It’s often said that less is more but that’s definitely not the case at Tri Team Glos.

That’s because they have a full-on training schedule, catering for all three disciplines that make up the sport of triathlon, and the results speak for themselves because they are now a very well-established club.

Formed 21 years ago, they have come a long way since those early days in the late 90s.

They now boast about 100 members and chairman Peter Jones said: “It’s good, we’ve probably got more members now than we’ve ever had. Three years ago we had about 75 members so it’s going in the right direction. And that’s not including the junior section.”

Those adult members certainly have lots of opportunity to improve their PBs come competition time because there are training sessions aplenty put on by the club throughout the week.

“We have a number of training locations,” continued Peter. “We have a group bike ride that meets every Saturday at Tesco in St Oswalds Road in Gloucester.”

The ride caters for cyclists of all abilities because it is split into three groups with the first group doing up to 80 miles, the second group around 60 miles and the third group covering 40 to 50 miles.

“We have a coached swim at the school in Brockworth on Sunday,” added Peter. “It’s an hour-long session where everyone is a competent swimmer although some are county standard.

“We also have open water sessions on a Tuesday evening at a variety of locations across the county as well as another coached swimming session at GL1 on Wednesdays.

“During the winter we have a coached running session from Escourt Road in Gloucester on Tuesdays and on Thursdays we host a coached indoor bike session on static bikes at the junior school in Brockworth.

“We also run less frequent events such as transition training and maintenance classes. We also operate a buddying system so that novice or less experienced members can team up with more seasoned triathletes to get coaching and racing tips.”

And when you consider how many sessions are available it’s no wonder that the club’s members are doing so well in competitions up and down the country.

“We’ve got a good number of male and female athletes who regularly finish high on the podium in their respective age groups from 20 to 70,” said Peter with some pride.

Peter, himself, has been doing triathlon for fewer than 10 years but it’s a sport that he thoroughly enjoys.

Originally from Birmingham, the retired 57-year-old programme manager who lives in Ashleworth, moved to this part of the world 22 years ago.

He was a decent athlete in his younger days before dropping out of sport and it wasn’t until he was about 40 that he “got interested in getting his health back”.

And that didn’t involve just a few jogs around a nearby park because Peter was soon running marathons.

He ran the London three times with a best time of around three hours, 36 minutes, and has a marathon best of three hours, 22 set at Stratford.

Those are pretty decent times and Jones is clearly someone who likes a challenge, so much so that he decided to take on his first ever Ironman to mark his 50th birthday.

“It was Ironman Wales,” he recalled. “I initially thought it was impossible but once I put my mind to doing something I always believe I can do it.”

And he was right, completing the event – a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile run – in 13 hours, 59 minutes.

“I loved it,” he said. “I’d trained it for it, I’d prepared for it and it was held in Tenby which is one of my favourite places having holidayed there as a youngster.

“It was quite painful towards the end but I enjoyed it.”

He joined Tri Team Glos soon after completing the Ironman and has been involved in the club committee for most of that time.

And he is delighted with the way the sport has grown in recent times.

“I think it was only conceived in the 1970s,” he said. “It got a lot of interest during the London Olympics thanks to the Brownlee brothers and local elite athletes such as Vicky Holland. In the last few years we’ve had British athletes who have been very successful, including people from round here.”

Indeed we have because Vicky Holland, who was born in Gloucester, is now a world champion.

And while success in any sport is obviously important, it’s not the be-all and end-all for Peter and Tri Team Glos.

“We are an inclusive club who cater for people of pretty much all abilities,” said Peter, who is also a member of Newent Runners.

“You’ve got to be able to swim a couple of lengths and ride a bike without stabilisers but we’re pretty much open to anyone.”

There is also a good social side as well.

“We have a summer barbecue, a club Christmas party and quite a few other events as well,” added Peter.

They also organise a week’s cycle camp in Majorca in April, so all in all it’s pretty clear that Tri Team Glos, who also organise the annual City of Gloucester Triathlon, offer something for everyone.