Last weekend saw Team Newcastle Triathlon take 12 men and 14 women down to the South West of the Country to tackle the BUCS National Duathlon Championships.
The Castle Coombe Racing Circuit plays host to a two mile run, followed by 10 miles on the bike and culminating in a final two mile run.
The first men’s wave saw a brutal mass start of roughly 200 athletes piling out onto the narrow course. From Newcastle Andy Shaw was the first into T1, closely followed by President Richard Jackson-Taylor and Tri club veteran Joe Kelly.
It was Tom Whelan though, new to the team this year, who over-took these three on the bike and held his lead on the final run to be the first Newcastle Athlete to cross the finish line in a time of 45:11.
Meanwhile a strong start from Olivia Moore, Bonnie Murphy, Susan Shiel-Rankin and Clara Pettitt saw these four come in to T1 first from the Newcastle Woman’s team.
It was Louise McLeman and Katherine Wilkins that had the fastest bike splits though, with McLeman putting in a fine second run to be the first from Newcastle over the line, closely followed by Moore and Pettitt.
