Natasha shines in Slovakian heat

HENLEY’S Natasha Harris-White took second place in her age category in the Challenger World Championships at the Samorin Olympic Training Centre, just south of Bratislava in Slovakia, last Sunday.

The Challenger World Championships was the culmination of a year of international Challenger competitions for the 2,000 athletes from 56 countries who had qualified to take part.

Harris-White qualified to race by winning the Challenger race in Wales last year in rather different weather than the scorching sun in Slovakia.

The race consisted of a 1.9km swim in the Danube canal, a 90km bike ride and finished with a half marathon.

After the race, Harris-White said: “I found the race a challenging mixture of good fun with the swim and the bike but a really tough run because of the heat.”

Harris-White finished the race in a time of four hours and 28 minutes.