Big performances at the Big Cow Duathlon
Action from this weekend's race at Emberton Park
The Big Cow Duathlon took place on Sunday 27 February in Emberton Park, Buckinghamshire with competitors all aiming to book their place in the GE Great Britain Age Group Team for the 2011 Limerick ETU Duathlon European Championships.
Conditions for the event started dry with the occasional sunny spell but as proceedings progressed, the rain began to fall. The rain didn’t stop the athletes racing hard with the fastest runners, recording a sub 33-minute 10km, before embarking on the 40km bike and final 5km run.
The men’s race was a close run affair with Nick Saunders crossing the line first in a time of 1:56.37, with Ian Habgood just 22 seconds behind finishing in 1:56.59. Third placed John Whitworth was just over a minute back finishing in 1:58.03.
Elmear Mullan, finished over 16 minutes ahead of her nearest rival Laura Timble in a finishing time of 2:07.21, dominating the women’s event. Laura was second in 2:23.46, with Lucy Kershaw finishing third in 2:25.05.
Joan Lennon, the GE Great Britain Team Manager for the 2011 Limerick ETU Duathlon European Championships was impressed by the athletes’ performances commenting: “The event had 164 finishers yesterday with 74 of those racing for places in the GE Great Britain Age Group Team for the ETU Duathlon European Championships in Limerick on 17 April.
“I was really impressed with the quality of the field and I am confident that we will have a medal-winning team in Limerick. I will be informing those who have qualified at the Big Cow Duathlon once the results have been finalised by the end of the week.”
The Big Cow Duathlon was the first of three qualifiers for the 2011 Limerick ETU Duathlon European Championships, which is scheduled to take place on 17 April 2011. The second qualifier for the GE Great Britain Age Group Team will take place at Clumber Park on 5 March with the final opportunity at Dambuster Duathlon on 19 March.
The event is being organised by Big Cow Events, with more information available on www.big-cow.com.