Britain’s youth athletes got the action underway today (Sunday 30 March) at the British Elite Duathlon Championships with Kate Waugh and Ben Dijkstra claiming the first titles of the day’s racing at the Rockingham Circuit in Corby.
In the women’s youth race, Kate Waugh led from the front quickly establishing a lead group of three alongside Elizabeth Hood and Sophie Alden on the opening 2.5km run. The group then grew to five as they worked well together on the 10km bike ensuring they stayed away from the chasers. On the final 1.25km run, Kate pushed for the finish line to claim victory.
Kate was delighted with her win commenting: “It’s amazing [here], this whole stadium is huge – it’s amazing, I felt really famous. It was a really good course and everyone worked together really well on the bike. The run was hard but I’m glad I had enough in my legs to finish.
“I’m hoping to do well in the rest of the [British Triathlon Youth Super] Series. There is Blenheim Triathlon, which should be good; I’m really looking forward to doing that one.”
Kate crossed the line in a finishing time of 32.30, with a seven-second lead on Emma Clapton who finished second in 32.37. Elizabeth Hood finished in third place with a time of 32.44.
In the youth men’s race, Ben Dijkstra delivered a commanding performance to take the title in a time of 29.05 after leading from the front for much of the race before breaking away on the final run. Alex Lee was second with 29.29 and Jack Kerr finished in third place in 29.53.
Ben who finished seventh in last year’s race commented at the finish line: “I knew that I couldn’t try and break free but I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it, but I’m really pleased with the result.
“I was racing across cross-country throughout the winter and then I knew that once the season started I would have to be quite strong, so this has been the best start that I could have had so I’m really pleased with that.
“Duathlon is my strongest event in multisport so I knew it was going to be a good race. I wanted to improve on last year result and that’s what I’ve done today.”
This race is the first event of the 2014 British Triathlon Youth and Junior Super Series and both athletes will be looking to deliver more winning performances throughout the rest of the season.
