OKEHAMPTON duathlete Paul Clark is keeping his fingers crossed his hard training will stand him in good stead for the World Duathlon Championships in Rimini, Italy on September 28.
Paul, who qualified in March at the Swindon Duathlon on a snowy day, will represent Great Britain in the 30-35 age group class. He normally competes in the triathlon, which includes a swimming leg, but decided to try to qualify for the duathlon for in March and succeeded at his first attempt.
The duathlon consists of a 10km run followed by a 40km bike ride and finishing with a 5km run. Paul said swimming was his weakest leg in the triathlon, so it made sense to try to qualify for the duathlon, but the March event was the most painful thing he had ever done. He came third in his age group.
Paul has been competing seriously for three years and will join the British team of approximately 100 competitors for the world championships. The age classes are organised in five year increments.
All support and funding has to be found by competitors, but Paul is receiving some help from Okehampton Cycles, who are giving him trade prices. Paul said he bought his first training bike from them some years ago and was very grateful for their support.