There are two sides to the Octathalon. Firstly, it is here to provide a heart rate training focus to an individuals health and fitness goals and secondly it is here to provide fun and enjoyment through competition, not only for the Octathalete, but also for the spectator as it was designed as a spectator sport as well. On a competitive basis there is the UK Octathalon Championships with a National Cup and Club course to aspire to and in the near future -International competitions. However what is also being progressed is local competitions between clubs.

The UK Octathalon Championships is a 4 lane knock out competition with the men doing three rounds to get to the final and the women doing 2 rounds before the final. It is intense, short, sharp racing with the lead changing hands regularly during the race as each person has different strengths and weaknesses on each exercise. Often the racing is so close the races are won and lost in under a second after 11 to 12 minutes of racing. This makes it a great spectator sport. It is held in July every year. Click here for more details on the 2007 event.

Pairs

Male and female pairs compete over the Cup course for their county. As long as you both live in that county, if you are the fastest, you can go on and represent that county at this event. With two of you, each one has to do 4 exercises. You can choose who does what throughout the race, but the next exercise cannot be started until the last one has been completed and the individual has moved to tag the next person waiting on the next exercise.

Masters

In amongst the racers are the masters who are also competing for the fastest time of the day. The more rounds they do, the more chances they have in improving their times. This ensures there are no slow earlier rounds for the top octathaletes to coast through. To enter the Masters you must be aged 39 or over on the date of the event.

International Events

Sponsors

Suunto are the Worlds leading supplier of digital heart rate monitors. If you are serious about your health and wanting precision in your training in order to get that, there is no one else to work with. Suunto make the event even more of a spectacle with their team pod. This picks up all the Octathaletes heart rates and displays them on a big screen at the end of the Hall. It shows the heart rate and a percentage of heart rate maximum so when you are racing, you can get a good idea of how your opponents are faring during the race and that can allow you to replan any race tactics you might have in order to win. The 2006 Octathalon Cup was the first sport in the world to use this technology in this way and it made spectating even more tense and enjoyable. For the Octathaletes though, it just made them even more tense! Click here for more details

The National Club Octathalon is run in a time trial format with the four fastest times of the day winning a place in a final race at the end of the day to produce a winner. However there are medals for everyone who manages to get under certain times. A gold medal for everyone completing the course in under 11mins, a silver for under 12 minutes and a bronze for under 13 minutes.

The Local Club Handicap Octathalon

Any Octathalon trainer is licensed to run as many Octathalon events as they want in their club. They are even able to arrange local handicapped events between clubs in their area that also have licensed Octathalon trainers. The handicap is a time penalty and the event is won when the fastest teams times are all added up along with the time penalty and the team with the lowest time wins. it essentially measures the team that has improved the most upon their best times and that is a measure in some way of the effectiveness of their training and their trainer. Click here for more details