The Black Tri Tribe’s First Event
Earlier this summer, the Black Tri Tribe held their first triathlon. I caught up with their Founder Smith to find out more about how the event went and the planning that went into it, as well as what’s coming up next.
Hi Smith! For those that don’t know the Black Tri Tribe, can you tell us a little more about the community and what its aims are?
The Black Tri Tribe is the first triathlon club for People of Colour in the UK and has three core values;
Supporting our community.
Try a Ting – Championing People of Colour to try out an entry level event to get into triathlons with a play on the colloquialism, which means ‘determined to give it a go’.
Keeping Active.
These values stand on 5 key pillars;
Drive – We recognise the world for what it is – a place of both darkness and light – and we are committed to working towards its betterment.
Transparency – Clarity and openness is a key to build trust, dialogue and credibility.
Inclusion – We are inclusive and accessible to all People of Colour. We never exclude.
Tenacity – We are driven by passion and conviction. Filled with emotion, we are committed to perseverance in all our endeavours.
Community – We are rooted in the community; it is the foundation from which we rise and the stability we rely on to build onto.
The overall purpose of the Black Tri Tribe is to support and uplift People of Colour to be supported in swimming, cycling, running and hiking.
You can find out more about the Black Tri Tribe here.
So, what inspired you to create the Black Tri Tribe?
In my free time, I like to take part in triathlon and outdoorsy activities, but I used to keep this to myself. I did it for fun because I enjoyed it and never did it in a serious or competitive way; I only wanted to compete against my previous time. I generally do a couple [of triathlons] a year and I really enjoy it.
A few years into it, people started saying to me that they would love to join me, so I got a small group together and we did a triathlon together. It was great fun but at the end people were staring at us and taking photos.
After a short time, I thought to myself – what’s stopping me from making my own community and event? This way I can really make it my own.
What was involved in getting set up and the planning side of things?
I came up with the idea in the first half of 2022 and so between June 2022 and January 2023, a lot of hard work went into structuring and planning what I wanted things to look like. There was a lot of paperwork! We became a British Tri Affiliated club and we worked with Swim England to set everything up. I got to see what the challenges and difficulties were from an NGB (National Governing Body) point of view.
Last September, we launched a research survey to gather information from the community around what they thought was missing from triathlon events and what they wanted to see. It was really important to me that I got a picture of what the community wanted and then shaped the event around that. We’ve all taken part in surveys before, from brands and NGBs asking research questions, but then found they have not shared the data or feedback and I wanted things to be different with our research.
We found a lot of things in the results and some of the key pieces of feedback, which we then responded to, included:
People wanted the event to be Black owned and Black led. I had wanted to do it through my local tri club, but when it came to it, that didn’t work. My club were great though and supported me in setting this up by connecting me with people who could donate kit or who could volunteer. On the day they marshalled for us too and I am so grateful for their support.
People didn’t want to swim longer than 100m. I had previously assumed that people would want to do an Olympic or Sprint distance, but the biggest barrier was swimming. Cycling was the discipline that people felt strongest in, so I created a bespoke distance - ‘The Black Tri Tribe Special’ - for people to take part in. This meant we could shorten the swimming part of the event.
Muslim and Jewish women wanted somewhere sheltered to change in ‘transition [’ [this is when you switch from one activity to another at a triathlon]. Not everyone can afford triathlon-specific kit as it is really expensive, especially a modest tri suit. Therefore many people need to change in the transition zone, so we made sure we had more private, sheltered areas. In terms of modest swimwear, we have been working on developing a kit range which will launch in September.
A year since doing the initial survey, we launched another one to find out what barriers are still in place. The biggest barrier this time is that many people don’t own a bike, so we have now set up bike hire so that participants can hire a bike on the day of the event.
How did it go on the day?
There were some challenges around the date of the event as there ended up being train strikes. Originally the strikes were planned for the Saturday, the day of the event, and so many of our participants had planned to arrive on the Friday. However, the week before the tri they announced that the strikes were going to be on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Those who could ended up hiring cars or getting trains at 4am to ensure they could get here.
The venue we used was also newly built and the opening kept getting delayed. At a site visit a month before the tri, there were no changing rooms and no water in the pool – it was very much still under construction, which made me feel nervous. They invited me back two weeks before the tri and it was starting to look like a proper leisure centre and they opened just two days before our event.
On the day itself, we had a few delays as the pool chemicals had not been put in. They arrived 30 minutes before the event kicked off so, as you can imagine, emotions were running wild. However, we had more than 40 participants, 89% of which were taking part in their very first tri! My favourite part of the day was giving the briefing just before the event started - I got to see everyone stood there in their kit and ready to go.
One of the participants said: “The transition area is fantastic! Everyone was so friendly and really supportive and the camaraderie between everyone was fantastic. Everyone is so engaged and involved.”
So, what’s next?
The next triathlon event will be in June 2024, but we have a number of other events happening too:
· Kit Launch & 1 Year Anniversary Panel: 28th September at Tower Hamlets town hall.
· Brighton Triathlon 1st June 2024
· Panel Discussions: September, January, April and July in London and Brighton.
You can find out more about these events on the Black Tri Tribe website.
Although we are not a traditional triathlon, we are a more inclusive one and it would be fantastic for us to grow. I have made a lot of funding applications this year but unfortunately have not received any funding and at the moment, I am covering all the costs myself. We will get there though.
Is there anyone who you’d like to give a shout out to?
I want to thank all of the participants for coming to our first event (and second event too!) and supporting us.
A huge thank you to all of those who volunteered and marshalled or who supported by donating time, expertise and kit. Special thanks to:
John Train at British Tri who has supported and helped loads. They helped us with the research and let us use their system, which we’re still using now.
The committee, who were recruited the month before the event. They supported the vision, but most of them didn’t understand how triathlons work. Now we’ve done the first event, they get it, and their support is invaluable.
Ironbourne Tri Club were very generous and donated all of the bike racking for free.
Ocean Lake Triathlon events donated our London bike racking for free.
Red Originals Paddle Co was our official sponsor for both events and training. They also supported us by giving us their expertise.
Thank you, Smith and good luck with the next tri!
If you’d like to find out more about the Black Tri Tribe, take part in the next triathlon, volunteer or support, please visit their website here or check them out on Instagram @blacktritribe
