Last weekend hosted the Clumber Classic Duathlon in Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire representing the final qualifying race for both the standard and sprint distance Great Britain Age-Group Teams competing at this year’s 2013 Ottawa ITU Duathlon World Championships later this year.
The race had been delayed due to the heavy snow in March, resulting in a late duathlon season challenge for the 460 athletes that took part on Saturday 11 May.
The racing was hotly contested with a number of well-known duathletes rubbing shoulders with a healthy group of newcomers finding their way into the sport from running and cycling backgrounds.
In the sprint race, Phil Melling and Jessica Bacon came out winners overall with Jessica delivering an outstanding bike split, which was faster than many of her male counterparts.
The standard distance race saw familiar winners with Matt Moorhouse a member of British Triathlon’s Elite Multisport Squad winning the men’s race and Donna Edmondson-Booker winning the women’s event. Donna had a seven-minute lead on her nearest rival thanks to two storming runs and a solid bike split.
For complete results from the event, please visit www.tri247.com
The event closes what has been an exciting winter and spring season for duathlon in Great Britain with new events and competitors coming into the sport. British Triathlon will inform athletes who successfully qualified for the Great Britain Age-Group Team by the end of this week.
Report by Jez Cox, Great Britain Age-Group Team Manager for Ottawa.
