Ironman champ Donald strikes another double gold

A victim of the weather, Dawlish triathlon was turned into a duathlon race but that didn't deter a group of hardy club members from some competitive multi-sport action on the south coast.
In the sprint distance race Julian Smith led home the team in a time of 1.28.10 and closely followed by Ben Flower 1.29.10 who had just returned from his European adventures and completing IRONMAN Italy only a week ago.
Ian Dabbs was next home in 1.37.51 and joined by Paul Chamings 1.43.54 Linda Dabbs 1.44.29 (1st AG) Jenny Hourigan 1.44.58 and Samara Taylor 1.51.59
In the Super Sprint Duathlon Dave Brown was the club's sole representative and came away with the overall victory, taking the win in a speedy time of 55.55
Having only just claimed a superb age group win at the IRONMAN world championships, Donald Brooks proved once again he's the man to beat over any distance when it comes to triathlon age group racing. This time it was in Pontevedra, Spain, as Donald took double gold with wins in the super sprint (23.43) and standard (2.00.10) distance triathlons to add to his incredible season of titles. Ben Flower was also returning off the back of long distance triathlon racing and travelling to put in a great performance in the super sprint race for a finish of 27.49
The historic grounds of Hever Castle in Kent provided a dramatic location for triathlon racing with Katie Potter taking on the Olympic distance event. Katie wrote her own name into the history books claiming second place in her age group with a time of 2.51.28
Leading from gun to tape Naomi Flanagan won the Ladies Dornafield 10k win in emphatic fashion, taking the victory by over two minutes and was the only lady to run sub 40 minutes with a great time of 38.43 Rachel Longthorpe took home 3rd AG in 51.09 and the club trio was completed by Cassandra Harrison crossing the line in 54.24.
The first event on the club's grand prix running calendar, Exmouth 10k, attracted a big club turnout as members battled the wind to record lots of great times and PB's, including 2nd and 3rd place ladies for Debbie Burman and Kate Baldock.
Ryan Holdford 39.39 Gary Burman 39.47 Lewis Cholerton 40.17 Paul Whitehead 41.11 Jerry Hocking 41.40 Debbie Burman 42.24 Kate Baldock 44.13 Kate Maslin 44.22 Peter Hayward 45.17 Andrew Chapell 46.19 Helen Chapell 49.00 Helen Stanway 55.05 Laraine Gibbins 55.53 Katie Giles 57.12 Heather Maddock 60.08 Brenda Valentine Finney 65.59 Linda Thompson-Wild 67.55 Chris Ripley 68.15 Sarah Sweatman 70.01.