Browne, Dennett put on entertaining show as Wakelam, Taylor win on Geraldton Triathlon Club long course

It was a great morning for triathlon racing as race three of the Geraldton Bikes Double Up ran on Sunday. The Double Up series is a bit different as each racer does the enticer course, the shortest of the three distances usually on offer. Short course racers do the course twice and long course competitors complete it three times. The female enticer winner was Jikki VanAmstel. Martha Burkinshaw took second ahead of Kylie Forrester. The top three were separated by only 30 seconds. Bonnie Standen had an excellent bike leg and continues to improve each race. Zeke Forrester won the male enticer, with Jack Ivey second and Andrew Elliot third. Both Ivey and Elliot had fast runs, with Ivey pulling ahead in the last 500m. In the female short course, Amy Wakelam used her fast bike leg to pull ahead of the pack to take first place. Trish Sivyer took second ahead of a consistent Brook Kimpton. Kimpton has been having a great season, always putting in a a ton of effort and her results are starting to reflect it. Paul Burkinshaw won the men’s event, with Paul Luxton second. Scott Dethlefsen took third with a fast bike leg but was unable to catch Luxton on the run. Cory Taylor won the male long course with Gerard Grant and Lester Smith second and third, but it was the race between Scott Dennett and Russell Browne that everyone was watching. Dennett was out of the water first but with Browne catching him thanks to a fast bike leg, it ended up coming down to the run. Both men came across the line seconds apart. Their overall times ended up being a dead heat. Three brave female racers stepped up to the long course. Petrina Wakelam finished first, with Lisa Keefe second and Carissa Mincherton third. Wakelam and Keefe traded places on the bike leg several times, encouraging each other with each pass. Next weekend is a well deserved rest, with racing continuing on March 13.