A FIELD of 360 Duathletes, many of them Age Group Duathlon World Champions, turned up for the first DB Max event of the year – the aptly named ‘Chilly’ Duathlon.

The classic event of a two-mile run, 10-mile bike ride and a final two-mile run got underway at a blistering rate with Ben Cockburn of Orpington Ojays leading narrowly in to the first transition ahead of Ben Price (Kinetic-One) and Alan Murchinson, with only two seconds covering the top three.

The ladies race at the end of run one was headed by Sarah Smith ahead of Gemma Collings (Chippenham Tri) and Michelle Kerfoot (Kingswood Tri Club).

The bike ride was a war of attrition, with competitors not just battling each other but also the elements as the weather really closed in.

James Coleman put in a blistering ride making up a deficit on the leaders of more than 20 seconds after run one to come in to T2 10 seconds in the lead, with Ben Price and Alan Murchinson coming in together in second and third.

Coleman tooke the fastest bike split in 22:22.

The ladies were headed in to T2 by Maria Powell (Bike Science/Boardman Elite) from Joanne Jago and Sarah Smith. Powell set the fastest bike split of 26:09.

On the final run, Coleman was quickly overtaken by Price, who put in a cracking effort coming in at 44:56 and claimed a relatively comfortable win from Murchinson in second and Cockburn in third –Coleman finished fourth.

Powell held on to her advantage gained on the bike to take the Ladies overall in a time of 54:12, more than a minute ahead of Smith and Jago.

The 10k started before the duathlon in somewhat calmer conditions with 300 competitors taking on the three-and-a-half laps of the race track.

From the off, it was Swindon Harriers’ Gary O’Brien dictating the pace and he took a fine victory in 34:32 from Mike Dooley in 35:16 and Micheal Bryant of Swansea Harriers in 35:21.

First lady home was Lucy Powell (Army Triathlon) in 42:08 taking a relatively comfortable win from Karen Scott 42:34 and Emma Joliffe of Bristol and West AC in 43:38.

In the Vet 40-49 category Robert Kingdon (Bitton Road Runners) came home first in 39:54 with First Lady home on the Vets category Kerry Sutton in 45:01.

Full results of both events: dbmax.co.uk