Posted: June 19, 2005

Multisport: Late Pushes Decide Duathlon Nationals

Alex Hutchinson, The Ottawa Citizen

June 19, 2005:

Athletes at yesterday's Canadian Duathlon Championships had to run 10 kilometres and cycle 40 kilometres -- and then the real racing began.

Both the men's and women's titles were settled only in the third and final leg of the race, a five-kilometre run. The top finishers from the event, held at Westboro Beach in Ottawa, qualified to represent Canada at the World Duathlon Championships in Australia in September.

In the men's race, 20-year-old Kyle Jones of Oakville, Ont., accelerated away from Victoria's Paul Tichelaar with one kilometre to go to win in a total time of one hour 52 minutes six seconds, with Tichelaar just six seconds behind.

Margaret Schotte, a Toronto native who now lives in New York City, won the woman's race by a comfortable margin in 2:10:57.

Schotte was competing in the elite division for the first time this year, after winning the open competition at last year's world championships in Switzerland. Unlike the open category, the elite race permits drafting during the bike leg, introducing different tactics.

A bad transition from run to bike almost cost Schotte a place in the lead pack.

"I ran over a pylon getting on my bike, so a little gap opened up," she said.

However, she was able to catch up, and the lead group of four riders stayed together until the transition back to running.

Also in the lead pack was 38-year-old Lucy Smith of Victoria, a former silver medallist in the elite race at the world championships. Smith, who has 15 Canadian championships to her credit in cross-country running, track and duathlon, gave birth to her second child three months ago.

"If you're smart, a pregnancy can make you stronger," Smith said. "But this race was just for fun."

Her fourth-place finish yesterday gives Smith the option to compete at the world championships, but she will wait to see how quickly her fitness returns before making a decision.

Seven men were still tightly bunched entering the final leg of their race, as the riders preferred to work together on the bike leg.

"Trying to break away on a flat course like this makes no sense," Jones said, since the other riders can draft behind each other and save energy.

Having completed his second year at the University of Guelph, Jones is now training in Victoria with coach Lance Watson, who helped guide Simon Whitfield to Olympic gold in the triathlon in 2000.

Triathlon, which begins with a swim leg instead of the first run, is also the main focus for Jones, who was the national junior triathlon champion two years ago. Yesterday's duathlon is good preparation for the summer's triathlon season, as well as being a significant challenge in its own right.

"Even triathletes will admit that duathlon is harder," said race director Andrew Armstrong, an international triathlon official, "because it's all legs all the time."

Two Winnipeg athletes, Amy Briscoe and Blair Peters, won the under-20 race, which featured a five-km run, a 20-km bike ride, and another 2.5-km run.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2005, Reprinted With Permission.

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