In the Sprint race Brian Howarth and Simon Gray finished a very impressive fifth and 17th place respectively.

The two athletes in a multinational field with competitors from Great Britain, Australia, Brazil, USA, Canada, New Zealand and other countries faced very cold wet conditions

Simon was the first of the 20 Brits to exit the tough sea swim in fifth place with Brian just behind in 10th position.

Brian moved up the field on a tough bike course and started the run in fourth position.

A close finish saw a two-second gap between fourth and sixth with Brian the first athlete from Great Britain to finish, gaining automatic qualification for next year’s World Championships in Queensland Australia.

Chris Brown competed in the longer distance Olympic event which was changed to a duathlon because of the very poor sea conditions.

Chris finished in a very strong 72nd position and the following weekend completed the half ironman UK in the south of England.

THIRTY-ONE Harrogate Harriers travelled to Hudswell for the final round of The Harrogate District Summer Road Race League hosted by Swaledale Road Runners.

Ben Grant was first club member to finish in 11th overall and as first veteran over 55.

The final standings placed Harriers second in the main event, the ladies, the lady vets, the male vets, the super vets and third in the elite.

Tim Haas was the first Harrier home 32nd overall in the Burn Valley Run based at Masham.

He covered the tough course run over the half marathon distance in 93.20, followed by 57th Jon Blane 98.03, 69th Mark Jordan 100.46, 79th John Buckler 101.32, 90th Phil Sagar 103.28, 94th Simon Watson 103.57, 108th Tim Pocock 106.23, 148th Jean Croft 113.13, 176th Robyn Boulton 117.56, 199th Jane Robbins 123.38 and 208th Andrew Brown 126.16.

With two weeks to go entries are flooding in for The Harrogate Town Centre 10K. Entry forms are available from Up & Running Station Parade, various sports halls or the Harrogate Harriers website.