John Clarke realised a lifelong dream of representing Great Britain when he raced for Team GB at the European Duathlon Championships at Weyer in Austria.
The duathlete, who is the chairman of Black Notley Parish Council, achieved his ambition at the age of 54.
He competed in the standard distance event, which featured a ten kilometre run, a 42km cycle ride and a final 5km run over very hilly terrain.
He completed the first run in 44 minutes 12 seconds, the bike ride in one hour 35m 18s and the second run in 23m 11s for a total time, with transitions, of 2h 45m 41s as he finished 21st in the male 50 to 54 Age-Group category and was delighted with his debut international appearance.
Clarke, who is a Senior Lecturer in Education at UEL, said: “Wearing the red, white and blue of Great Britain just once in an international event, is now something that I can always say I’ve done.”
See this week's paper for the full version of this story.
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