The Dirty Duathlon Adventure Race
Sir Sandford Fleming College
Saturday November 8th 2008
This was the second year that I entered the Runners Life Dirty Duathlon race with it being the last official race on my schedule for 2008. There are actually 2 races and last year I just raced the “long” course so this year I decided to challenge myself and race both the short and long courses (the kicker is that the long course start time is 20 minutes after the short course ends) to see what I could do.
The Short Course
The race course was set up in a run-bike-run format with a 2.5 km trail run to start, a 7.5 km mountain bike through the trails of the college and a second 2 km run along the same route as the first run. My goal was to go out and try to be in the top 1/3 after the run and then fight my way up the leaderboard on the bike and then giver’ on the 2nd run to try and snatch a podium spot. I had put in more time running this year than in any years previous and it really showed at this race as I was in 3rd spot only 10 seconds behind the 2 leaders as we transitioned onto the bikes. Once on the bikes, the raced changed. I quickly passed the 2 leaders and ripped through the 7.5 km bike course and emerged out of the forest with the lead. With only 2.5 km left between me and the finish I was able to really put in a strong run to hold off a couple of fast runners to win the race outright… the first outright win that I have ever had!!
The Long Course
No rest for the wicked as they say as the long course started 2o minutes after my win in the short course. The race course stayed the same with the distances doubling for this race. Again, my strategy was the same but with double the number of racers in the long race (and the short course still burning my quads) I knew that it would be a tough race. I was in the middle of the pack after the 1st run and as I transitioned onto the bike I knew that I had to put in a strong ride to stay in touch with the leaders. I was able to quickly reel in several riders and as I started the 2nd 7.5 km loop, I started to catch up with the leaders. Emerging out of the forest to start the final 5 km run, I was in the top 10 and feeling suprisingly strong. I was able to pass 4 runners in the 5km to finish 6th overall. At the awards ceremony, I was plesantly suprised to find out that I had won my age division (winners receive a bottle of wine).
2 wins in one day….not a bad way to finish the year.
The AHS Crew
Congrats to the AHS team who had a great day. Elyse Neiuwold raced both the short and the long course and won the women’s short race and won her age division in the long course. Alex Denault also had a wildly successful day by winning his age division in both of his races. In addition, we had 4 racers complete their first races ever! Looks like the future is strong.
