45 collegiate, high school, and masters racers converged Sunday in Topsham, Maine, for the eighth annual Jenex-Patagonia Duelathon, organized by the Bowdoin College Ski Team. On the men's side, Bates College's Sylvan Ellefson bested Colby College's Matt Briggs–the defending champion–in a close finish. For the women, Colby's Lucy Garrec took the win, with teammate Kathleen Maynard in second.
The Duelathon consists of two legs: a five kilometer run through the Mt. Ararat High School cross country trails, followed by a rolling 5 kilometer classic rollerski on a local road.
Ellefson and Briggs finished the running leg with with Colby's Wyatt Fereday, but quickly left him behind on the rollerski. The two dueled for 4.5 kilometers, and when neither could pull away, they slowed to conserve for the finish. In the final sprint, Ellefson managed to pull away on the gradual uphill for the victory.
Garrec also had competition in the running leg; she was closely followed by teammate Kathleen Maynard and Bates' Kirsten Gill. However, Garrec quickly pulled away on the rollerski leg, leaving the rest of the field to fight for second and third. Bates' Megan McClelland narrowly beat out the relay team of her teammates Natalie Ruppertsberger and Ingrid Knowles to complete the podium.
After the race, prizes were awarded to the top three of each sex, as well as from a random drawing of all competitors, thanks to sponsors Jenex and Patagonia.
Results can be found at http://nensa.net/results/index.php?io_view=events.show_results&event_id=219
