New Zealander Adam Milne took first place in the world’s largest run-bike-run event, the London Duathlon, at Richmond Park on Sunday, writes Jessica Gill.

The multi-sport athlete, 23, completed the 10km run, 20km cycle, 5km run epic in one hour, 28 minutes.

Having heard that his Christchurch home had been damaged by last week’s earthquake, he said: “I left just before the earthquake and have got no home to go back to, but this has been one of the best duathlons ever.”

Fastest woman was Vicky Gill, 30, from Walthamstow, who trains with the Thames Turbo club in nearby Hampton.

Gill came to Richmond fresh from winning her age group at the World Duathlon Championships in Edinburgh last week.

She said: “It was a privilege to ride on a closed road with no cars, only deer.”

Julien Lhomme, 31, from Oxford and Nick Shasha, 36, from Walthamstow took second and third places in the men’s race, having taken third and fourth last year.

Maidenhead’s Corinne Abraham, 32, took second place in the women’s race and Barnes triathlete champion Tamsin Lewis, 31, took third place.

New for 2010 was the Ultra, a long distance test of end- urance consisting of a 20km run, 80km bike ride and 10km run, won by David Vaughan, 30, from Hertfordshire.

World and European duathlon champion in 2008, Vaughan completed the course, the longest he’s ever done, in four hours, one minute.

Fastest woman in the Ultra category was Connery Ellis.

Richmond competitor Dec- lan Doyle, 37, took second place and Dafydd Hollis, 28, from Wokingham, took third in the gruelling Ultra race, having completed the course in four hours, seven minutes and four hours, 17 minutes respectively.

More than 3,000 people entered either individually or in teams, raising tens of thousands of pounds for their favourite charities in a traffic-free Richmond Park, the largest open space in London.