Ulster Duathlon Championships 2006 Belfast
Ulster Duathlon Championships - Titanic Series Race 4 - Sat 22nd July
This was the last race in the titanic race series this year. This was the big one - We had prizes for the the race winners, the overall series winners and the Ulster Championships. The race itself was blinder. Top Irish females Trudy Brown and Anne Paul produced a rare head to head. As expected Anne, the stronger runner, lead out onto the bike but it was here Trudy, an International cyclist, put the pressure on and pulled some time back. Unfortunately the head to head failed when Anne punctured, or so we thought, as she went into car park, fixed it, and was back out onto the course - only for it to repuncture! Trudy put in a strong cycle and went on to win both the race and the series and finally was crowned Ulster Duathlon Champion! Claire Connor put in another firm performance to take number 2 in Ulster and was closely followed by 3rd place Kay Hack. The female junior title was snapped up by Irish International Rachel Boyd.
The male race was completely dominated throughout by Dublin man Liam Dunne, our Irish Champion. Liam’s cycling this year has gone from strength to strength and he was just 47 seconds shy of Brian Campbell’s course record set in race 3. The second place spot was a fight for the Ulster Championship title and was fought tooth and nail. Andrew Lee, Paul Wilson, Pete Savage and Chris Sandy finished within seconds of each other. But it was Paul Wilson and Andrew Lee that broke away on the bike. Paul came into T2 just 10 seconds ahead of Andrew. Andrew has held the upper hand on races this year and Paul was out to make amends. Andrew managed to close the gap to 4 seconds leaving Paul to take the Ulster Championships. Pete Savage was third giving him enough points to take the series title and Vet Eamon Hill pulled out an incredible bike ride to steal 4th and the Vet title. Male junior title was won my Richard Clarke.
Other noteable mentions go to 12 year old Christy Davis who not only took part but put in a fantastic performance on his mountain bike. Competitors aged between 12 and 83 raced the series!
The endeavour prize went to Kate England who finished the race with big smiles despite knee injuries,
The results standing are as follows -
Series Winners
Trudy Brown Pete Savage
Race Winners
1. Liam Dune
2. Paul Wilson
3. Andrew Lee
1. Trudy Brown
2. Claire Connor
3. Kay Hack
Ulster Championships
Male Senior
1. Paul Wilson
2. Andrew Lee
3. Pete Savage
Male Vet
1. Eamon Hill
2. Bryce Irvin
Male Junior
Richard Clarke
Female Senior
1. Trudy Brown
2. Claire Connor
3. Kathryn Bell
Female Vet
1. Kay Hack
Female Junior
1. Rachel Boyd
For full details check out www.triathlonireland.com or www.titanicduathlon.com