The former trigold athlete and 2011 GE British Triathlon Male Elite Duathlete of the Year, crossed the line in 54.08, thirteen seconds ahead of fellow 2011 trigold graduate Matt Gunby who finished in 54.21. After the race, Mark was delighted with the win, tweeting: “Great feeling retaining a national title. Hard work pays off!” 

 

Check out the photo gallery from the event on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/BritishTriathlon

 

The two athletes raced closely together throughout the race, although Mark was just a handful of seconds ahead at each split time before pulling away on the final run to secure the title. Third place on the podium fell to Richard Horton who finished with 54.27.

 

In the elite women’s race, it was Lucy Gossage who took the win in a time of 01:00.43. Alongside her multisport competition, Lucy fits her training around her day job as a doctor working on a cancer research project funded by Cambridge University. It wasn’t until the final run, that Lucy managed to pull away from second placed athlete Rachel Bamford who finished in 01:01.43, a minute behind Lucy. 

 

In third place was George Schwiening with a time of 01:02.45. The podium performance showed that George has continued her form from last year’s 2011 Gijon ITU Duathlon World Championships, where she was part of the GE Great Britain Team that won silver in the duathlon mixed relay event. It also meant she won the British Junior Elite Duathlon Championships, gaining valuable points in the first race of the 2012 British Triathlon Youth and Junior Super Series.

 

In the male junior race, it was a similar story, with third placed athlete overall Richard Horton celebrating two podium performances on the day with victory in the British Junior Elite Duathlon Championships.

 

Last year’s British Triathlon Youth Super Series Champion and reigning British Youth Elite Duathlon Champion, Miles Burton retained his title finishing in 28.42. In the youth women’s event, Kate Curran began her season in style finishing in 32.04 to take the win.

 

For all the results from the event, please visit British Triathlon’s Official Results Partner, tri247.com.

 

It wasn’t only elite duathletes in action last weekend, as age-groupers also raced at the Oulton Park Duathlon on Sunday 25 March. 

 

The event was the second opportunity for age-group duathletes to book their place in the GE Great Britain Age-Group Team for the 2012 Nancy ITU Duathlon World Championships in September, with the remaining opportunity now at Cambridge Duathlon on 15 April.

 

Results will be published shortly on http://www.xtramileevents.com/