The Grendon Triathlon took place yesterday (Sunday 13 May) at Grendon Lakes in Northamptonshire, with age-group triathletes aiming to book their place at the first time of asking in the GE Great Britain Age-Group Team for the 2013 Alanya ETU Sprint Triathlon European Championships in Turkey.
The sprint distance event saw competitors embark on a fast 750m swim followed by an undulating 23km bike and flat 4.2km run.
The race also doubled as the Cambridge and Oxford Varsity Triathlon event, with the overall winner Alexander Young delivering victory for Cambridge. Young finished in a time of 01:02.14, a convincing one minute and 21 seconds ahead of second placed Alex Thorley (01:03.35) in the overall standings. Thomas Vickery finished in third place with a time of 01:03.47.
It was role reversals in the women’s race with Oxford student Sophia Sollar crossing the line first in 01:10.16 to level the varsity duel. Stacey Penn finished in second place with a time of 01:11.14 and in third was Emma Lea-Davis from Loughborough University who finished in 01:13.09.
Alongside the varsity racing, many athletes were also aiming to qualify for the GE Great Britain Age-Group Team as Malcolm Westwood, British Triathlon Director for Age Group, commented: “It was a very strong field in Grendon, with many of the athletes aiming to book their place at the ETU Sprint Triathlon European Championships next year in Turkey. It was great to see lots of athletes trying to qualify for their first GE Great Britain Age-Group Team event, which highlights the continued appeal and growth of this side of the sport.”
The Grendon Triathlon was the first of three qualifiers for the 2013 Alanya ETU Sprint Triathlon European Championships. Two opportunities now remain with the Worthing Sprint Triathlon on 12 August and the final chance at Rother Valley on 16 September.
The event was organised by Just Racing UK, with more information and results available on http://www.justracinguk.com or via our Official Results Partner, tri247.com
