Box End Duathlon 08
Box End Duathlon 08
Autumn Sunshine brings Perfect Racing Weather
Sunday 12.10.08 saw the second Box End duathlon. The day dawned in thick fog, but it was not to last and the sun soon burnt the last shrouds of fog away to leave the course bathed in bright autumnal sunshine. It turned out to be perfect racing weather.
51 eager athletes, with wide ranging abilities, lined up waiting for the signal to go. At 09.30, sharp, they were off with a flurry of pounding feet. It was soon clear that there was a wide spread of talent on the course today as the field soon spread out on the first 5km run lap. The route, mainly grass track, twist and turns its way around the beautiful Box End water ski park. After the long straight along the river Great Ouse you all too soon come to the infamous hill section as the route winds it way up down the landscaped hill, it is a small area but surprisingly taxing. The route then follows the water ski lake back to the club house and then on to the transition area.
The First person back in to transition after completing the first run lap was Phil Holland from Olney Multisport in a very quick time of 17.55 followed 40 seconds later by Kieron Lewis. After a quick transition it was out on to the bike leg for the first of 3 laps on the bike. The grass track is surprisingly hard going and takes a lot of effort to propel the bikes at any speed. After 3 laps you certainly know that you have come to work hard and not for a Sunday outing. To add to the character of the race the grass had only recently been cut and was clogging up around the brake mountings on the wheels, all adds to the fun. There were a few thrills and spills on the bike section as a few people took a tumble, but luckily [to the disappointment of ST John’s] nothing too serious.
During the bike leg Gavin Rumbles posted a seriously fast time and took over the lead. The top few competitors were really close now and it would all be decided on the final run lap. The athletes are out of view for the majority of the course but I can believe that it was quite a tussle for the first few places. In the end it was the running of Kieron Lewis that saw him through to take first place in a time of 1:21:43 with Gavin Rumbles only 25 seconds behind in a time of 1:21:59.
In the ladies race Alison Copper led from the start and was the first to finish in a time of 1:40:58. It was a bit of a family affair for the Coppers as son, Daryl, was the age group winner in 18 to 23 in a time of 1:43:10. Also husband, Geoff, posted an extremely good time. The only junior, Daniel Hoof, completed the course [only 2 bike laps] in a very respectable time of 1:18:02. I hope that next year we will see a lot more juniors take up the challenge.
More importantly, than the time taken, everyone who took part finished. Whatever your position I hope you enjoyed our little race. We certainly enjoyed watching you sweat and toil around the course, along with the excellent weather it was a pleasure to put on the race. We hope to see you all in our future races, which can be viewed at http://www.quadracracing.co.uk/
Our next race is the first of the Wadenhoe winter challenge series on 30.11.08 which is an Off Road Duathlon and a Quadrathlon.
