DAVE Herne and Chris Biddulph have been selected to compete for Great Britain in the ITU Long Course World Triathlon Championships in Ibiza.

Both athletes represent Chorley Athletic Club although Chris usually competes for the Army. He has been chosen in the Age 30 to 34 class while 43-year-old Dave goes in the 40 to 44 division.

"The race demands that you punish yourself for eight or nine hours" says Herne.

"It is on May 11 in Ibiza Town with a 4km swim in the harbour, a two-lap hilly cycle course of 76 miles and an 18 mile run to finish on the front."

Last year the World Championships were in Nice and although Dave raced he was not selected for GB and ran as an individual.

"I made a real mess of it," he recalled.

"I got sucked into a race on the bike and ended up walking great chunks of the run."

He puts his disappointing performance in part down to the fact that he had endured a tough triathlon at Llanberis a fortnight earlier, but there was a silver lining as his Llanberis result led to his selection this time.

Triathlon has really taken off in popularity with the Commonwealth Games building on the profile given to the sport by the Sydney Olympics.

As we reported previously, Salford is to host a World Cup event on July 27, and it has now been confirmed that an ITU event will be held in Cardiff on June 8.

Herne confirmed this interest is being reflected locally with a tremendous growth in the last six months.

Sometimes over a dozen cyclists have taken part in the club's weekend runs.

The success of Biddulph and Herne in becoming Chorley AC's first triathlon internationals seems sure to trigger further expansion.

If you are interested in taking up triathlon, or in sponsoring Dave Herne, who is competing for the local branch of the motor neuron disease charity you can contact him on 01257 274027.