Don Shines in St Kilda

Sunday, 16th October 2005

Under crisp blue skies, while most of us slept, Tim Don returned to devastating form today in winning the Commonwealth Games Trial race in St Kilda.  Don was with the leaders throughout, exiting the water 2nd next to Craig Walton, staying to the fore on the bike, and eventually running away from a World Class field including 2004 World Champion, Bevan Docherty, to win in 1:48:17 hrs. With the race acting as selection for New Zealand and Australia, as well as the English, Docherty just succumbed to Australia's Greg Bennett for the minor medals, ahead of Kris Gemmell (NZL) and World bronze medallist Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS), with England's Stuart Hayes (1:49:02 hrs) and Will Clarke (1:49:08 hrs) in 6th and 7th, respectively. Andrew Johns, struggling to recover from the crash he suffered in Gamagori, produced a valiant effort for 12th (1:51:52 hrs), with Oliver Freeman 15th (1:53:37 hrs).

England enjoyed success in the women's race also, with Julie Dibens leading out the swim with World Number One, Annabel Luxford (AUS), setting up a 5-up break that never looked like being caught. Dibens and Luxford were joined temporarily by Liz Blatchford, Rina Hill (AUS), and Laura Bennett (USA), before Blatchford crashed, Hill dropped back, and Bennett retired without running, leaving Luxford to claim the win in 2:02:54 hrs from Dibens in 2:03:39 hrs.  Andrea Whitcombe worked hard to drive the chasing pack, before running in 7th in 2:05:58 hrs, with Kerry Lang 8th (2:06:25 hrs) and Helen Lawrence 11th (2:07:59 hrs).

Article Source:  British Triathlon website, 16 October 2005