Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Racing home
Harriers trio take on the world
Canterbury Harriers athletes enjoyed success at the ITU World Aquathlon Championships in Canada.
Yiannis Christodoulou of Harriers and Adalta CC raced home in sixth place in his age group in Penticton, British Columbia.
Christodoulou struggled in the swim which put him down the pack, however once he got going and into the run he began overtaking people.
He ended up as the third fastest runner in his race and was quicker than the first three finishers to record an overall time of 36min 48sec.
Christodoulou’s performance ensured his qualification for next year’s European Championships in Ibiza and World Championships in Denmark.
Fellow Harrier Simon Jones competed in the same race, finishing 10th in his age group and was second fastest on the run for an overall time of 37.23.
Jones also struggled with the swim but a great run saw him overtake a lot of athletes to ensure he has also qualified for the European and World Championships next year.
Dave Bowden finished 24th in his age group in the Long Distance Triathlon World Championships two days later.
In tough 34 degree heat he produced a fine performance where he was sixth fastest in the run, which is his best discipline, and clocked an overall time of 2:18.32.
He was the third Brit home and aims to improve on his performance in next year’s event.
Harriers athlete Alex Horsley stormed to a top-five finish in the Kent Coastal Half-marathon in Thanet on Sunday.
Horsley stopped the clock in 1: 26.07 to claim fifth, and third in the vet40 race, though he was still nearly seven minutes behind winner James Wright, of Springfield Striders AC.
Horsley’s team-mate, Fiona Tester, was third in the women’s race and 25th overall in a time of 1: 36.56.