SCOTLAND'S Fiona Lothian is using tomorrow's European duathlon championships in Poland as a warm-up for the world long distance title in Zofingen, Switzerland next month.
The St Andrews-based athlete has been in fine form recently with victories in the Credit Suisse duathlon international, the Home Countries duathlon championships and a host of national level successes. However, she played down the chances of adding to her honours this weekend. She said: ''I'd hope to finish in the top five but you can never be sure of what might happen.''
The Scottish title-holder feels she is fitter than last year when she took tenth place in the world championships. She admitted: ''Things have been going well. I've been really pleased with my running and feel a lot stronger in my cycling.''
Scotland has three other representatives in Poland. Aberdeen's Doug Smith in the men's race, Stirling's Lesley Paterson in the junior women's event and Eleanor Reid, from Dumfries, in the
veteran women's competition. The race starts with a 10km run followed by 40km bike stage, and ends with a 5km run.
The main event on the home front this weekend is tomorrow's sixteenth annual Deeside triathlon which takes participants on a 59-mile trip from Braemar by way of Potarch and Durris, to the finish in Aberdeen. The race includes a 34-mile bike stage, a 10-mile run and 15 miles of canoeing. There is an accom-panying biathlon for those wishing to miss out the canoeing. The triathlon is open to individuals or teams of three.
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