Plenty of Brits racing in Malaysia and China this past weekend

It may be mid-November and, in the UK at least, for the vast majority of people it's either time for some cross-country running or a bit of off-road duathlon, but the wider sport continues to be a 12 months of the year calendar. There were plenty of British athletes travelling to Asia this past weekend, as the M-Dot schedule featured IRONMAN Malaysia on Saturday and the debut of IRONMAN 70.3 Xiamen, China, on Sunday.

Malaysia

Germany's Diana Riesler took a third comsectutive win in Malaysia with a strong scross the board performance, taking the lead early in the bike and then extending that during the run to finish teN minutes clear of Mareen Hufe (GER). Hufe had battled with Great Britain's Laura Siddall all day, eventually getting the better of the Brit in the closing stages to push Laura dwon to third.

It's still been a great year for the former Age-Group World Champion, who also broke the nine hour mark at Challenge Roth, earned a close second place at Challenge Wanaka and fourth place at Ironman New Zealand.

Returning to Langkawi where his finished third 12 months ago, Harry Wiltshire was eight this time around with Ritchie Nicholls in tenth. Sweden's Frederik Croneborg, second last year, stepped up one place to take the win - his first full-distance IRONMAN title.

IRONMAN Malaysia - Saturday 12th November 2016
3.8km / 180km / 42.2km

8th - Harry Wiltshire (GBR) - 8:56:00
10th - Ritchie Nicholls (GBR) - 9:04:59

British Age-Group podiums in Malaysia:

2nd - Sophie Clark (F25-29) - 12:06:16
2nd - Kelly Stokes (F30-34) - 11:11:47
3rd - Shaun Wood (M25-29) - 11:06:02

China

With the IRONMAN corporation now under Chinese ownership, expansion in the region is high on the agenda - and a large entry would suggest that the demand is there too. Further to that, lots of good feedback too, including this from British professional, Caroline Livesey:

What a day! @IRONMANtri Xiamen was everything you want from a race. Amazing organisation, super tough. Congratulations to the podium getters pic.twitter.com/4biD13CNZC

— Caroline Livesey (@tri_c_livesey) November 13, 2016

Just a few hours after being announced as the British TriathlonMale Elite Long Distance Athlete of the Year, Tim Don's extended and successful season continued with a second place finish behind Aussie Josh Amberger, who lead from start to finish. Tim at one point closed to less than 60 seconds, but this time around Amberger's tactics worked out a treat and he was able to hold strong for the win. Stuart Hayes was just off the podium in fourth.

There was another fourth from a British perspective in the women's race, courtesy of Parys Edwards, who is getting back into racing after missing so long out of the sport with injury. Caroline Livesey was seventh, while her husband Mark also won the M40-44 division.

IRONMAN 70.3 Xiamen - Sunday 13th November 2016
1.9km / 90km / 21.1km

7th - Caroline Livesey (GBR) - 4:48:57

British Age-Group podiums in Xiamen:

2nd - Luke Mathews (M30-34) - 4:29:10
1st - Mark Livesey (M40-44) - 4:26:47
1st - Roger Canham (M50-54) - 4:42:36