St Albans primamry school’s duathlon

WITH London 2012 apparently responsible for a “feel-good factor” one year after the capital hosted the Olympics, it was small wonder that youngsters at a St Albans primary school jumped at the chance to compete in a duathlon.

The British Triathlon Foundation Trust, a charity which aims to inspire children to lead more active lives, recently held a duathlon training day and race at Windermere primary school, Windermere Avenue.

Deputy head teacher David Harries, a keen swimmer, asked the trust to organise an athletic event to challenge pupils, and encourage them to learn about the sense of achievement that can be gained through sport.

About 100 pupils, aged from eight to 11, enjoyed a taster day of bike, run and transition training.

One child even learned how to ride a bike for the first time.

The bike/transition training involved youngsters being taught how to quickly and safely put on their helmets and mount and dismount their bike.

The following day pupils put their skills into practice with a duathlon, a run-bike-run race format.

A trust spokesman said: “The event was held on a particularly warm day, so the children all did well to finish and push themselves hard.”

He said it was especially nice to see spectators applaud back-markers.