Hewison wins GE Strathclyde Park Triathlon
Created On: 04 September 2012
This weekend Katie Hewison, reigning ITU Duathlon World
Champion, became the 2012 GE Strathclyde Park Triathlon Champion
after beating off strong competition from Lauren Campbell and
Ashlee Bailie who came second and third respectively, to secure a
deserved victory.
Katie, along with a number of other athletes incurred a
10-second penalty for missing registration prior to the race and it
wasn't until the bike section that she managed to put herself
amongst the leaders and in a position to win the race.
Katie finished in an overall time of 0:56.11, she said: "It's a
really tough and challenging course, but really enjoyable. I don't
think we caught the front pack until the after the first lap on the
bike, myself and Ashlee Baile worked really hard together at the
front on the bike to close the gap, we then got a good group
working together which enabled us to get a healthy lead on the
chasing pack.
"I was thinking that the change to a duathlon was going to play
to my strengths. I've been working really hard on my swimming but
the whole idea of me doing this race was to get a good hit out on
the bike in preparation for the World Duathlon Championships in two
weeks, so for that reason my tactics didn't change whether it was a
run or swim at the start. I just wanted to have a really solid bike
performance."
Of the final top three, just Lauren was included in the lead
group for the first run section following the earlier time penalty
on Katie and Ashlee. Kerry McPhee had a great run and was first out
of T1 for the cycle with the rest of the leaders hot on her heels
and Katie and Ashlee working hard in pursuit. After lap one of the
second run Katie was in the lead, Lauren in second and Charlotte
McShane of Australia sitting in third but Ashlee Bailie managed to
snatch the podium position away from her fellow countrywoman on the
final lap.
Runner-up Lauren from Canada recorded a time of 0:56.31. After
crossing the finish line she commented: "We had a strong group of
four or five of us and each took turns working, and I think no-one
killed themselves on the bike, but we did what we had to do to
build our lead on the chasing group.
"Second place is great because I did a double race last week in
Stockholm and I wasn't sure how I was going to do today, so I'm
really happy. Katie is an incredible runner, I knew she was the one
to beat today, so for me keeping up with her and finishing second
is really great."
Australia's Ashlee, who took third place with 0:57.12, enjoyed
the duathlon format today. She said: "It was a very hard course and
it has been a while since I've done a duathlon, so that was a new
experience for my body.
"The crowd was great, they were really good all the way round,
there were people everywhere. I did the GE Canary Wharf Triathlon
and obviously that's a Super Series race, I had so much fun doing
it that I was really keen to do another one."
The event is also the penultimate race in the 2012 British
Triathlon Junior Super Series with Georgia Taylor-Brown being the
first junior athlete to cross the line.
British terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4 has confirmed it will
screen highlights of the race in an hour show on Sunday 16
September.
Following the GE Strathclyde Park Triathlon, the British
Triathlon Super Series will conclude at the Virgin Active London
Triathlon on 23 September 2012.
Tags: news
