Blenheim National
Triathlon Youth & Junior Championships 2007
What a day, what
whether, and what fantastic racing.
First up was the
boys Elite Youth wave, 400m swim, 10k cycle and 2.7k run. With
Max Hayhurst 1st out the swim and 2nd up the hill he had a good
chance of staying in the front pack on this draft legal race.
The standard of bike mounting was appalling and most of the
youth boys could do with some good practice.
Misha (left) and
Dayan were further back and were forced to cycle alone for
most of the race.
Next up was
the Youth elite girls. Lara (above right, left) was 3rd up
the hill and quickly through transition and out to chase
down Lucy Hall. She successfully caught her and in dropping
her, but would her lead be enough to hold off the strong
running Lucy? Claire, in her first national champs, suffered
slightly from nerves and had a slower swim than we would
have expected but exited T1 with Olyvia.
Next was the
turn of the Junior Elite boys (750m, 20k, 5k). Michael
(right) was the first Jetstreamer up the hill running hard
and chasing to get on the wheels. Lance had had a nightmare,
when his zip was pulled down by someone at the start.
Very disappointed,
he exited transition (right) ready to chase hard on the
bike.
Meanwhile, Lara
(left) ran strongly but couldn't hold off Lucy, finishing 2nd in
her first National Championships.
Both Michael
& Lance were cycling on their own and by the end of the
first lap Lance (right)
led Michael by a
short way. Cycling on your own is far harder than in a group so
by missing the groups they wanted to be in both Michael (left)
and Lance were working far harder than they would have liked.
While the boys
were finishing their first lap Claire (right) had almost
finished her race.
On the long uphill
drag to the finish round the castle she showed great form,
making her first National champs a great learning experience.
As the leaders in
the boys race (right) ended their second lap Hannah (left) was
exiting T1.
Hannah was
slightly surprised at the the extremely competitive nature of
the whole girls race. However, in both Junior sections the
fastest in the age group are pushing
the
professional athletes in terms of speed anddedication. Kirsty
McWilliams and Jonny Brownlee actually medalled in the
Strathclyde CORUS elite race, which means they actually won
money in the process.
Both Lance (left
& right) joined groups in their 3rd laps before heading out
over the ski slope and on to the run.
Hannah (left)
enjoyed the cycle but her feet blistered badly on the run.
Finishing the race with bleeding feet she showed incredible
courage and fortitude.
Michael (right) had
a hard cycle but still finished his run very strongly.
Next target race is
the Youth qualifier at Dorney Lake July 1st. Well done to everyone
at Blenheim - lets build on a that success.
