Team Trisports athlete Anna Priestley put in a truly courageous performance to secure a bronze medal in the 55-59 Age-Group at the ETU Duathlon European Championships on Sunday.
The race, which was held in Nancy, France saw Priestley take to the start-line having recently suffered the passing of her father and put in a race display to make all who know her very proud.
Also racing was husband Chris Priestley, who finished the 10km run, 40km bike and 5km run event in 6th place in his Age-Group.
Nearer to home, there was even more duathlon success on Sunday as seven athletes from the Hitchin-based club secured qualification slots for the 2010 ITU Duathlon World Championships in Edinburgh this September.
In what is already proving to be a vintage year for the club’s female athletes, Kate Turner (2:23:17), Gemma Sargent (2:23:44) and Sarah Stimpson (2:26:00) all produced Age-Group winning performances at The Cambridge Duathlon to book their place in Edinburgh. Stimpson’s performance in particular was all the more remarkable as it was her first ever multisport race.
Not to be outdone by their younger team-mates, veteran athletes Jackie Perry and Lesley Dutton both secured Edinburgh places with times of 2:34:17 and 2:40:41 respectively.
Finishing first for the club, and a superb 18th overall, James Foy recorded a blistering time of 2:05:18 to also book his place at the world championships.
Again showing strong race pace, Steffan Ford finished just a few minutes behind in 2:08:05, with veteran athlete Dil Wetherill clocking 2:17:14 to finish third for the club and secure a coveted qualification place in the process.
Also competing were; Mike Russell (2:26:44), Richard Melvern (2:36:44), Tim Smith (2:39:31), Samantha Tophill (2:42:49) and Paul Dutton (2:51:03).
Photo by Mark Bartley. More photos from the race can be found at www.photoboxgallery.com/markbartley
Taking part in one of the world’s most famous triathlon’s, Greg Evans took to the startline of the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon on Sunday. The iconic race, celebrating its 30th anniversary, features an icy cold 1.5 mile swim from the former prison, an 18 mile bike ride and gruelling 8 mile run and saw Evans cross the finish line in a time of 2:48:35, a pb of more than 10 minutes.
On Friday, Steffan Ford competed in the Serpentine 5k road race and set a cracking time of 17:37 to get within one second of his PB.
And finally, Pete Eames continued his season of short fast races by competing in the Herts Veterans 800m Championship race at Ridlins track in Stevenage on Bank Holiday Monday and won the Vets 50-59 county title in a time of 2:38, just over three seconds behind the race winner.