USAT Long Course Duathlon Nationals set for Sunday

More than 200 multisport athletes will race for national titles and Team USA spots Sunday at the USA Triathlon Long Course Duathlon National Championship, held in conjunction with the Mount Rainier Duathlon in Enumclaw, Wash.

All competitors will complete a 8.2-kilometer run, followed by a 46.5-kilometer bike and ending with a 6-kilometer run. Action is slated to begin at 8 a.m. Pacific. Visit usatriathlon.org for complete event information.

Defending M55-59 long course duathlon national champion David Burkhart (Brighton, Mich.), who earned his age-group title at the Blackwater Duathlon one year ago, highlights the start list. Other athletes to watch include Ann Davidson (Portland, Ore.), the 2011 women’s Masters Duathlete of the Year, and Patty Peoples-Resh (Redlands, Calif.), a 2011 and 2012 duathlon national champion and 2011 women’s Grand Masters Duathlete of the Year.

Sunday’s Long Course Duathlon National Championship also serves as the lone qualifier for Team USA for the 2013 ITU Long Course Duathlon World Championships, which will take place Sept. 8 in Zofingen, Switzerland. The top 18 finishers in each age group (rolling down to 25th place) will qualify for Team USA. U.S. age-groupers earned four medals at 2012 Long Course Duathlon Worlds, which were also held in Zofingen.

Team USA is comprised of the nation’s top multisport athletes who represent the U.S. at each ITU World Championships event. Visit usatriathlon.org for more on Team USA.

Matt Baird Editor of Cycling Plus magazine

About

Matt is a regular contributor to 220 Triathlon, having joined the magazine in 2008. He’s raced everything from super-sprint to Ironman, duathlons and off-road triathlons, and can regularly be seen on the roads and trails around Bristol. Matt is the author of Triathlon! from Aurum Press and is now the editor of Cycling Plus magazine.