Top level triathlon

Press, 2 August 1985, Page 30

Top level triathlon

Some of the leading exponents of triathlon competition in Christchurch will take part in the DB Double Brown Canterbury event on Sunday morning. The triathlon will consist of legs in paddling, cycling and running. It will start with an Bkm paddle, from Corsair Bay, heading towards Quail Island, then east across the front of Diamond Harbour, before turning south to finish at Purau Bay. The cycling leg, of 63km, will cover Purau to Teddington, over Gebbies Pass to Kaituna, finishing at Halswell. The running section, 13km, is through part of the Hoon Hay valley block, up Sparks Road and Halswell Junction Road, ending at Denton Park. Dave Dennis, who won the recent Bridge to Bay triathlon, will be a favoured contender again, particularly with a paddling leg, his particular strength, to start. He won the earlier

triathlon with placings of sixth, sixth and seventh for paddling, cycling and running respectively. Alan Roxburgh, the Canterbury time trial champion over 40km, should be formidable in the middle leg, and is a distinctly useful paddler. John Hughes is one of Canterbury’s leading cyclists and a strong triathlete; and John Howard has proved his ability with two victories in the Coast-to-Coast iron man event. The leading veteran seems sure to be Sandy Sandblom, aged 41, who finished fourth over all in the Bridge-to-Bay event, while Andrew Macbeth, a talented triathlete, aged 18, will be the warmest favourite for the junior class. Katrina Stewart, an experienced cyclist, and the winner of the women’s section in the City of Christchurch triathlon in January, is expected to dominate the women’s event.