Adam Bowden used his experience to return his British Duathlon title, whilst Schwiening used her impressive running to power to the women's title. There were youth, junior, paraduathlon and Age-Group British titles decided today in Bedford too.
Senior Elite
(5km run/20km bike/5km run)
Adam Bowden was favourite to take the men’s title at the British Duathlon Championships at Bedford Autodrome, and he delivered for the second year in a row. At age 35, he was the most experienced athlete in the field, especially given his career-best ITU World Triathlon Series finish of forth in Leeds last summer.
Similar to last year’s British Duathlon Championships, Bowden sealed his win by coming out of T2 in close contention with a number of competitors and outclassing them over the final 5km run. He finished well over 30 second clear.
Morgan Davies and James Teagle had a close battle to decide the order in which they would complete the podium. Welshman, Davies’, sharper transition times were possibly the critical difference as he took silver, with Teagle claiming bronze.
In the women’s race, U23 World Duathlon Championship silver medallist, Georgina Schwiening, had too much pace on foot for anyone to match her today. A closing 5km time of 18:56 was by far the fastest produced in the women’s race, and sealed the British title convincingly.
Julie Nimmo, who is part of the Triathlon Scotland Performance Development squad, was pleased to take silver in her first race of the season, and Laura Smith (winner of the Yellow Jersey University Triathlon Scholarship) claimed her first senior elite podium spot with bronze.
Elite men:
1. Adam Bowden, 59:01
2. Morgan Davies, Aim2Tri, 59:40
3. James Teagle, Loughborough Triathlon, 59:42
Elite women:
1. Georgina Schwiening, 1:08:38
2. Julie Nimmo, Grangemouth Triathlon Club, 1:09:12
3. Laura Smith, Birmingham Running, Athletics & Tri Club, 1:10:00
Full results can be found HERE
Paraduathlon
(5km run/20km bike/2.5km run)
17 athletes took to the start line in the British Elite Paraduathlon Championships across five different classifications. Steve Crowley (PTS4) and Chris Frost (PTS5) both retained the titles they respectively won in 2017.
Brett Crossley (PTWC) and Sophie Taylor (PTWC) took advantage of the absence of the 2017 British Paraduathlon champions, who are heading out to the Gold Coast, and bettered their result from last year to both take gold.
Paratriathlon is set to debut at the Commonwealth Games next month, featuring just wheelchair (PTWC) athletes. With further talent recruitment due to start soon, these are exciting times for the sport.
| Category | Male Winner | Female Winner |
|---|---|---|
| PTWC | Brett Crossley | Sophie Taylor |
| PTS2 | Stuart Meikle | |
| PTS4 | Steve Crowley | Megan Richter |
| PTS5 | Chris Frost | |
| PTVI | Oscar Kelly |
Full results can be found HERE.
Youth and Junior
(2.5km run/10km bike/1.25km run) / (5km run/20km bike/2.5km run)
Being the first stop in the British Triathlon Youth and Junior Super Series, there was added incentive for those targeting the Series crown in September at the U20’s festival in Mallory Park.
The juniors went out with the senior elite races, but competed over a shorter second run leg of 2.5km. In the men’s junior event, Matt Willis backed up his recent win in the English Schools Cross Country championships by finishing ahead of Connor Bentley and Guy Evans Haggerty. In the women’s junior event, it was Almaz Nerurkar, a recent addition to the England Talent B Squad, who topped the podium ahead of Freya Thompson and Lucy Byram.
In the men’s youth race, reining Youth Super Series champion Daniel Dixon started the defence of his title with a win ahead of Joseph Martin (2nd) and Hamish Reilly (3rd). In the women’s youth race Elsbeth Grant, who was named to the England Talent A Squad last year managed to hold off Lily Jane Evans Haggerty and Kate Richardson respectively with the top three finishing with 8 second of each other.
Men’s Junior
1. Matthew Willis, Chester Triathlon Club, 51:37
2. Connor Bentley, 52:23
3. Guy Evans Haggerty, 52:26
Women’s Junior
1. Almaz Nerurkar, Bodyworks Xtc, 59:01
2. Freya Thomson, Optima Racing Team, 59:03
3. Lucy Byram, Holmfirth Harriers, 59:38
Men’s Youth
1. Daniel Dixon, Ryton Tri Club, 27:33
2. Joseph Martin, Bodyworks Xtc, 27:43
3. Hamish Reilly, Ocean Lake Tri, 27:52
Women’s Youth
1. Elsbeth Grant, 30:38
2. Lily Jane Evans Haggerty, 30:42
3. Kate Richardson, 30:46
Full results can be found HERE.
Age-Group
(10km/39km bike/5km run)
Becky Lewis (35-39) topped the podium overall in the women’s age-group race, adding another national duathlon title to her name having picked up the win at Oulton park last October in the
Triathlon England National Duathlon Championships. Jess Williams (25-29) and Ella Towers (45-49) respectively rounded off the top three women overall with each winning their age category competition.
James Phillips (25-29) returned to win his age category for a second year in a row and won the men’s age-group race overall after finishing second in 2017. Alexander Doherty (35-39) claimed second overall, sealing the win in his age category over Ryan Smith (35-39), who was third across the line.
Full results can be found HERE.
