DURSLEY Running Club member Richard Pitts competed for Great Britain at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Edmonton, Canada.

The events involved over 3,000 athletes from 73 countries.

Pitts qualified for both the sprint and the standard distance age group, opting to compete in the latter event, and came in equal 59th in the 45-49 age category with an impressive total time of 2:26:30.

Reflecting on the race, Pitts said: “I would have liked to have been top 50 but overall I was happy with my race. It was a great experience."

After an unusual dive start he managed to keep out of trouble in a frantic first 200 metres and was pleased with a time of 26.32 in the swim.

He was then faced with the first of two long transitions and three minutes later he was out on his bike.

The bike course was two laps with a couple of hills and fast descents on each lap.

He was hugely relieved to get back to the second transition without any punctures or mechanical problems, averaging just over 21mph.

The run started well but after a couple of miles Pitts started to get cramp in one of his hamstrings.

He then nursed his way back to the finish line in a commendable time of 45 minutes.

The quality of the field was shown by the fact that the top ranked GB athlete finished 20th.

Results: Richard Pitts 26:32.5 (swim), 03:03.1 (T1), 1:08:56.2 (bike), 02:58.3 (T2), 45:00.0 (run), 2:26:30.3 (overall).

Cheltenham Half Marathon had seven Dursley Running Club entrants on a sunny autumnal day.

Fran Amigioni ran wisely, managing a personal best. She declared herself very pleased at sneaking under 01:49 for the half marathon distance.

Mark Brasier followed up earlier strong showings at the half marathon distance with an impressive run of 90 minutes.

Behind him, the club’s world record holder Emma Denton had a good race to finish fifth in the female over-35 category.

Richard Hensman was next in just over 97 minutes, a big improvement on his Hereford Half time; although the big difference between his gun time and chip time suggested he started too far away from the start line.

Jon Tudor was just 54 seconds slower than his 2013 time, so whilst he may be disappointed not to have shown improvement he was not far off his best.

Paul Rogers completed the 13.1 mile in just less than two hours, 20 minutes, which he was extremely happy with.

Results: Mark Brasier 285th, 01:30:00; Emma Denton 260th (5th FV35), 01:33:12; Richard Hensman 582nd, 01:37:55; Jonathon Tudor 378th, 01:43:55; Fran Amigioni 471st, 01:48:55; Paul Rogers 1,331st, 02:22:25.