IT WAS double success for Wiltshire duo Max Hazell and Anna-Marie Watson as they were victorious at Sunday’s Castle Combe Chilly Duathlon.

The race was the first DB Max Event of the year as the field completed a two-mile run followed by a 10-mile cycle ride, before another two-mile run.

Hazell was expected to have tough competition from Westwood athlete James Coleman and took a slender lead from the first phase as he entered the first transition, with Sam Matchette and Coleman close on his tail.

The bike section saw Coleman overtake both Matchette and Hazell but despite this a smooth transition from the former saw him regain the lead with two miles left to go.

The final run leg saw Hazell extend his lead steadily to take the win from in 44:56, with Matchette coming in second and Coleman taking third.

The 22-year-old, from Freshford, was delighted to come away with a maiden victory for his new team, Trowbridge-based Zoot Athlos Traithlon.

“It was brilliant, it is always really well organised but it was a last minute decision for me to race,” said Hazell, who works at The Triathlon Shop in Bristol.

“I went up there to test the waters a little bit for 2017, there were a couple of quick guys there that I knew.

“James (Coleman) is a really quick cyclist and a good athlete so I just went up there to see what it was going to be like.

“In the first run I found myself in the front so went from there really, James came past me on the bike, but then I went back at it on the second run.”

It wasn’t a straight-forward afternoon for Watson either as she too had to come from behind to claim a victory.

During the opening leg, the pre-race favourite showed why she was just that as she built up a six-second lead over Josie Rawes.

However, from third-place, Ashia Fenwick clawed her way back from a 37-second deficit to lead Watson by 19 seconds after five laps on the bike.

From there it was a straight shoot-out for the win between Watson and Fenwick and with 400 metres to go the former regained the lead to take the win in 51:08.

In the 10k race prior to the duathlon, Jack Bancroft (Bristol & West AC) was never headed, finishing in an impressive 31:48 and winning by three and a half minutes from John Lewis (Swindon Striders, 35:18) with Phil Sansom third in 35:27.

The ladies race was a lot closer, with Rebecca Pierce (Team Bath AC) enjoying a storming last lap to take the win in 39:26 from Victoria Baker in 40:00 and Nikki Morgan (Chepstow Harriers, 40:50).