Duathletes in top gear!

A Pembrokeshire County Council fitness instructor is on top of the world after coming tenth in the World Duathlon Championships.
Twenty eight year old Rhys Harries from Cardigan made the top ten at the global event held recently in Adelaide, Australia.
Meanwhile his fellow duathlete, and training partner at Crymych Leisure Centre, John Collier came ninth in the same age category.
Both have now been picked for next year’s world championships in Spain, where they will once again compete against the best in the world.
“It went really well, much better than expected,” said Rhys, who works as a fitness instructor and swimming teacher at the centre.
“I was a bit nervous to start with and thought I would struggle to keep up but I did better than expected,” he said.
“And Australia was lovely I would have liked to have stayed longer.”
Rhys and John were both picked for this year’s world championships after achieving qualifying times in the British championships earlier this year.
Rhys, who spent his younger years as a runner and rugby player, began racing triathlons around four years ago.
The former Cardigan Secondary school pupil took on the challenge after being inspired by watching the even more gruelling Ironman event in Tenby one summer.
While the triathlon involves the three sports of swimming, cycling and running, the duathlon is made up of just two – running and cycling.
Races are made up of a 10k run followed by a 40k cycle and a further 5k run to finish.
Rhys completed the world course at Adelaide in two hours four minutes, just beaten by John Collier who finished in two hours two minutes.
As well as next year’s world championships, they have both been picked for next year’s European championships in Germany.
“We’re going to have to start training again soon,” said Rhys. “But we’ll enjoy Christmas first.”