THE Harwich Olympic distance triathlon took place last Sunday.

Several Harwich Runners competed against both elite and novice triathletes.

Owing to high winds, the swim was shortened from 1,500 metres to a 600m out-and-back course.

This did not suit Katie Holmes but, competing in her first Olympic triathlon, she posted the second-fastest swim of the day, before going on to complete the 40km bike and 10km run, finishing second in the under-40 ladies’ age group, in two hours 48 minutes and 45 seconds.

Thanks to a ruthless selection, Team PK were easy winners in the relay event.

A comfortable swim by Paul Kerrison, in 9m 24s, put cyclist Mark Lloyd in with the leaders.

Lloyd then posted the fastest cycle time of 1h 38s to put his team well in front before a fine run by replacement runner Andre Beasant, in 42m 13s, gave an overall time of 1h 53m 39s.

Justin Burls, in the very competitive 35-54 age group, put in a good performance to finish second in 2h 4m.

In the same age category, John Francis was fifth in 2h 10m 6s.

Steve Tatum, despite a competitive swim and bike, found the hot, windy conditions hard on the run to finish 14th in a time of 2h 28m 39s.

Russell Mowle and Mike Barstow were both completing the distance for the first time and their main ambition was to finish the event in the gruelling conditions. They succeeded in this, posting times of 2h 48m 46s and 3h 44s respectively.

Jeff Higgon, in the over-55 age category, had a steady swim, bike and run to finish second in 2h 22m 44s.

Dennis Warner, in the same age category, suffered a puncture but got his bike back and completed the event.

Full results are available via www.harwichrunners.co.uk/ triathlon/assets/olympic_results-(6).php