*Road Runner Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts is pictured above in the finish area.
Good performance by Llyr in Australia during the World Sprint Duathlon championships...
Report by Don Hale
Welsh Master and GB international athlete Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts celebrated an outstanding performance last Friday in the World Sprint Duathlon championships in Australia and just missed out on a top podium place.
The North Wales Road Runner who has been training hard all year – despite some unexpected health problems of late – was delighted to be offered this unique opportunity to represent his country in such a major competition.
And on Friday, he recorded some excellent times during his run-bike-run event, which attracted dozens of world class elite athletes to Townsville, a coastal city in North-East Queensland.
Staged towards the end of the winter season in Australia, the weather proved to be unusually warm for this championship race, but Llyr still recorded a fast time of just 18 minutes for his initial 5k run, followed by a 20k bike ride, and then a short 2.5k dash to the finish line.
Llyr is pictured (left), at a previous Sprint Duathlon event.
After his race Llyr confirmed: “I finished 10th in the World Champs for my age this morning! I was really happy with my race! Just two minutes, or so, separated me from a podium position! I’ll take that, as the last two months have been difficult with training and some minor health issues.
“I ran 18 minutes for the first run, 31 minutes for the bike, then 9.40 for the 2nd run. It was tough and the run had a challenging upward section along a boardwalk, that was a stinger on the legs.
“The bike was quick - 40 kmph - virtually all the way around as it was draft legal, i.e., you could stay on someone’s wheel! The heat took its toll though on a few, but I didn’t feel that until the end.”
In preparation for his Sprint Duathlon race, Llyr visited Cairns in tropical North Queensland the previous Saturday, where he took part in the Cairns Esplanade parkrun and finished 8th overall out of 344 entrants in a good time of 18 minutes and 45 seconds on his 5k course debut and claimed 2nd place in his VM50-54 age category.