THE men's and women's records for the course were broken at York-based White Rose Triathletes' 14th annual White Rose Duathlon.

In winning the men's race Brian Field, of Otley Cycle Club, beat the previous record by 7min 20sec when he finished in a time of 2hr 07min 20sec for the running and cycling event.

This was his second victory in recent weeks, following success in the Tadcaster Duathlon.

The women's race was won by Jess Draskau-Petersson, of the Hull-based Barracuda Tri Club, who beat the previous record set by Corina Cramer by 11 minutes. Draskau-Petersson won in 2hr 24min 59sec. Cramer finished second.

There were 120 competitors, who started and finished at Wigginton sports field. The first leg of the race was a 10 kilometres run in which York-based Alan Beavers (NYP Tri), a recent convert to multi-sport racing, recorded the second fastest run of the day in a time of 34min 50sec, only 32 seconds behind Steve Robinson (Bingley Harriers).

Draskau-Petersson led the women's 10km race, with Chris Buckley-Shouksmith (NYP Tri) in fourth place.

The second leg of the race saw the athletes tackle a demanding 45km cycle section including the climbs of Castle Howard and the one-in-five ascent of Bulmer Bank.

Field extended his lead over nearest rival Mark Roberts, who eventually finished second overall. Read recorded the second fastest time, 1hr 14min 10sec, with Field timing 1:12:47.

Beavers suffered from cramp on the cycle section and he dropped down into the middle of the pack.

In the women's race Draskau-Petersson's time of 1hr 26min 53sec for the cycle section increased her lead over Cramer by over three minutes.

The final section of the duathlon, a five kilometres run, saw Field and Draskau-Petersson record the fourth fastest men's and fastest women's times respectively.

Beavers recovered to record the second fastest second run, which moved him up to 13th place overall and fourth in the over-40s' event.

Buckley-Shouksmith recorded the second fastest women's second run to finish in third place, in a 2hr 40min 23sec.

Updated: 10:09 Tuesday, June 03, 2003