RIYADH, 18 July 2003 — The longest biathlon on the calendar was the stage for another complete performance from Alan Wood. This season has seen Wood’s swim suffer a little but his powerful, attacking running has ensured he has been the man to beat all season and this race was no different. Sixth out of the pool he soon ran down the swimmers in front and wasn’t going to be caught, posting the day’s fastest run time.
Once again Harold Idensohn was the first out of the water but only seconds in front of relative newcomers Greg Malt and John Stanton, Malt was part of a team while Stanton completed the whole event finishing 14th. Jesper Nielsen secured another 2nd place with a good swim and run combination proving his pedigree as a biathlete.
Next was Neville Koen who, should he improve his swim, would be a major threat as his running is very impressive, he managed to overhaul Dave Hall, who had his best outing to date, to snatch 4th spot.
Our fish out of water, Harold, managed to take 5th and hold off the fast finishing Rob Ervin who clawed back 11 places after the swim. Another average swimmer Tom Hoffman took back 18 places to finish in 7th with the 3rd fastest run of the day.
Sean McLean has been the most improved competitor this season with consistently better outings every race and he took a deserved 8th place. Ludovic Dumont also had a good race and chased down Charlie Dryden in the final 500 meters to claim ninth place and relegate Dryden to the 10th spot.
In B Div, N. Morgan proved too strong in the run and ousted K. Malone, the first time that Malone has been beaten this season. A reasonable swim saw both athletes out together but Morgan was the victor this time. F. Gocian continues to get closer to the top spot but had to settle for 3rd. S. Koen and C. Gordon continued their battle with Koen coming out on top, this time, by 20 seconds. Newcomer A. Peterson was a minute further back in 6th but was pleased with this first time outing. Master L. Pentlebury continues to belie the years finishing 7th in the B Div. Team honors went to the Malt/Zaccardelle pairing with a very credible 45:28 overall time. The McCarthy/Butler duo finished a little further back but continue to improve and embody the spirit this sport is meant to induce. In the shortened junior event James Garton and Paul Gordon both completed the 750m swim and a 1.8k run an excellent achievement for young Paul Gordon. Chad and Chelsea Idensohn went head to head in a 200/1.8 with Chad just squeezing out his sibling, all these juniors show good promise for the future.
