INTERNATIONAL age group athletes took the top honours as 200 athletes took part in Hereford Duathlon.

The event which was based at Whitecross School saw competitors compete over a standard and sprint race on Sunday both designed for newcomers to the sport.

The flat run course saw athletes race through the city streets and out into the local villages. The bike course was undulating and took in some of Herefordshire's countryside.

The standard race competitors completed a 4.6 mile run followed by an 17 mile bike leg and finished with a 2.2 mile run.

Alex Doherty from Cheltenham Harriers and Goode25Swim led from the start to cross the finish line in a time of one hour and 24 minutes and 10 seconds.

He finished six minutes ahead of Hereford Triathlon Club's Mark Lamonby in 1:30:08.

Lamonby had battled from the start with team-mate Sam Mayglothling who finished just 11 seconds further behind.

Doherty, the British age group Duathlon champion, will be representing the GB age group team at the World Championships in Denmark in June and Lamonby, from Leominster, will be part of the GB age group team travelling to Ibiza for the European Championships in October.

In the women's event Naomi Eaton of Cheltenham Harriers took top honours in 1:37:51, followed by Debbie Bradley from TriKs in 1:39:20 and Sophie Horrcks from Y Fenni Tri in 1:43:31.

Bradley, from Solihull, is the World and British Duathlon champion for the 40 to 44 age group.

Both Doherty and Eaton are coached by Hereford's Dave Newport who is a British Triathlon team manager and a volunteer coach at Cheltenham Harriers.

He has been coaching elite athletes for more than 30 years.

In the sprint race, which consisted of a slightly shorter opening run, Jonathan Read from Velo Karbona took first place in 1:15:37 followed by Nick Price from Halesowen AC in 1:17:26 and James Turpin in 1:21:35.

Eloise Du Luart was the first woman and third overall in 1:18:29, finishing with a 14 minute gap over Clare Evans from Hereford Triathlon who was second in 1:32:10.

Nicky Turvey from Teme Valley Tri returned from injury to finish third in 1:32:45.