Victor Vernon qualifies forthe European Championships

Peterborough Triathlon Club (PACTRAC) member Paul Vernon stormed to victory in a European Championship qualifying race at the weekend.
Paul Vernon.Paul Vernon.
Paul Vernon.

He took the honours in the NiceTri Duathlon at Bedford Autodrome in 1:50:46, finishing over a minute clear of his closest rival.

Vernon led the race by nearly two and a half minutes after the first 5.5-mile run but Nic Pillinger caught him on the bike section.

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Vernon soon pulled away again on the final three-mile run, however, to take a comfortable victory to earn a place in the European Standard Distance Championships in Soria, Spain, next April.

He has also qualified for the European Sprint Duathlon Championships, also to be held in Spain next April, from an earlier race at Clumber Park.

There was also another PACTRAC winner at Bedford as junior member Olivia Corner competed in the TriStar 2 race and won her age group in 24:02.

Meanwhile, PACTRAC stalwart Steve Hope was finishing a busy season with his 18th triathlon of the year - this time at the Challenge Peguera Half-Ironman in Majorca.

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It involved a 1.2-mile sea swim, a 65-mile bike ride in the mountains and a 13.1-mile run and Hope did it in 5:47:27 for 324th place overall and ninth place in his age group.

This weekend for PACTRAC sees Sean Beard tackle the Frankfurt Marathon while the week after Roger Canham is racing in China trying to qualify for the World Ironman Championships for a ninth time.