9:00am Saturday 13th April 2013
By Dan Barnes
HOLT father and son Kevin and Jack Gover will embark on a family outing with a twist as the pair both make their international debuts in the European Sprint Duathlon championships.
Kevin, 52, and Jack, 20, both qualified for the European age group championships in Horst, the Netherlands, on April 21 with top-10 performances at the Althorp Duathlon in Northamptonshire in February.
The duo, from Leigh Road, will be donning Great Britain colours for the first time.
Kevin, who is set to compete in the 50-55 age group, says that he never expected to be running and cycling in an international duathlon event, especially alongside his son.
“I’ve been doing triathlons for about four years with the Hot Chilli Tri club and because I was getting some good times, someone suggested going along to the European qualifier (in Althorp),” said Gover snr, who works as a property developer.
“I only really decided to go along to keep Jack company but he finished fourth in his age group and I was eighth in mine, so now we’re both going.
“I used to play football and I always wanted to try and end up on the same pitch as Jack – I never expected it to happen in duathlon.
“He always wanted to try and catch his dad and I do still beat him in the cycling sometimes but he’s now a lot faster than me in the run.”
Jack, who is studying product design at Brunel University, London, and is currently on a work placement in King’s Lynn, has only been competing in duathlon for around a year.
“My family have always been quite sporty and I’ve always done a lot of cycling so when I moved to a new area for my placement, I thought that joining a tri club would be the best way to meet some new people,” said the younger Gover, who will be competing in the 20-25 age category.
“I’m quite competitive and when I’m training, I like to have something to aim for so that’s why I started doing competitions.
“I never used to be as quick as my dad but now I usually leave him behind – it’s going to be great having both of us going out there to compete.
“We’ve both already signed up for the qualifier for the Triathlon World Championships, which is in at the Bristol Harbourside (on June 23).
“The European duathlon will just be a case of seeing how we get on as it’s our first time at a competition like that.”
Sprint distance duathlon consists of a 25km bike ride, sandwiched by two 5km runs.
© Copyright 2001-2013 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/trade_directory/