Anton and Reiser victorious in opening duathlon race

Near perfect conditions greeted participants in the Contact Duathlon Series in Christchurch today, race one in the three race series that takes in Auckland and Palmerston North this winter and it was Whangarei’s Katherine Anton and German born Cantabrian Axel Reiser who proved victorious.

The elites and serious age group athletes were focused on qualification spots for the World Championships in America in September, while others taking part in the short course event were more interested in enjoying their day and finishing in good shape.

As expected the women’s standard distance race came down to a duel between Katherine Anton (Whangarei) and Victoria Beck (Dunedin). Illness and a slow planned recovery forced Anton to forgo triathlons over summer but she showed the benefit of that patience and hard work with a strong first run split over the 10km, leading Beck by 23 seconds into transition.

Beck turned that around on the bike though and led Anton into transition, albeit by just a matter of a few seconds. The Dunedin athlete hared out on to the final 5km run but just didn’t have the leg speed to match Anton with the Whangarei athlete winning by 33 seconds.

“That was real tough, very hot and a tough course as well. Victoria set a great pace on the bike and I kept waiting for a nice tail wind to bring us home but I think we had more or less a head/cross wind the whole way and it just got so hot.

“I managed to pace myself pretty well though and stayed conservative early in the final run leg before I made my move and found I had the legs to go for it with a couple of kilometres to run.”

Beck said she just didn’t have it in the legs today.

“When I headed into the final run just ahead it was a case of seeing how I went but I just don’t have a lot of leg speed at the moment and Katherine was that little bit stronger.”

The men’s was a much more open affair with David King (Rakaia) and David Cooper (Auckland) side by side after the opening 10km run with Alex Reiser (Christchurch) in third almost 90 seconds back with Canterbury Duathlon champion Adam Milne a further 17 seconds back in fourth.

The 40km bike leg sorted the contenders from the pretenders though, its hilly nature testing the fittest of athletes and draining many of much needed energy ahead of the final 5km run.

It was long distance expert Reiser who made his move, one that would prove to be the winning of the race as he established a lead of over a minute on the tough 40km bike course.

While David King and Adam Milne closed on the final run leg, Reiser held on, the ex-pate German was delighted with his win.

“That was not too bad, especially after the pace that the young guys set in the first run. I couldn’t stay with them and had to work hard on the second part of the bike. I think that is where I won the race with my aerodynamic position, the others kept coming up on their handlebars.

“It is great to have the first race in the Contact Duathlon here in Christchurch, it is good for the South Island. Also I was familiar with the course as it is on one of my regular long bike rides so that helped too.”

The men’s U19 sprint race was a head to head battle between Michael Poole (Auckland) and Nathan Coombes (New Plymouth). The lead changed several times over the course of the race but it was National Schools champion Poole who won the day, crossing the line almost two minutes ahead of Coombes.

“The first run was real hard and I was feeling it so I eased off and stayed in control,” said Poole. “The conditions were superb though, I prepared for the worst to be fair and it didn’t happen which was great.

“I’ll head to the worlds in September provided I can scrape some money together. It has been a busy year already and there is nothing left in the pot at the moment but I will see what I can do.”

In the women’s sprint it was Josie Wilcox who led an U19 domination of the podium with Reubyn Bissuchups 39 seconds back in second and Tessa Walker in third.

Contact Duathlon Series

Christchurch

Standard Distance (10km run, 40km bike, 5km run)

Men

Axel Reiser Canterbury 2:03:32

David King Rakaia 2:04:07

Adam Milne Canterbury 2:04:13

Women

Katherine Anton Whangarei 2:15:10

Victoria Beck Dunedin 2:15:43

Suzie Aviss Blenheim 2:21:56

Sprint Distance (5km, 20km bike, 3km run)

Men

Michael Poole Auckland 1:01:56

Nathan Coombes New Plymouth 1:03:43

Zach Martin Auckland 1:04:04

Women

Josie Wilcox 1:11:30

Reubyn Bissuchups 1:12:09

Tessa Walker 1:15:08