MORE than 1000 athletes battled it out at one of the biggest sprint triathlons in the country.

The Stratford National Expo Triathlon, hosted by Excellent Promotions/Saucony Running Shoes, acted as a build-up to the National Sprint Championships that will be staged locally for the first time in Redditch.

Evesham's Adrian Mayhew was representing the National Fire Service Team in the 400m swim, 18K bicycle ride and 5K run.

The pool swim saw Mayhew post one of the fastest splits to put him right up with the leaders.

On a new bike, supplied by Vale Cycles, Mayhew moved into the top ten overall, while moving into third place in his age group.

Into the transition area for the final leg and the top 15 were only split by minutes.

A solid run-in took Mayhew up to ninth overall and second place in his age group.

The Vale man is next in action at Eton for the Super Sprint race as he continues his preparation for the National Sprint.