RIYADH, 27 June 2003 — A hot humid morning was the setting for the 500/15/5 Almarai Powerhorse Triathlon No. 2. This event saw the return of Alex Carinan, back after a lengthy break and out to challenge for the top spot. The event ended up as a two horse race with Alan Wood proving too strong once more for his nemesis Chris Wust.
A combination of a strong swim and bike gave Wood a healthy cushion. Wust had a slight disadvantage going in a different heat but despite the fastest run of the day and breaking the hour, he was still two minutes back in 2nd. Carinan put in a competent display to take sole possession of 3rd. A minute separated the next 3 athletes, Ervin, Nielsen and Dryden. Rob Ervin continued his improvement in form taking 4th spot, while Jesper Nielsen just managed to hold onto 5th spot after clinically hunting down Dryden on the run leg, despite Dryden’s sprint finish effort a 3 second deficit sent him down to 6th place. Master Category, Paul McParland continued his top 10 placing ousting the younger Neville Koen with a controlled effort in the heat, Koen suffered on the bike but put in a blistering run to keep him in the upper echelon.
Harold Idensohn had to settle for 9th place, after a great start in the water, he lost time on the bike and then run, but did enough on the day to remain in the top 10. Tenth place in A Div went to Mitch Younge, a biathlon specialist, who was hurting after a tough bike leg and was just glad to finish. As the morning progressed the heat increased and the athletes in the later heats found it more difficult coping with rising temperatures. Despite this, in B Div K. Malone’s consistency remained steady with a 3-minute cushion over second place F. Gocian, this gap will maybe decrease as Gocian’s fitness improves further and Malone concentrates more on the impending IM Canada. L. Pentlebury’s prowess on the bike ensured 3rd place and resigned the younger, less experienced, N. Desanghere to 4th. Triathlon newcomer A. Leach did extremely well taking 5th place despite being out there in the later heats and hotter temperatures. The Junior category saw the Oberlaender brothers, Nils and Sascha go round together, a bit of moral support being the order of the day, as the heat became more oppressive. Two other Juniors, 9-year old Chelsea and 7-year old Chad Idensohn were also out in the heat of the morning and did extremely well to complete the course, with the younger Chad just squeezing in front.
Only one team competed M. Beauregard and O. Campigotto, but when Campigotto went awry on the bike leg they had to be DQ’d. Bill Jordan kept up his biathlon form as did Morten Schaarup, by completing the swim and run legs. Junior James Garton, 14 years old, did the full swim and run distance too in 49:41. Other notables, Thomas Burket, fastest swim leg and Steve Hodge, a Clydesdale in triathlon terms, competing in his first event, well done both.
