving to the hike or the paddle sections. A week or so before the event, you will receive an email with your start time as well as what order your team will complete the race. For our team, we started the cycle at 8am and then moved to the paddle section and completed our day with the hike up Skiddaw mountain.
Throughout all of the disciplines there are plenty of marshals on hand so you are never too far from assistance if required. We saw several people with bike problems such as snapped chains and punctures. There is also a hydration station located around the half-way point of the bike with plenty of water and snacks on hand to help you stay hydrated. There was also one on the hike section (on our challenge it was located about half an hour into the hike, between the path to Latrigg and the start of Skiddaw).
One thing to note is that for safety reasons the organisers need to operate a time-limit towards the end of the day. In terms of our challenge, if you weren’t at the sumit of Skiddaw by 4pm the marshals would turn you back. For the paddle teams the cut-off was 4.30pm. We made the mistake of taking too long between the bike and paddle sections when we were eating our lunch (provided by the event organisers). This put us right on the 4pm limit on the hike – so I would suggest keeping a keen eye on time during your transition periods.
As with any event of this nature, having the right kit is essential – again the organisers send out all the information you need well before the day of the event. There is a central hub where you can keep all your kit in between competing the different disciplines. The Keswick event hub is indoor so your kit is in no danger of getting wet if the weather isn’t good. The hub also has plenty of seating for lunch as well as enjoying the complimentary alcoholic (or non-alcoholic) beverage and BBQ food once you have completed your challenge.
Is Race the sun challenge for you?
So is it worth signing up for Race the Sun? Absolutely. Yes it is a demanding physical challenge but the reward is well worth the effort. Raising money for a great charity, pushing yourself and doing it with a group of friends makes for a thoroughly entertaining day out. Having travelled from Manchester we booked our hotel as soon as we signed up for the event. Several friends also made the trip to support us on the challenge – others were unable to make it as they left booking accommodation too late and everything was booked up. It is worth noting that support is limited due to the nature of the challenge so it was limited to the transition periods in between the different disciplines.
