The UK ULTIMATE Triathlon came to town on Sunday as Whitchurch's Alderford Lake hosted some of the area's most extreme athletes.

The popular destination played host to a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112-mile cycle before competitors finished off with a marathon in a gruelling test of the human capabilities.

The entrants dived into the freshwater lake on Sunday morning before taking to the roads around Whitchurch and Wem, closing off all of Tilstock and Whitchurch Roads.

The event was won by Joe Banns who came home in a time of nine hours, 36 minutes and 21 seconds, competing in the SN3 category and he completed his swim in 48:26 before taking 5:02:16 for his cycle and finished his marathon in 3:42:34.

George Kirkman came second overall and was first in the SNR2 category, taking just under an hour for his swim (59:36), 5:15:41 for his cycle but ran an impressive marathon in 3: 24:59.

The first female home was Michela Vincent in 15th place, competing her swim in 59:54, her cycle in 5:52: 37 but again impressive running of the marathon (4:16:50) saw her finished with an overall time of 11:15:54.

In the veteran class, the first athlete home was David Clamp, running in VET5 category, and he came fifth overall with an impressive time of 10:31:11.

Jan Walpole was the first female home in the veteran class, finishing in 13:00:39 and in 45th position overall, taking 1:15:25 to complete her swim, 6:33:28 for her cycle and ran 5:01:21 for her marathon.

There were 100 competitors at the starting line for the triathlon but four of the athletes failed to finish, despite giving it their all, with some choosing to miss out the cycle ride and complete the marathon.

For more about the UK Triathlon and its other events, please head to www.uktriathlon.co.uk