Courtesy: USAT

Duathlon veteran Greg Watson and newcomer Andrea Ratkovic each took the title of U.S. Duathlon Champion on Sunday at the Dannon Duathlon race in Carlsbad.

A day before his 35th birthday, Watson (Newark, Del.) won the overall men's pro race completing the 10K run, 40K bike and 5K run in 1 hour, 50 minutes and 21 seconds. Chris Tolonen (Snoqualmie, Wash.) was second (1:51:39) and Henrik Svarre of Denmark was third (1:51:45).

Ratkovic (Norman, Okla.) was third overall in the women's race. Canada's Lucy Smith, continuing her comeback from pregnancy, won the women's pro race in 2:02:46. Canadian Heather Fuhr, a Carlsbad resident, took second in 2:05:01.

Ratkovic, whose right calf cramped during the second run, still managed to cross the line in 2:06:04. A professional road cyclist, Ratkovic knew the bike would be the key for her, as she left the first transition in 10th place.

"I didn't hammer all out because I knew I had to save something for the run," Ratkovic said. "I knew the bike was going to be key for me, but it was too short. I couldn't make up enough time (to win)."

Ratkovic's bike split of 1:04:51 was about 2.5 minutes faster than the next closest woman, Smith. However, Smith and Fuhr easily put Ratkovic out of reach on the second run. Desiree Ficker (Potomac, Md.), a resident athlete at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., placed fourth overall and second among the Americans.

Watson had his mind on the fact that he had placed second in his last Dannon Duathlon, in Alpharetta, Ga., to Travis Kuhl (Carthage, N.Y.). It was the first time in 10 starts that Watson had lost a Dannon race.

"I wanted to stay as close to Travis as I could," Watson said, adding that he passed Kuhl on the final hill of the first run. However, Watson was still trailing Mario Salazar of Mexico as he left the transition on his bike, a problem that was quickly remedied.

"My cycling has been really good lately. I've been doing a lot of hill work," Watson said.

After the first lap of the bike, Watson had a 1.5-minute lead and never trailed again.

Olympian Ryan Bolton was on the start list but did not appear in Carlsbad. Michael Tobin (Boise, Idaho) finished fourth and Kuhl was sixth.

Paula Newby Frazier (Encinitas, Calif.) was a surprise last- minute entrant in the women's pro race, and finished a respectable 10th overall.

While the pro race qualified athletes only for the Powerman Long Distance Duathlon World Championships in Venray, Holland, the age group race qualified athletes for both the Powerman race and the ITU Duathlon World Championships in Rimini, Italy.

Christopher Georgule, 28, of Worcester, Mass., was the overall men's age-group winner, finishing in 1:55:49. Kathleen Lenno, 32, of Salinas, Calif., was the overall women's winner in 2:08:31.

The race also qualified Clydesdales and Athenas for the long distance championships in Venray. Wade Gunter won the men's Clydesdale race (2:14:35) and Edith Chan of San Francisco took the Athena title in 2:37:28.