RIYADH, 13 June 2003 — Breaking the standard 6/30/4 duathlon down into 7 segments to make it easier produced some fantastic head to head contests. With the sun barely out, chief timer Mick Cook gave the countdown to start and the faster runners moved quickly trying to gain an advantage.
At the head of the pack, in the A Div, Chris Wust tried to force the pace on the run legs obtaining a slight edge over Alan Wood. But Wood’s strength on two wheels always saw him back in front coming off the bike legs.
The lead seesawed back and forth but Wood’s overall tenacity gained him the top spot again by 23 seconds. The next two places saw biathlon specialist Jesper Nielsen and Rob Ervin going tooth and nail, but while Ervin was fast out of the blocks and establishing a lead early on, Nielsen was patience itself pacing himself perfectly and finishing very strongly, recording the fastest 1k leg of the day in 3:50.
Next was the battle of the 44 year olds, Charlie Dryden, with four seasons under his belt, versus Steve Decato, a proven runner though not an experienced triathlete. This contest went down to the wire and it took Dryden all 30k of the bike leg to claw back sufficient space to allow him to finish the final 1k 10 seconds ahead of Decato. Neville Koen pegged Veteran Phil Green by 3 minutes in the contest for 7th and 8th and showed what an extremely strong runner he is. Sean McLean also served notice that he is to be taken seriously, and although he had reasonable cycle segments, he was particularly prominent in the runs and will take some beating in future events if his cycling picks up. Not to be out done, our chairman Reiner Gocian picked up 10th spot in A Div with a good performance to ensure a 5-5 split for places between Open and Vet categories. In B Div. K. Malone continued her dominance with a consummate all around performance to take the honors once again.
These events are also being used as training for the upcoming Ironman Penticton, in August, which will see Malone take a second crack at F. Gocian. Only 3 minutes separated 1st and 2nd, not insurmountable by any means, and the confrontation between these two athletes will intensify as each gets stronger and the series progresses.
Master L. Pentlebury had a storming event hammering much younger opposition. N. Desanghere managed to stay injury free and take 4th place gaining a little revenge over K. Allan who had to settle for 5th spot this time but will not be fazed by a slight lilt in form.
