Sussex Seven See Sun Shine

REPORT ON THE NATIONAL DUATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS

RACE 2 National Duathlon Championships

MILTON KEYNES 5th April 2009

This was a seriously good event. Thoroughly enjoyed by all 7 MSTC members. It looked dodgy at the start however, with temperatures virtually at freezing point, after most of us had got up at 4am. Credit to Andy Heath who only got home from work after midnight but still made it!
Racing against the very best in the country makes you realize just how good they are. Because the first 10K was a staggered start with 4 laps, most of us experienced the leading men and women overtaking us at a frightening pace. By the time we were on the bike the sun had come out and from then on it was near perfect race conditions.
The fact that James Dear had the second fastest bike split in the whole race underlines what a quality cyclist he is, especially after running the first 10K in 37minutes just a shade outside his PB. The run was completely flat but unlike the Brighton 10K was quite scenic, running round the lake.
The undisputed king of the transition was Steve Alden, with T1 being 16s faster than anyone else, although James matched his T2 time of 42s.
Rob Hoodless put in his usual consistent performance, and finished with the fastest 5K out of all of us by a clear half minute.
Rachel Baker was only a few seconds outside her Brighton time for 10K and put in a blistering bike leg on her super-bling bike and finished 9th in her age group, which was the best age group position. Lucy Williams was just aiming not to finish last, but did rather better than that, and was 10th in her age group.
Callum Murray pushed very hard – especially on the first 10K, and found the undulating bike course tough, but still finished 20th in his age group.
Andy Heath realized his rear tub was a bit worn before the start, so was not entirely surprised to puncture on the second lap as it was a very poor road surface for about half of each lap. Nevertheless he worked very hard and we all welcome his progressive return to fitness.

RESULTS
Men Overall winner 1h51m12s
1st James DEAR 2h1m22s 9.15% (8.22%) 10pts
2nd Robert HOODLESS 2h13m44s 20.26%(13.49%) 9pts
3rd Steve ALDEN 2h18m33s 24.60%(17.58%) 8pts
4th Callum MURRAY 2h40m06s 43.97%(33.00%) 7pts
5th Andy HEATH DNF puncture 6pts

Figures in brackets are the more realistic age group percentages

Women Overall winner 2h05m10s
1st Rachel BAKER 2h31m30s 21.05%(10.92%) 10pts
2nd Lucy WILLIAMS 2h42m14s 29.62%(29.62%) 9pts

Standings after 2 events

Men
1st Rob Hoodless 19pts
2nd Steve Alden 17pts
3rd James Dear 10pts
4th Matt Record 8pts
5th Callum Murray 7pts
6th Andy Heath 6pts

Women
1st Rachel Baker 20pts
2nd Clare Cresswell 9pts
= Lucy Williams 9pts