Priest and Whitty claim victories in series opener

The endurance stalwart’s ongoing rivalry with young triathlon prospect Thierry Le Cheminant has made for some compelling contests in recent months, with Sunday’s five-mile road race very much continuing that trend.

But having been edged for both race and championship at last month’s FNB Cross-Country League finale, Priest exacted revenge with a show of composed running from Rocque Balan to North Beach against a stiff headwind.

The times were never going to be outstanding given those conditions and Priest clocked 27min. 25sec. – almost 1min. outside his best for the course.

But on the day it gave him 56sec. on Le Cheminant, who forced the pace initially and led by up to 15 metres in the early stages.

Priest took a more conservative approach and worked back to his rival by Bordeaux, finally making good ground nearer Bulwer Avenue as Le Cheminant faltered, troubled by an untimely stitch that brought him to a brief walk.

After coping admirably with some especially tough running into the exposed stretches of the seafront, the more established runner took the honours.

‘Mile-and-a-half to go, I just felt like I had a bit left in the tank so I thought I’d push it on a bit,’ Priest said.

‘It was still hard work because it was very windy, but I managed to keep the pace and it’s nice to get a win.

‘It’s always good to race against Thierry – we’ve had a couple of close races and there’s no doubt there will be a few more to come in the future.’

Luke Richards returned from a racing break and picked up where he left off in a promising summer season, taking third in 28-38.

An intriguing battle for fourth had also unfolded and after reaching Bordeaux together as part of a quartet, Carl Holden and Christian Gillman ended up in a sprint for the line. Holden posted 29-44 to win that skirmish by 1sec.

In the women’s contest, former track star Natalie Whitty went largely unchallenged as she ventured into unfamiliar territory.

Whitty has not raced longer than 5km on the road in over 10 years but the recent cross-country league champion led from early on, eventually winning in 32-58.

She admitted there was no expectation, at least in terms of times.

‘I was just doing it for enjoyment and I think my body held up better than expected, which was good,’ she said.

‘I enjoyed it. Aside from the wind, it was a good race, and it was nice to run a flat race – I am used to up and down on the cross-countries.’

Another triathlete who consistently adds to the strength-in-depth of the domestic running scene, Chloe Truffitt produced a well-measured race for second in 33-55.

Mel Nicolle was pleased to secure third on the return from a viral infection, posting 35-52.