RIYADH, 14 May 2004 — A Beautiful Riyadh morning got off to an ominous start when the lane allocation computer succumbed to the mysterious ‘Manning’ virus. The ever dependable Mick Cook soon had the day back on track and the heat lineup’s for the 400-meter swim and 4-kilometer run in the Powerhorse & BAE System’s Biathlon.
In the A Division, fast swims and fast runs were the order of the day. Alex Carinan demonstrated why he is the man to beat, setting the pace with a fast swim and the fastest run to finish in 22:05:00. In 2nd, veteran Gerald Charlton put in a superb effort to keep Sean McLean 3rd. Larry Lazzo pushed hard for 4th, while an out of sorts Jesper Nielson had to settle for 5th.
Veteran Neville Koen showed again what a strong runner he is taking 6th from the chairman and fellow veteran, Rob Ervin, who looked a little ring rusty but showed enough that the early season pace setters now know that the season will not go all their own way. John Stanton, again posted the fastest swim and his improved running rewarded him with 8th place from Veteran Matt Hughes, while Craig Manning did just enough to scrape into the top ten.
Peter Stanek took 5th overall in the veterans holding off run specialist Dave Hall in 6th with Thomas Rothen, Norman Gibson Philip Green and Kelvin Hills making up the top 10 and all finishing sub 30 minutes. In the Master Category, Kamal Arrowsmith was the runaway leader finishing five minutes ahead of his nearest rival. In the senior category, Peter Waddell did enough to win but more effort on the run would have seen him break the top 10 overall.
In the B Division, competition was again fierce. M. Cowen improved on last week’s 4th place with a superb allround performance to take 1st and 11th overall. Last week’s winner, Veteran K. Malone, had to settle for 2nd, a late start and warmer temperatures on the run hindering any attempt to make it two wins in two. S. Millington took 3rd from N. Desanghre. Veteran F. Gocian relied on her strong swimming to hold of the challenge of newcomer J. Bowtell, 7 seconds being the difference between 5th and 6th. Veteran C. Gordon ran well for 7th, ahead of Veteran K. Allen in 8th, G. Ingram in 9th, and Veteran F. Stanek closing out the top 10.
In the open category T. Morin took 6th from S. Koen in 7th ahead of J. Walker and a determined effort from newcomer W. Sadler was enough for 9th. In the veterans C. Marshall came 6th, a strong swim being the difference over B. McCarthy in 7th from L. Gibson and J. Munday. M. Butler won the Masters category with a superb all round performance.
In the Juniors A. Van der Tol coupled a dominant swim with the fastest run to take top honors from R. Gimbert and R. Jensen.
