Dannon Duathlon Florida Results
Grenelefe, Florida
Sunday, March 16, 2003
5k/30k/5k - nondrafting
Complete Results

Australian Jonathan Hall and Great Britain's Martin Yelling, the first and third place finishers at last year's race, returned to Florida hoping to beat the American field. But it was Greg Watson, ready for the challenge, and a surprisingly fit Travis Kuhl that took the top two spots.

Kuhl hit the first mile in 4:37 and completed the first 5k in 14:55. Watson, Yelling, Tom Jeffrey, and Darrin Shearer came in 12 seconds later, while Hall was behind that group by 20 seconds. Eight of the ten pro men were under 16:00 for the first 5k.

Kuhl, who has biked almost exclusively indoors during a tough New York winter, held the lead until mile 7 on the bike, when Watson overtook him. Hall, who made the 20 hour trip from Australia from this race, caught Watson at the end of the bike before fading on the final 5k and finishing fourth. Watson completed the final 5k in 15:44 to win by 45 seconds. Kuhl was second and Yelling finished third.

While the American men took the top two spots, it was Great Britain's Vicky Pincombe that won the women's race. Pincombe, the 7^th place finisher at last year's World Championships, finished the first 5k in 17:22 along with Olympian Shelia Taormina. Desiree Ficker reaggravated a calf injury on the first run and trailed Pincombe and Taormina by 30 seconds. Pincombe distanced herself from Taormina on the bike leg and ran a 17:44 final 5k to win by 1:39. Ficker caught Taormina on the bike but couldn't challenge her on the run as they finished second and third. Lauren Jensen was fourth and Heather Haviland finished fifth.

The fastest age group male was Robert Skaggs of Tampa, and Mary Dunn, age 51 from Connecticut, was the fastest age group woman.

The race will air on the Florida Sunshine Network March 27th at 5:30 PM and March 30th at 7:00 PM.