My alarm went off at 4.25am on Sunday. I wasn’t getting up early to race or train, I was helping to organise a triathlon, and my car was full of bike racks and signposts!

Towards the end of last year, a small team of us took over the running of FreeTri (formerly IntoTri). The charity was founded in 2015 with the vision of becoming the "parkrun of the triathlon world", aiming to inspire active lifestyles and community spirit through a series of free events run entirely by volunteers.

Triathlon (swim, bike, run) is often seen as an elite sport, requiring high levels of fitness, expensive gear and extensive training hours.

The aim of the FreeTri is to re-write this, and make triathlon open and affordable to everyone. To remove the social and financial barriers to the sport, and offer a welcoming environment for all ages (from 7 upwards) and skill levels.

As the name suggests, it’s free to enter. All you need is a swimming costume, roadworthy bike, helmet, and a pair of trainers.

Yesterday’s event was a huge success, with lots of lovely feedback from our participants. I’m really looking forward to loading up my car and doing it all again in June, July and September!

Our website is currently a work in progress, but if you’d like to find out more, join one of our FreeTri events or become one of our dedicated volunteers, head over to freetri.co.uk.