MTC Winter Duathlon 4th March 2007.
Race report by Martin Webb
Wind, Rain and Alex triumph at Byley
The second race of the Winter Duathlon Series took place on Sunday 4th March in Byley with an impressive number of competitors given the conditions. A nice spring day on Saturday had given way to strong winds and rain by the time the race started at 10:45 a far cry from the perfectly still, summer like, conditions of Race 1.
A number of the pre-favourites were missing due to injury / previous engagements / the weather – delete as applicable! This meant that Tim Johns wouldn’t defend his win from Race 1. It was good to see some first timers out there – Roisin McCourt, Clare Welch, Arlett Schmidt, Martyn Cornish, Martin Simpson, Partick Holtby, Gary Wolstencroft and Stefan Skrimshire.
They probably wondered what they had let themselves in for as they negotiated the severe headwind heading from the start down Moss Lane to the A50. Things improved on the faster parts of the course with the tail wind, only for the struggle to continue at the start of lap 2. A special mention here must go to Andy Fardon who clocked exactly the same time as race 1 of 29:18, the only person to go under 30 minutes for the bike on the day. Alex Young and Mark Brown both completed sub-31 minute ride, Mark being slightly down (37 secs) on his time from Race 1.
The run proved equally challenging, with the headwind again proving problematic on the ‘out’ sections but with the ‘back’ sections proving a little easier. It was clear following the bike splits that the race would be contested between Alex, Mark and Rob Bell. Rob ran 45 seconds quicker than race 1 but this was not enough to prevent Alex taking the win culminating in an impressive sprint of half of the last ‘back’ leg. His winning time was only 1 minute slower than the winning time at Race 1. Rob took second with a fast finish, Mark Brown in 3rd place. Rob and Mark were 36 and 17 seconds respectively slower than last time, an amazing achievement given the conditions.
Nina McArthur again took the honours for the ladies, with another exhibition of how to complete a slick transition.
Don’t forget there is a prize for the most improved male and female athlete over the series, so by registering a time on Sunday for the first time you have a great chance to better this at Race 3. You need to do 2 races to qualify.
Hopefully Tim, Alex, Brad, Skip, Phil et al can all make the final race for a battle royale! Unfortunately it looks as though it will clash with Harlech so there may be a few people missing.
Massive thanks must go to Karen Elly who successfully completed the timekeeping in the worst conditions imaginable (despite the additional challenges I gave her), Geoff Hayes for laying out the course and helping Karen, Mick Dumbell and Ken Jackson for marshalling, Rob Bell for the biscuits and Toni for providing tea and coffee etc.
From a personal perspective I must again thank Karen and Geoff as their involvement allowed me to dust down my bike and try out my new running shoes for the first time in a race!
Final confirmation of the date for Race 3 to follow.
| Name | Bike | Transition | Run | Total Time | Position | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| alex young | 00:30:46 | 00:00:14 | 00:18:06 | 00:49:06 | 1 | |
| rob bell | 00:31:34 | 00:00:29 | 00:18:59 | 00:51:02 | 2 | |
| mark brown | 00:30:45 | 00:00:49 | 00:20:28 | 00:52:02 | 3 | |
| danny hill | 00:33:38 | 00:00:17 | 00:19:09 | 00:53:04 | 4 | |
| phil stannard | 0:33:32 | 0:00:38 | 0:18:56 | 0:53:06 | 5 | |
| dean frost | 0:31:36 | 0:00:52 | 0:21:07 | 0:53:35 | 6 | |
| rob harper | 0:33:36 | 0:00:48 | 0:20:02 | 0:54:26 | 7 | |
| andy chalmers | 0:31:10 | 0:00:30 | 0:23:07 | 0:54:47 | 8 | |
| martin webb | 0:33:20 | 0:01:07 | 0:20:43 | 0:55:10 | 9 | |
| stefan skrimshire | 0:34:12 | 0:00:38 | 0:20:56 | 0:55:46 | 10 | |
| andy fardon | 0:29:18 | 0:00:43 | 0:25:48 | 0:55:49 | 11 | |
| gary wolstencroft | 0:33:24 | 0:01:26 | 0:21:51 | 0:56:41 | 12 | |
| paul schofield | 0:35:30 | 0:01:03 | 0:20:15 | 0:56:48 | 13 | |
| alan ward | 0:32:26 | 0:00:55 | 0:24:17 | 0:57:38 | 14 | |
| nina mcarthur | 0:36:16 | 0:00:20 | 0:21:26 | 0:58:02 | 15 | Fastest Lady |
| patrick holtby | 0:38:50 | 0:01:14 | 0:19:12 | 0:59:16 | 16 | |
| mike gleeson | 0:35:32 | 0:00:39 | 0:23:30 | 0:59:41 | 17 | |
| viv slack | 0:37:12 | 0:00:46 | 0:22:32 | 1:00:30 | 18 | |
| guy dobson | 0:34:54 | 0:01:21 | 0:24:17 | 1:00:32 | 19 | |
| mark walker | 0:36:13 | 0:01:02 | 0:23:55 | 1:01:10 | 20 | |
| martin simpson | 0:36:44 | 0:01:26 | 0:23:23 | 1:01:33 | 21 | |
| martyn cornish | 0:36:40 | 0:00:38 | 0:27:19 | 1:04:37 | 22 | |
| arlett schmidt | 0:38:25 | 0:01:31 | 0:26:54 | 1:06:50 | 23 | |
| clare welch | 0:40:00 | 0:01:01 | 0:33:19 | 1:14:20 | 24 | |
| katy perreault | DNF | 0:38:00 | run only - missed turning on bike | |||
| ala jackson | 0:41:18 | DNS | bike only | |||
| roshane Mc court | DNF | 0:26:23 | missed turning on bike |
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