Lunn had fun retaining his world title and other top efforts from globe-trotting PACTRAC athletes

Paul Lunn (right) at the World Championship presentation ceremony.

Lunn was 65th out of the water in the 50-54 age group and nearly 3-minutes down on his main adversaries.

But the second fastest time on the 56-mile bike section sped him up to second place, 32 seconds behind the leader.

He quickly overturned that deficit and ran away to win by 1.48 minutes to retain a title he won in the United States last year.

Lunn said: "It was such a great course for a World championship with a calm lake swim, a rolling fast bike, and a lumpy run, and throw in some freezing cold rain and you end up with a tough old day.

“I managed to just hang on for the win despite being pushed the whole way by some super strong guys."

Lunn will next compete in the full Ironman World Championships in Nice in a fortnight.

Louise Hathaway enjoyed a good World Championship race in Finland, finishing 38th in a very competitive age group on a tough course.

Hathaway was 83rd in the swim, but on the fast, rolling 56-mile bike course picked off 52 competitors at an average speed of over 21mph.

She then improved her run time by two minutes to knock six minutes off of her previous best 70.3 time.

Hathaway said: "I'm super happy with my result and I know I can make more improvements.”

Times:

Paul Lunn (also see left): 31:33 .... 2:20:52 .... 1:24:38 ..= 4:17:03.

Louise Hathaway: 37:46 .... 2:48:41 .... 1:48:25 ..= 5:14:52.

Sue Davys of PACTRAC finished eighth in her age group in the European Middle Distance Triathlon Championships in Menen, Belgium, over the half-Ironman distance.

That represented an improvement of seven places from the last time she represented GB in 2016.

Davys finished in a respectable 6.59.53.

Antony Brown qualified for the European Aquabike Middle Distance Championships at the same venue and over the same 1.2 mile swim and 56-mile bike courses, but without the half-marathon run.

Brown came fourth just over a minute off of a podium spot, after exiting the water in 15th position.

He had the second fastest bike time to pull himself up to fourth overall, the same position he occupied at the World Championships four years ago, but this time he was one of the oldest in his age group.

Brown finished in a commendable 3.00.41.