A SUPERB courageous effort by Ulverston Tri Club member Renell Brennan saw her to victory in the ETU Cross Triathlon European Championships in Targu Mares, Romania.
The 49-year-old former teacher won the women's 45-49 after a superb running stage that allowed her to hold off rival Beatriz Molina Garcia of Spain and better her time from the same competition two years ago, when she finished second behind Great Britain teammate Claire Hitchings.
She had a difficult start to the race in Transylvania, as she went out too fast in the opening 1km swimming stage, but made up ground in the cycling stage, which took place off-road.
This was where Brennan came into her own as she rode uphill while the rest of field walked their bikes up the difficult climbs, which allowed her to catch up with Molina Garcia, who had finished five minutes ahead of her at the World Championships in Pontevedra in April.
And she held her lead to finish in an excellent two hours, 40 minutes and nine seconds, more than two minutes ahead of Molina Garcia (2:42:45).
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