AGE has proved no barrier for a Darlington athlete who has been selected to represent Great Britain in the ITU Duathlon World Championships in the United States on Sunday.
Mike Trees, 40, joins the six-man British elite team competing in the event at Alpharetta, Atlanta.
He secured his place by following up his Japanese duathlon title earlier this year with second place in the British Championships.
Trees became involved in athletics while at primary school, when he joined Darlington Harriers, and still holds the Hummersknott School record for the 1500m.
From Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College he went on to Loughborough University and became the 1500m British Universities champion in 1984.
He was the inaugural British duathlon champion in 1991, adding the Asian Triathlon Cup to his achievements in 1995 and 1998.
His greatest successes have come in the duathlon event. In 1998 he finished third in the ITU World Cup Final in Japan and became short and long distance duathlon champion of Japan for the fourth time.
Trees says he is in great shape and confident of a top ten finish in Sunday's event.
His sponsors have supplied him with the same Litespeed titanium bike ridden by Robby McEwan when he won the last stage of this year's Tour de France.
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