Three people, three disciplines and one memorable day in Portugal: Sarah, Jan and their friend Jacquie took on the IRONMAN 70.3 Portugal-Cascais relay on Saturday 17 October 2026. Sarah handled the 1,900m swim, Jan took on the 90km bike leg, and Jacquie completed the team’s half-marathon run.
It was hot and a little windy, but the verdict from the team was straightforward: a great event. After Jan and Sarah’s Cascais Night Run earlier in the week, this was the main challenge of their trip—and one that brought their friend Jacquie into the story.
A 70.3 challenge shared three ways
The relay format gives each teammate a distinct part of the same swim–bike–run event. In Cascais, that meant Sarah beginning with the swim, Jan covering the cycling distance and Jacquie taking responsibility for the final running leg. Each effort mattered to the whole: it was not three separate races, but a shared challenge across the full 70.3 distance.
The distances tell you something about the scale of that challenge. A 1,900m swim is a substantial opening leg. Ninety kilometres on the bike makes for a long middle section, and a half marathon is a demanding way to bring the relay home. Splitting the disciplines lets three people contribute in different ways without making any one leg a small undertaking.
A hot, breezy day in Cascais
Conditions added another dimension to the team’s day. The heat was noticeable, and there was a little wind too—particularly relevant across an event that moves from swimming to cycling and then running. Those are the details the team shared, rather than a blow-by-blow race account, and they give a sense of the day without needing to turn it into a story about times or positions.
Cascais Municipality’s 2026 event overview confirms the 70.3 distances and describes a course beginning and ending at Cascais Bay. It also explains that the town hosted both the 70.3 and the full-distance IRONMAN on 17 October. Sarah, Jan and Jacquie’s relay was part of the 70.3 event—not the longer race running alongside it. ()
From the Night Run to the relay
For anyone following the trip from Cornwall, there is a pleasing progression to these two updates. Jan and Sarah started with a 5K Night Run in Cascais; then came Saturday’s relay, with Sarah in the water, Jan on the bike and Jacquie on the run. The Night Run and the triathlon were different events, but together they made for a busy week of activity in the same town.
It is especially lovely to celebrate an away event that includes a friend of the club. Jacquie’s half marathon was every bit as much a part of this relay as Sarah’s swim and Jan’s cycle. A team effort is the right way to tell this one: three names, three substantial legs and a day they summed up as a great event, despite the heat and breeze.
Well done, Sarah, Jan and Jacquie. From Camborne and Redruth to Cascais, we love seeing where a shared challenge can take our runners and their friends.
