On Saturday, April 16, Dominic Gillen, an XTERRA Pro, won the USA Men's Off-road Championship with a time of 2 hours 8 minutes and 19 seconds, kicking off the inaugural National Duathlon Festival, which also featured Sunday's USAT Duathlon On-Road National Championships.

The race consisted of a 10k run, 30k bike and 2.5k run, held in and around downtown Richmond, capitalizing on the legendary mountain bike trails in the James River Park System and Richmond's scenic Canal Walk.

Gillen has raced the mountain bike course repeatedly since 2002, however this was the first time he'd competed in the USAT off-road national championship and his familiarity with the course helped him to his first national championship title. Gillen also raced in the on-road championships that were held on Sunday.

In the women's event, Laura Hamm, 23 of Blacksburg, also took home her first national championship title on Saturday. She completed the same race in 2 hours 44 minutes and 10 seconds. The women ran and biked alongside the men on the same course.

With 175 registrants in the junior, youth, sport and age group classes, the Off-Road Championships were a successful first day for the National Duathlon Festival. This was the first of three consecutive years the festival will be held in Richmond.

Sunday's USAT Duathlon National Championships were contested with a different run and road bike course. Elite pros raced for national championship status and cash prizes, while age group athletes, juniors and youth races went after national titles. The elite and age group course consisted of a 10k run, 40k bike and a 5k run.

Results are posted at duathlonnationals.com.

The preceding was compiled from a SportsBackers news release.