British pro Henry Sleight is the latest to declare his intention to race XTERRA England and will toe the line on the 30th August 2015.

Sleight has been to XTERRA England twice before, finishing 11th in 2013 (as an age grouper) and a DNF in 2014 (injury). He will be hoping to get into the prize money and challenge for top British finisher here in 2015.

Henry Sleight is targetting a top position in the European Series overall but had a rough start after breaking his collarbone before XTERRA Malta and finishing 12th at XTERRA Portugal in his comeback race. Now he has XTERRA Greece, Italy, France and England in his sights with it all to do in the big ones.

The full pro start list to date includes: Ruben Ruzafa, Conrad Stoltz, Ben Allen, Richard Stannard, Matt Dewis, Doug Hall, Yeray Luxem, Tim McDowell, Jon Heasman, Lee Williams, Euan Adams, Jan Pyott, Jimmy Archer, Asa Shaw and Chris Ganter. Many more are expected to announce as the race draws nearer.

XTERRA England offers the rare chance to swim, ride, run, race, eat, sleep, and dance in the serene and seductive ancient wooded countryside of Surrey. All on a private estate, no less, where huge open fields of grass welcome hundreds of campers, bands, caterers, and racers.

The championship distance is open to all triathletes and athletes of any ability and background and combines a 1.5K swim / 30K bike / 10K trail run on Sunday. There is also a half-distance sprint race option and athletes can join together to tackle either triathlon as part of a relay team. Soon to be added and new for this year will be 10km and 20km trail runs on the Saturday, kids triathlons and rumours abound about a bonfire and movie night.

The XTERRA England course starts with a swim in the strictly private and extraordinarily clean spring-fed Vachery Pond. The purpose built bike course has riders twisting in-and-out and up-and-down the dense tree-lined forests.

It’s incredible how much turning is involved, most on perfectly tacky dirt. The run is just as fun, crossing over creeks and hopping over logs. There is certainly a primal feeling for those being chased, as well as those being chased down by others through the dark, cool forest.

Spectators are in for quite a treat as well with both the bike and run courses filter through the “arena” several times making it quite easy to track the action.

The event was dubbed the “Glastonbury of XTERRA” last year in large part to the massive amount of camping available in the wide-open fields, live music, access to elites and a great beer and catering tent, and one can
expect that atmosphere to get even better this time around. To make things even sweeter, race weekend falls on the bank holiday (Monday off) and the annual Wings & Wheels celebration nearby treats the XTERRA crowd to amazing aerial displays from the Red Arrows and others.

Registration is open now at www.xterraengland.com