Bedford Autodrome once again hosted the first of this year’s British Championships, seeing medals awarded to the top age-groupers, elite duathletes and paraduathletes following a packed day of racing.

The event, organised by Nice Tri Events, marked the beginning of the newly reformed British Triathlon Super Series; gathering some of Great Britain’s finest talent to compete for points across the season in a bid to be crowned series champion.

The Senior Men’s race showed no shortage of drama. After working together to create a gap on the bike, Mark Buckingham and 2016 Team GB triathlete, Gordon Benson had to settle for silver and bronze respectively after Loughborough’s Chris Perham posed a swift final run leg to take the tape. All three dipped under the hour mark, with Perham clocking 59:15 to top the podium.

Optima Racing Team’s Olivia Matthews’ time of 1:08:47 was enough to see her claim her first British title. Despite going stride for stride over the first run, Claudia Kelsall couldn’t quite match Matthews power on the bike but clung on for silver over Erica Byram of Holmfirth Harriers.

The Junior races saw wins for Oliver Makinson of Rochdale Triathlon Club and Jess Humphreys of Wrekin College Triathlon Club. Dominic Coy and Andrew Rolland took the remaining men’s podium spots; six seconds separating the pair, whilst Kate Richardson and Abigail Bedwell went clear to secure silver and bronze for the women.

And Wrekin College had further success, with the Youth Male’s race resulting in Joshua French taking the win wearing the team’s colours. Charlie Stephenson and Kai Boggon filled the further podium spots despite being closed down on the final run. It was Hereford Tri Club’s Tia Froom who bagged a British title, followed home by Cameron-Ellie Mander and Emily Crookes.

Paraduathletes lined up to represent five of the six classifications. Exactly one year on from their gold medal winning moments on the Gold Coast, Commonwealth Champions Joe Townsend and Jade Jones-Hall repeated their form in Bedford to take their respective British titles. Paralympic bronze medallist, Melissa Reid (Guide: Rosie Lindsay) put in a strong performance returning from injury to take the women’s PTVI title, with 2018 ITU World Champion, Dave Ellis (Guide: Luke Pollard) topping the men’s podium. Stuart Meikle crossed the finish line first in the PTS2 category, with Michael Taylor and Hannah Moore becoming PTS4 Men’s and Women’s champions, respectively. Rounding off the day’s results were Chris Frost and Kerry Large, who’s performances earned the PTS5 athletes a British title each.

First age-group athlete over the line was George Goodwin in 1:46:37, taking the Men’s 20-24 title in the process. With Goodwin having created more than a minute advantage over the rest of the field, Dan Blake and Alex Doherty followed; 40 seconds separating the M35-39 athletes. Beth Wilmot took top honours for the women, winning the F40-44 category in 2:09:49. Camille King (F40-44) of 9 Endurance Tri Club wasn’t far behind her in 2:10:26, with Sophie Bubb of Lymington Triathlon Club third woman over the line and quickest F35-39 in 2:12:03.

For full results of the 2019 British Duathlon Championships, please visit here.

Full Results