The Long Course Weekend marked its 10-year milestone with another spectacular sporting occasion for Tenby and Pembrokeshire.

In 2010 when the journey began, the organisers set themselves a huge target of 10,000 athletes in 10 years, and on the event’s 10th anniversary this was achieved.

Over 10,000 athletes, 35,000 supporters, 45 countries and 667 different clubs travelled to the west coast of Wales to compete and enjoy what is now the biggest multisport festival in Europe.

Tenby’s very own Oliver Simon made it five Long Course wins in 10 years after completing Friday’s 2.4 mile swim in 49:40; Saturday’s 112 mile cycle in 5:12:11; and then finishing Sunday’s 26.2 mile marathon in 2:58:57, to give him an overall time of 9:00:48.

“I was really happy to put together three strong days after the injury problems I’ve had over the last two years,” said Oliver on his victory.

“It means a lot to win such a big event in my local town in front of family and friends and although my face maybe didn’t show it during the events, I really enjoyed the whole experience.”

Jason Williams came runner-up, just under seven minutes behind Oliver for the weekend, while Jordan Skelly was third.

The first female home was regular Ironman Wales competitor Lucy Gossage, who finished the weekend in a time of 9:43:22.

Local ‘Long Course legends’ Nicky Rees and Steve Rogers also became the only two athletes to have competed in all 10 Long Course Weekend Wales events.

Matthew Evans, CEO of the now global brand Long Course Weekend, said: “What an incredible weekend that was!

“Friday kicked it all off with the first ever LCKinder that saw over 700 children racing up and down Tenby North Beach; followed by 2,500 swimmers competing in a 1.2 or 2.4 mile swim, backlit by an incredible Pembrokeshire sunset.

“Saturday saw Pembrokeshire deliver the only closed road Sportive in the country on a brand new course. I have to thank everyone who made this happen, so many worked so hard and tirelessly to deliver this world class event.

“Sunday saw the Vivobarefoot Wales Marathon and so many came down that red carpet, with emotions high as people achieved what months before seemed impossible,” he continued.

Congratulations also went to Team Cancer Research Wales on their Guinness World Record.

“Many people enter and achieve for so many different reasons and charities, none were more prevalent than the Guinness World Record attempt, that saw 122 athletes tied together over 26.2 miles - Tenby literally exploded as they came down that red carpet!

“Finally, I would like to thank all 600 volunteers who made this weekend happen and the communities that opened their doors and their hearts to allow us to be able to deliver this race to the quality it is,” added Matthew.

The event is now televised in an hour programme and distributed to over 100 countries and over 800 million homes worldwide.