SPORTS men and women hit the ground running for St Helen's second annual triathlon.

More than 200 competitors from across the UK endured the tough multi-discipline event of running, cycling and swimming.

The triathlon, sponsored by Tabern Property Consultants in association with bocboc of St Helens, took place last Sunday and began with a swim in Eccleston Mere, a challenging cycle up Shaley Brow and a run starting from Rainford High School.

It was organised by the Steve Prescott Foundation, named after the town's best loved rugby league star who bravely battled a rare form of abdominal cancer for seven years. The former Saints fullback died in 2013 aged 39 following a multi-organ transplant — but not before setting up the foundation in his name, which raises money for the Rugby League Benevolent Fund, Christies Hospital and The Oxford Transplant Foundation.

General manager Martin Blundell said: "We are incredibly proud that we have been able to fulfil Steve's final wishes in such a phenomenal way.

"This is our second triathlon event and despite some logistical problems which meant people only a short time to sign up, we had 215 competitors, which is 50 more than last year. We're delighted."

Winners this year included Sam Wardle, Mark Ashton, Rachel Fairclough, Yvonne Wyke, Mark Glynn, Charlie Stirrup, Kirsten Cameron and Rachel Irwin.

But it wasn't just seasoned athletes which took part.

Mr Blundell said: "We have people of all shapes, sizes and ages who take part, and the team event allows people who aren't confident with a discipline to pair up with someone else who is, so we can make it as inclusive as possible."

The special guest starter for the event was foundation ambassador and war veteran Andy Reid.

The triple amputee also took part in the road race on his hand bike, along with other participants including Neil Prescott and former Saints star Steve Hall.

Mr Blundell said: "Thank you to everyone who took part in the event and congratulations to all the category winners. Everyone can be proud of what the St Helens Triathlon 2016 has achieved. This is an event that the town can be proud of.

"We would like to express our sincere thanks to Matthew Berridge-James of Pheasant Equities for permitting the use of Eccleston Mere, to Pilkington Sailing Club for the use of their facilities and also to John Swindells for permitting the use of his land for car parking and transitions.

"Also thanks also to St Helens Scaffolding for erecting the transition points and to the Marketing Manager Laura Daniels at Rainford High School for facilitating the use of their school site for the event, which would not have been possible without our fantastic support of nearly 100 volunteers."

Event organisers would also like to thank CMH Vehicle Hire of St Helens, St Helens Tri Club, Vital Events, BeUrBest, Tecmark, What's My Time, gymBUG, Sandy Mount Physiotherapy, Paramont, Traffic Direct and Tesco St Helens who all provided vital services to help run the event.

The feedback from the competitors has been extremely positive and the winner of the ladies standard race Kirsten Cameron, racing for Xhale, said: "What a fantastic race. Brilliant marshalling and on course support. Thank you so much."

Prizes were presented by Andy Reid and Claire Hockenhull owner of bocboc of St Helens.

Congratulations to Emily Ashton taking part in her first St Helens Tri who was the first youth female to finish and was 6th overall in the ladies sprint.

Results, which are subject to ratification, can be found at sthelenstriathlon.com/results/

The winners are:

Male Sprint Open event (750m swim, 20k cycle and 5k run):

Sam Wardle in 1:08:16:00

Male Sprint over 40:

Mark Ashton 1:19:50:8

Ladies Open Sprint:

Rachel Fairclough 1:23:12:3

Ladies Sprint over 40:

Yvonne Wyke

Male Standard Open event (1500m swim, 40k cycle and 10k run):

Mark Glynn in 2:27:20:3

Male Standard over 40:

Charlie Stirrup 2:36:21.1

Ladies Open Standard:

Kirsten Cameron in 2:37:29:1

Ladies Standard over 40:

Rachel Irwin 3:25:58.9

Relay winners:

Standard distance: 1st Mark Glynn, 2nd Chris Green;

Sprint distance: 1st Sam Wardle (beating the first relay team by more than minutes), 2nd Peter Fairclough;

Over 40s: 1st Mark Ashton, 3rd Mike Forber;

Female Sprint: 1st Rachael Fairclough

The bocbocTeam trophy:

Che Heard (swim), Rob Chesters (bike) and Eddie Hirst (run) — 1:13:03:09