Teen Squance finishes well clear
Teenager Hayden Squance beat off some strong older talent at Rabbit Island on Sunday, running and biking his way to a clear victory in race one of the Shoe Clinic Mountainbike Duathlon Series.
The opening run was short but demanding, winding its way around two laps of a hilly 2km circuit.
Phil Costley was the fancied runner, but Squance stuck closely behind over both circuits.
Thanks to a lightning transition into run shoes, Squance led the way out on to the bike course by two seconds, with a gap of 20 seconds back to Patrick Higgins.
Josh Barber, Glenn Bathgate, Jase Christie, Stuart Hodgkiss, Blake Mackie, Jon Linyard and Brendon Crequer made up the top ten at this point.
Francesca Harris showed her potential when she placed second in the Nelson Women’s Triathlon three weeks ago.
On Sunday she confirmed it, wrapping up the opening 4km run with a two-minute lead over Serena Hobson, with Julie Mimine 90 seconds behind, just ahead of Kate Kempthorne.
Squance extended his lead on the two-lap, 20km bike course, negotiating the soft surfaces and technical sections at an average speed of close to 30kmh.
Higgins, Christie, Hodgkiss, Bathgate and Barber were the next quickest.
Harris and Hobson held their places at the top of the women’s field, while Kempthorne moved into third place.
With just one run lap to go, Squance didn’t ease up, running the second fastest 2km time to cross the finish line in 1hr 6min 49sec, ahead of Higgins (1.07.33) and Christie (1.11.11).
Costley powered through the final tortuous 2km run loop in a blistering 7min 35sec to bring himself back into fourth overall in 1hr 12min 32sec.
He finished ahead of Barber (1.12.43), Hodgkiss (1.13.07), Bathgate (1.13.14), Linyard (1.15.24), Mackie (1.15.33) and Charlie Squance (1.19.39).
Harris was an easy winner in the women’s field in 1hr 26min 12sec, ahead of Hobson (1.30.38), Kempthorne (1.36.08), Mimine (1.38.41) and Holly Mills (1.42.38).
There were plenty of new faces in the short course event, but it was the seasoned campaigner Paul McNabb who blitzed the field, putting in the fastest time in all three legs.
Competing over the 2km run loop, 10km bike circuit, then a repeat of the run, McNabb stopped the clock in 43min 31sec.
Aimee Burnard (48.58) was consistent in all three legs to finish second, ahead of 11-year-old Florence McNabb, following in father’s footsteps to record a very creditable third place in 49min 18sec.
Cyclist Mitchell Cooper (49.57) used his bike strength to finish fourth, ahead of Matthew Shea (50.07) and 58-year-old veteran Liz Coke (50.13).
The oldest competitor in the race, 70-year-old Colin Wragg, finished mid-field in 56min 45sec.
Steve Pauling dominated the field of ten walkers in the short race, stopping the clock at 53min 31sec, with Claire Weyers (1.02.13) next, ahead of Kevin Shea (1.02.55), Megan Robinson (1.06.54), and Wayne Slade (1.17.12).
Race two follows on May 7, with race three on May 21.