Jonny Brownlee, one of the most decorated triathletes in history, will attempt to set a new record for the Weekend Warrior challenge at Supertri Blenheim Palace in Woodstock in June.

He is aiming to set a new record by completing a staggering 10 sprint triathlons across the two-day event, targeting a mark no athlete has previously attempted in the challenge’s history.

Crucially, Mr Brownlee will not race in isolation as he will line up in the start waves alongside the thousands of everyday athletes who make up the Supertri Blenheim Palace field.

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The Supertri event at Blenheim Palace (Image: Supertri)

He will swim, ride, and run the same course, at the same time, as first-timers, club athletes and seasoned age-groupers, and that, he says, is the point.

“You don’t need to be a pro to take part in something special,” said Mr Brownlee.

“Blenheim has always been about people coming together to challenge themselves.

“I’ll be racing all weekend. It’s an immense challenge given the time cut-offs, but the best part is sharing the course with the triathlon community from first-timers to seasoned age-groupers.”

The record attempt will see Mr Brownlee complete approximately 7.5km of swimming, 200km of cycling and 50km of running across the weekend, competing in multiple waves each day alongside regular race entrants.

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Jonny Brownlee. (Image: PA)

Each sprint distance race covers 750m swimming in the waters of the Great Lake, 20km biking on a fast closed-road course through Blenheim Palace’s historic grounds, and 5km of scenic running around Queen Pool at the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mr Brownlee has a storied history at Blenheim Palace. He and his brother Alistair raced the event as a warm-up for their London 2012 Olympic glories, with the pair officially finishing in a dead heat for first.

He returns to Blenheim Palace under Supertri’s stewardship, with 2026 marking the first year the event has been run by Supertri.

The event is the biggest triathlon in the UK and one of the five largest in the world by participant numbers. It has been staged at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, for more than two decades.

Michael D’hulst, CEO of Supertri, said: “Jonny taking on this challenge captures everything we believe triathlon should be.

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“The best moments in this sport happen when people race together, regardless of where they finish.

“To see someone of Jonny’s calibre lining up wave after wave alongside athletes who might be doing their very first triathlon is incredibly inspirational and speaks to our values of triathlon bringing shared connection, purpose and achievement.”

Supertri Blenheim Palace takes place between Saturday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7, and is open for registration now.

Entry options include SuperSprint, Sprint, Sprint Relay and the Weekend Warrior, which Mr Brownlee is undertaking.

The event also hosts a Supertri Pro Series race, bringing the world’s best triathletes into the same arena as the mass-participation field.

St Blaise CofE Primary School in Milton Hill is closed today (Monday, April 27) as it has no water supply due to a burst water main.

Thames Water was called at around 8am and a tanker arrived on site at around 8.30am.

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There are no children on the site and the school will alert parents if they can bring their children in after lunch.

Thames Water has been contacted for a comment.

Oxfordshire County Council‘s school closure website states St Blaise CofE is expected to reopen on Tuesday.

Council guidance on school closures states: “Schools have contact arrangements for when they need to close the school at short notice. Contacts may include bespoke parent mailing systems, text, social media, and the school website.”

Westbridge Furniture, based in Flintshire in North Wales, is a furniture designer and manufacturer that supplies retailers with sofas and other upholstery.

Its website adds: “We are proud supply partners to the biggest and best high street retailers including Marks & Spencer, John Lewis Partnership, Next home, key retail park groups and also over 200 of the best independent retailers.”

The company was incorporated in 2025, after the business and assets of Westbridge Furniture Designs Limited were acquired by The Belfield Group Limited.

Following the acquisition, Westbridge suffered “operational disruption”, which had a greater impact on the business than originally anticipated.

This, combined with the loss of a key customer and weak trading, placed significant pressure on cash flow.

Major UK furniture company closes down

Westbridge Furniture fell into administration last month, with Chris Pole and Will Wright from Interpath appointed joint administrators on March 23.

Interpath has now revealed that Westbridge Furniture has ceased trading (as of April 2) after receiving no “viable offers” for the business.

As a result, the majority of the company’s 297 remaining staff, at its base in Holywell, Flintshire, have been made redundant.

The administrators will continue to provide support to those impacted, including supporting them with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.

A small number of staff have been retained to assist the joint administrators in their duties.  

Managing director at Interpath and joint administrator of Westbridge Furniture Limited, Chris Pole, said: “The team at Westbridge has shown exceptional professionalism in maintaining production while we explored options.

“Regrettably, as no viable offers for the business were received, it was no longer possible to continue trading and we have had to take the difficult decision to close the business.

“We recognise this has been a challenging period for staff, and I’d like to express my sincere thanks for their commitment.”

Since the closure earlier this month, the joint administrators have agreed a sale of the exclusive intellectual property and design rights to the full Westbridge independent product catalogue to sofa and upholstery manufacturer, Whitemeadow.

The buyer intends to engage with stockists of Westbridge products to ensure continuity where possible.

Mr Pole added: “The agreement to sell the IP and design rights to Whitemeadow preserves Westbridge’s range for retailers.

“We wish the Whitemeadow team all the best as it embarks on a development programme to reintroduce those designs to the market.”

Other major UK companies that have closed stores or entered administration in 2026

It has been a rough start to 2026 for the UK high street, with a wide range of businesses entering administration or closing down.

Major high street retailers have been forced to close stores, including:

Several other retailers have fallen into administration, including:

Major fashion retailer LK Bennett also entered administration back in January and has now closed all its remaining stores.

Meanwhile, four UK travel companies have closed in 2026:

EcoJet Airlines, billed as “the world’s first Electric Airline”, also entered liquidation after just three years, resulting in the cancellation of all planned flights.

What has a nose, wings and runs off of hydrogen? Ecojet 😎 pic.twitter.com/y8QGiBdFe2

— ecotricity (@ecotricity) July 17, 2023

UK delivery company Yodel is set to be phased out over the coming months after being acquired by InPost.

It’s also been reported that Morrisons is looking to sell some of its in-store pharmacies as it continues to cut costs.

It’s not been all bad news for the UK high street, with several major brands announcing new store openings for 2026, including Aldi, M&S, and Superdrug.

Have you ever bought furniture from Westbridge? Let us know in the poll above or in the comments below.