It was an incredibly busy weekend of racing for Hitchin based triathlon club Team Trisports as its athletes competed across a variety of events, and locations, on both Saturday and Sunday.
First up, twelve athletes took to the start-line of the Big Cow Emberton Duathlon on Sunday. The duathlon event, which also acted as a qualifying event for the 2010 Duathlon World Championships in Edinburgh, consisted of a 10km run, 40km bike and 5km run on a fast and flat course around Emberton Park.
Finishing first for the club, and an incredible 3rd overall, elite athlete Stephen Harrison romped home in a time of 1:54:52 to go well under the two hour barrier and show a clean pair of hills to his nearest competitors.
There was also a fantastic performance from Steffan Ford, who produced a great time of 2:08:08 to finish well inside the top 25% of a highly competitive field; as did Dil Wetheril, who clocked a finishing time of 2:12:01, including a 38:57 10k run split.
The race also proved a happy hunting ground for the club’s veteran athletes, as Richard Melvern set a cracking time of 2:17:15 to achieve a coveted qualification slot for the World Championships.
This was just the start for the veterans, as husband and wife Chris and Anna Priestley both put in strong performances to also earn age-group qualification for the World Championships.
Anna’s qualification came courtesy of a 2nd place finish in the 55-59 age-group and capped off a fantastic week for the pair as they had both also qualified for the 2010 Duathlon European Championships at the Steyning Duathlon on Bank Holiday Monday.
Also putting in World Championship qualifying performances, Gemma Sargent set a new PB time of 2:23:09 to make her the first female finisher for the club, as did Anna Holden who crossed the line in a time of 2:34:18.
Full results: Stephen Harrison (1:54:52), Steffan Ford (2:08:08), Dil Wetherill (2:12:01), Richard Melvern (2:17:15), James Grierson (2:18:10), Darren Greene (2:21:53), Gemma Sargent (2:23:09), Chris Priestley (2:25:59), Anna Holden (2:34:18), Katy Jinks (2:39:40), Naomi Woodland (2:41:26), Anna Priestley (2:47:24).
Sticking to one discipline but upping the distance, Steven Moakes and Elodie Irving returned to the Paris Marathon to complete unfinished business on Sunday. Choosing to run the 26.2 mile course together, both achieved PB times of 3:57:48 and 3:57:49 respectively to break the magic four hour barrier.
On the same day, but a little closer to home, Rob Davies set a new PB time of 1:09:11 at the Sandy 10 mile road race to finish 73rd out of more than 500 competitors.
Pete Eames began his multisport season on Sunday morning at the Hockley Aquathlon. The 400m swim/5km run event saw Eames set a time of 38:37 to finish 4th in the 50-54 category.
Putting pedal to the metal, Tim Smith competed at the Lea Valley 25 cycling time trial on Saturday. Time unavailable at time of going to press.
And finally, Karen Parnell didn’t let a business trip to Hong Kong get in the way of racing as she entered a local multisport event that consisted of a run, mountain climb and swim.