Winter Duathlon Series Event 1

After our ‘Welcome Back’ event in September it was time for the first of winter duathlon series at High Lodge on 11th October.

Whilst of course still having to work around all of the covid-19 measures required, we decided to make our lives more interesting and run the winter series in the opposite direction to previous events on this course. Going anti-clockwise would present some slightly different challenges like a short sharper hill half way around the run loop and a sandy uphill with tree roots to further disrupt the rhythm on the bike lap…oh and turning left instead of right!

In all seriousness, changing anything major is always a bit of a worry for any event organiser. You wonder if you’ve made the route signage clear enough and whether you’ve placed marshals in the right spots to ensure everyone gets around the course safely. It always feel good to see the first runner arrive back at transition, and even better when cyclists start to approach the dismount line before they tackle the final run.

Thankfully there were no issues, largely due to our team of volunteers who helped set up and man the route.

There were some super performance throughout both the morning and afternoon events.

In the morning we had what we think was our first win over-all from a female athlete by Sarah Palmer in a superb 36 minutes and 30 seconds. Angela Joiner-Harder was a very strong second too just over a minute behind with Lee Goddard rounding out the top 3 after puncturing last month.

The afternoon saw Joshua Moore in pole position (37:30) with Keiron Jarvis in 2nd and Irish Age Group International Dave Cordner in 3rd.

Special mention also to Victoria Wells (AM) and Lynsey Wilson (PM), who had punctures but didn’t let that stop them – they just had a bit more running to do than everyone else!

And the verdict from those taking part? Well several people in the morning felt it was easier going anti-clockwise whilst the consensus in the afternoon was it was tougher! Regardless, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Well done to all the participants and results can be found here.

Next up it’s event 2 in the winter series on 15th November. Entries are open here.

Can But Tri Team