George Hogg wins at Orange Cycle & Triathlon Club meet

The Kinross student finished the duathlon - which comprised two runs (2.3km and 1.15km) and one cycle leg (4.5km) - in first place with a time of 27 minutes and 15 seconds. This was more than a minute faster than his closest rival in Luca Telfer.

"I was the most excited. I couldn't sleep, I was just thinking about it the whole week before," Hogg said when asked how he felt leading up to the event.

"During the race I felt pretty awesome. First run I felt great and got on the bike and I felt great there as well. The second run was a little more painful, but I got through it and in the end felt pretty good."

Organisers gave those competing the option of doing two run legs, or of doing the normal triathlon with a swim leg because of the cold and wet conditions.

In his first race back since COVID put things on hold, Hogg opted to forgo the swim, but there there was one aspect in particular that he was worried about.

"I can still run and bike fine, but in-betweens, getting your shoes on and off was all rusty," he said.

"At training before the race I had a big crash trying to get my shoes off the bike, so it was definitely a bit rusty. But I practiced it the week leading up to it and do it.

"That is why it's great that the triathlon club puts on so many events, because you get that training and then for bigger events like all-school, people have all that training behind them and they do really well."

With races such as the Mudgee interclub and the Canberra Tri-Festival on Hogg's radar, he is happy that he seems to have already hit a purple patch of form.

"It gives you confidence to know that you've done it in Orange and then when you go away you've got that confidence to where you feel like you're at top form and feeling quite fit," he said.

"You can go away and know that you're going to do your best. Whether that's a win or a PB, a good time or just finishing the race, you know you've done something good."

Rounding out the top three was Will Ward with a time of 31 minutes and 40 seconds, while Felicity Knox was the fastest female, finishing in 32 minutes and 56 seconds.

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