Isle of Wight duathlete Simon Jones has returned from Poland with a hard-fought silver medal after competing in the European Duathlon Championships in the 65-69 Age Group category.
The event, held over the weekend of 26th and 27th April in Rumia, attracted around 500 athletes from across Europe, with some competitors racing well into their 80s.
Simon, who qualified for both the European and World Championships in Sprint and Standard distances last year, began the weekend aiming to compete in both events. However, Saturday’s Sprint race ended abruptly when he suffered a muscle strain less than 1km into the run, forcing him to withdraw.
Despite the injury, Simon returned to the start line on Sunday for the Standard distance race – a 10km run, 40km bike and 5km run. After a cautious start, he settled into 3rd place following the first transition before a strong bike leg pushed him into 2nd. He held onto the position through the final run to take silver in his age group.
Simon completed the course with a 42:28 opening 10km run, a 67:36 bike segment, and a 21:54 final 5km run. He also recorded the fastest transitions in his category.
With the World Championships in Spain now on the horizon for late June, Simon is continuing his preparations and hoping to remain injury-free in pursuit of another podium finish.
