TriPurbeck Junior Duathlon Results

Today saw the final event in the TriPurbeck calendar in a year that can only be described as …. err…. 2011? Having said that, we are considering some kind of local event before Christmas involving santa hats, a turkey, Wareham Forest and lycra. More on that to come. Back to today and a good field of the finest young athletes in Dorset had assembled to test the new Duathlon course at Castle Court School. Before we could get started we had to have the now obligatory conversation about who got the walkie talkie and note with more than a little concern how many of the marshalls turned up sporting their own personal flourescent jacket. However, once Guy had got over ‘walkie talkie’ rage and taken his place in the self proclaimed position of ‘most important finish timer’ we were ready to go with the Tristart race.

The athletes were out of the blocks at pace and heading into T1 on mass, for the most part unperturbed by either the rogue dog on the course or the fact that in a desperate attempt to see their charges through transition, half the parents ran through the gate at the end of run 1 with the kids.  Max D led the run out with Callum McD in hot pursuit and then a whole mass of 7,8 and 9 years olds. Off they went to tackle the technical bike course and it was Max D who still led coming out of T2 with Callum on his tail and Max B a few seconds back  making his Mum and Dad very proud. As they came onto the field the two leaders sprinted to the line and it looked like it would be a photo finish before Max D inadvertently forgot to turn into the finish shute, leaving Callum to take the glory – shame as it would have been very close. In the girls race, Daisy M ambled through the first run before destroying all her rivals on the bike course to win from Jade M and Jemima C.

As the Tristar 1 race got underway, Jodie took the run out at a fast pace leaving the boys in her wake. But as the run developed, it was Alfie M who came to the fore to enter T1 first followed by several others in a bunch. Lily B was biking strongly and closed down to within 8 secs of Jodie as they entered T2. But Jodie had the running legs and eased her way to victory ahead of Lily. First onto the field though was George R who had bided his time in the first run before posting a very fast bike split, four words not often strung together in the Robson household (not you Jane). The most impressive thing about George, however, is the improvement in his running, and he looked very strong and fast finishing off the race to win by a clear margin. William B also showed the benefits of  a strong bike leg to come through into 2nd with Alfie finishing fast to take 3rd. Annie B ran well to take 3rd in the girls, probably demoting me officially to 4th best triathlete in the family and to be honest if it wasn’t for the dog………

So to the final race and the Tristar 2 and 3 athletes started together. Jordan S showed some of the younger athletes what they could aspire to with a demonstration of running and cycling in the tristar 3 race, and he was matched all the way by Lucy B in the girls race, sending Fran and I away to ponder how we develop a youth race programme for the beginning of next year. In the Tristar 2 race, Beth E showed fanstastic stamina and running form to post a great time in the girls race. The boys race was very open with Jed S stepping up to the older age group for the first time. Sure enough, it was Jed who led out the run with Jack McD right in his tail along with Joe T and then Jack R and Harrison close behind. But it was Jed who once again displayed nerves of steel (3 words not often associated with the Skilton household – not you Sarah) holding off Jack to win with Joe taking 3rd.

We hope you enjoyed the event. The repeat show takes place on Feb 11th. Full results including splits appear below.