FIVE members of Zest Youth Triathlon from Tavistock travelled to MIllfield School in Somerset to take part in the South West regional biathlon championships. The biathlon consists of a timed swim of either 50m or 100 metres in the morning followed by a timed 1000m run on the track in the afternoon. Representing Zest in the youth E girls' class was Emily Ackford, aged nine. She got off to an excellent start coming seventh in the 50m swim. Next in the boys' nine to ten-year-old category was Jordan Channon, also nine, who had a fantastic swim finishing in third. Kate Marks, Will Carter and Amy Marks then followed and each performed well in their 100m swims with Will coming an impressive fifth. With the swimming over they all headed out onto the running track to warm up and practise their starts and running tactics with their coach Paul Chinn. Emily Ackford ran a superb race chasing the leader all the way to come a commendable second place. She was so far ahead of third place that together with her swim time leapfrogged into first place overall. Next Jordan Channon got off to a good start to eventually come in a close second but again combined with his swim finished first overall. Kate and Amy Marks both had excellent runs finishing 20th and 15th respectively in the overall biathlon. Will Carter competed against experienced runners and started well in the 1,000m run to overtake several boys to bring him to sixth in the final placings. All of the five Zest members gained personal bests in the biathlon against very strong opponents. Emily Ackford, Jordan Channon and Will Carter all qualified to represent the South West in the National Biathlon Championships to be held in Macclesfield in May.
