Speedy students are not ‘Chilly’ at the BUCS Duathlon Championships

VERY close and quality racing at Castle Combe Racing Circuit

Women’s BUCS Team Championship decided by less than one second

I’ve said it many times on the pages of TRI247 over the years. When it comes to domestic racing, few – if any – races can compare in terms of strength-in-depth to what we consistently see during the season at the various BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) Championships. Another of example of this was provided yesterday at the Chilly Duathlon organised by DB Max Events, which hosted the 2018 BUCS Duathlon Championships.

The men’s championship was won this year by Leon Chevalier (University of Bath), who was the 20-24 ETU European Duathlon Championship winner last year in Soria, where he was also the fastest overall Age-Group athlete. He was able to pull away from Paul Kerr (University of Edinburgh) on the second run to take the BUCS Gold.

The women’s race saw another quality winner, courtesy of Kate Waugh (University of Leeds). Kate is a former World Junior Duathlon Silver medallist (2016) and finished on the podium at the World Junior Triathlon Championships in both 2017 (Silver) and 2018 (Bronze). She was able to hold off the fast finishing Bronwen Owen (Leeds Beckett University) on the second run to take the title.

The Team awards were VERY close. It was double Gold for Leon as the University of Bath took the men’s title by 20 seconds over Leeds Beckett. For the women however, Leeds Beckett would take the win by LESS THAN HALF A SECOND (!) over University of Leeds. The organisers must have been very grateful for chip timing yesterday to decide that one, the aggregate times of their fastest three athletes being so very close.

View from the event

I contacted Mike Clyne, one of the commentators at yesterday’s race for his thoughts:

“Yes the Women’s BUCS Team results were separated by just 0.41seconds in total across three athletes between first and second team. Amazing!

“The lists of past winners of the BUCS Duathlon Championships show a lot of names of individuals who have gone on to great heights.

“When you look at the results for BUCS you will see the amazing strength and depth of the student population For example in the men’s race, just 63 seconds separated first from seventh place! There are clearly some real powerhouses among the Universities. You would usually expect to see Loughborough in the mix but both Leeds University and Leeds Beckett University featured heavily at the sharp end. Clearly the influence and training opportunities of top level athletes and coaches in that city are making a difference. Similarly, Bath and Birmingham have a large range of elite performance squads for several sports and I do wonder whether this seeps into the sporting life as a whole.

“More than 550 athletes took part in the BUCS race – some seats of learning fielded more than 50 athletes whereas there were some with only one representative. The atmosphere was lively, fun and supportive for all levels of participants driven by the teams themselves.  Many had travelled a long way to be a part of this event demonstrating a commitment and passion to be admired.

“The future of our sport is looking excellent!”

BUCS Duathlon Championship at ‘The Chilly Duathlon’, Castle Combe
Sunday 19th November 2018: 2-miles | 10-miles | 2-miles

CLICK FOR FULL RESULTS

Women

1st – Kate Waugh (University of Leeds) – 47:15
2nd – Bronwen Owen (Leeds Beckett University) – 47:28
3rd – Sophia Green (University of Stirling) – 48:09
4th – Erica Byram (Leeds Beckett University) – 48:36
5th – Sophie Alden (Loughborough University) – 49:00

Your ladies champs of the @BUCSsport #duathlon. Kate Waugh, Bronwen Owen and Sophia Green! #chilly #dbmaxevents #dbmaxtiming pic.twitter.com/A5wwH8ot4m

— DB Max (@dbmaxevents) November 18, 2018

Men

1st – Leon Chevalier (University of Bath) – 41:45
2nd – Paul Kerr (University of Edinburgh) – 42:00
3rd – Jake Callis (Leeds Beckett University) – 42:12
4th – Anthony Haynes (St Mary’s University) – 42:14
5th – Matthew Nelson (University of Hull) – 42:31

Men's Elite Top 3 of the @BUCSsport #duathlon are:
1st: Leon Chevalier
2nd: Paul Kerr
3rd: Jake Callis
Great racing chaps 👍 pic.twitter.com/TAFEujYCsO

— DB Max (@dbmaxevents) November 18, 2018

Women’s Team

1st – Leeds Beckett University – 2:26:46.3 (Bronwen Owen, Erica Byram, Lucy Byram)
2nd – University of Leeds – 2:26:46.8 (Kate Waugh, Jessica Fullagar, Natasha Sinha)
3rd – Loughborough University – 2:30:27

In the female team category at the @BUCSsport #duathlon, the results were:
1st: @leedsbeckett
2nd: @UniversityLeeds
3rd: @LoughboroughTri pic.twitter.com/AxvMKF2nSu

— DB Max (@dbmaxevents) November 18, 2018

Men’s Team

1st – University of Bath – 2:09:11
2nd – Leeds Beckett University – 2:09:31
3rd – Loughborough University – 2:10:04

That's a wrap in the men's race.
The overall men's team winners at the @BUCSsport #duathlon were:
1st: @TeamBath
2nd: @leedsbeckett
3rd: @LoughboroughTri pic.twitter.com/4woWkYye8W

— DB Max (@dbmaxevents) November 18, 2018