Welland Du

By Roger Hospedales, Team Running Free
Race: Welland Duathlon
Date: Sunday July 1, 2007.
Location: Welland Arena, Welland, Ontario
Description: 5 km Run, 30 km Bike, 5 km Run
Sport: Duathlon
Website: www.multisportcanada.com

After a one-year absence, the Welland Tri/Du made its triumphant return on Canada Day (it was previously known as the Mike Burwell Triathlon for 21 years). The new race site is just south of the old location, and there is lots of parking right beside the transition area (an improvement over the previous site). For those driving from Markham, it takes 1 hr and 40 minutes to get there. The bike course is pancake flat (no more monster hill), and the run is on a paved path along the Welland Recreational Waterway. It is perfect for a first time racer or if you just want to go fast.

I did my usual race prep at the car, hauled my gear over to Transition to set-up and then made my way into the arena to pick up my race kit and to get body marked. While doing my final prep in transition I met Team Running Free members: Laurent Saugrin and Gary Kennedy.

Having done a 4.5 hr ride and a 20-minute run the day before, I was slightly fatigued. Plus, I’m still continuing to deal with my Achilles issues. With one huge week of training left before Ironman Lake Placid, the plan for today was to try and ride like Normann Stadler and run like Fat Albert. Hey, hey, hey! My injuries usually surface from anaerobic running so cruising the run and saving myself for the upcoming week was the only smart way to go. If that was good enough for a top 3 I’d gladly take it but it was unlikely.

As planned, I ran the first 5km in my aerobic zone, completing it in 26:26. With all those competitors in front of me, I was looking forward to the challenge of passing as many as I could during the bike ride. I made a quick transition to the bike and began my assault on the leaders.

It is safe to say that I had the ride of my life. I was not passed by anyone (there were triathletes with fresh legs out on the course too), I passed tons of people, and I ended up with what may be my fastest ever bike split – 47:07 (Averaging 38.2 km/hr) for the 30 km. It ended up being the 5th fastest bike split of the day and looking at my heart rate data, I could have gone faster. Yes, the flat course helped with my speed (I love flat courses) but it was windy out there. I just wish it were longer so I could build more of a gap between me and those faster runners.

I made another quick transition to the run and just held a steady aerobic pace from start to finish. I was temped to go after someone who eventually placed 2nd in my age group, but quickly decided to can the idea of a top 3 age group finish and did the wise thing of saving myself for this important week of training. My left knee and both Achilles are feeling awesome right now (the day after the race) so I feel good about that decision. I did the final run in 26:56 (most racers were 2 minutes slower in their second run), and finished in a time of 1:42:04 (Avg. Hr: 168, 1971 calories burned). I was 12th overall and 4th in the 35-39 age group. By the way, the finish line in this race was inside the arena, along with the post race food, race expo, and awards presentation.

As I waited for the awards and draw prizes I snacked on all the great post-race food (pizza, fruit, tuna, etc). I got the chance to chat with tons of great people too: Kent Parkinson (all-round great guy who volunteers and then races), Speedy Gonsalves (Blue Competition Cycles, HED Guy and fast too), Jimmie Georgas (one of my idols and duathlon legend), Gord Avann (Cycling Guru), and Kelly Anthony (Combination of Fastest and funniest Clydesdale Duathlete) among others. While enjoying all that socializing, I was sort of rewarded for my bike performance when a won an OmegaWhey prize pack (6 boxes) in the prize draw.

This is race now among my favourites and I will be back for sure. Chalk another one up for Multisport Canada and the excellent group of local volunteers. Next up for me is the Gravenhurst International Du.