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Numbers were up on the Marra Sprint Triathlon this morning as participants stayed on for a second day of racing action, says Triathlon Tauranga president Paul Miller.

Numbers were up on the Marra Sprint Triathlon today. Photo: Daniel Hines.

The Sand and Surf competition on Saturday attracted about 1000 athletes to Pilot Bay for the ‘I'm Going Long' race and Paul believes some competitors stayed overnight to compete in this morning's triathlon.

'It was a perfect day. Numbers were up on the previous year which is always a good thing. There were a lot of people from out of town too, not just from the Bay of Plenty.”

Today's Marra Sprint Triathlon had competitors complete a 750m swim in Pilot Bay, followed by a 20km cycle and a 5km run around the base track of Mauao.

'The ages and times of the guys at the front [shows] they had a good hard race,” says Paul. 'The front of the field was fiercely competitive.”

Paul is pleased with this year's turn out in all men's, women's, and team races.

'Some of the ladies would have been doing their second triathlon after competing in the women's tri a couple of months ago. There were first timers too. It was a good turnout and we had a good mix of people.”