2011 Inter-Services Duathlon

Time seems to have flown by since Cambridge Duathlon. It’s been 10 days of training frustration really, as I have suffered from very tight and sore calves since Cambridge. It’s not an injury thing; but certainly a recovery problem. I had completed 2 runs within that 10 day period: a 3 mile jog/hobble and a 5.7 mile steady run on Sunday. Hence my decision to not put myself in the RAF Senior Team for the Inter-Services Duathlon. I remained in the Vets team, thinking that the healthier and younger guys would be in far better condition.
For various reasons, it didn’t quite turn out like that! I actually ran ok (not great; but ok). Same for the bike really – a strong ride but no real Zip! However, that was enough to get me 13th overall and 4th RAF Finisher. Of course, I didn’t actually count for the RAF Team because I was a named vet. This is the way this competition works and it can be very frustrating from a Team Manager stance. I was the next choice to place in the Mens’ team if there was another drop out or no show. As it was, Ronnie McWilliam did not turn up and we had no time to switch me to the Mens Team – not happy about that. But, as it turned out, we still would not have beaten the Army if I had switched. Now if we had Greg MacDonald (crashed badly the week before), I reckon that we could have had a chance.
Oh well, we do what we think is right at the time. The very positive thing is the sheer amount of RAF Triathletes that raced! There was red, white and blue everywhere. There were many stand-out performances, on a personal level and from a representative viewpoint. I can only really comment on those aspects that I noticed on the day and those that I can see from the results.
Firstly, Pete Norris backed up his recent great race results with a 4th place overall. He really is going very well. I was impressed with some of the younger new guys too (sorry, Pete! You are old compared to some others!). Fraser Williams showed what great potential he has by running very fast – fastest RAF, I believe, on the runs. Poor Mike Taylor may well have ran even faster if he had not pulled a hamstring on the first run, being forced to retire from the race. Rob Wilcox is the opposite of Fraser – Rob has a very strong bike and is an improving runner. Both Fraser and Rob are ones to watch!
Brad Goggin showed, yet again, that even with his disability, few can match him on the bike. One guy who certainly can is Mike Westwell! He bagged the fastest bike split of the day. He was the only guy under 28 mins and this helped him to finish 8th overall. Our reigning RAF Champion, Daz Sharpe, finished 10th with a solid performance all round. Daz had just returned from a family holiday and had not trained all week whilst in Germany. Feeling somewhat ‘stale’ by his standards, it shows that he is on course for another fine year (I wish I could race like a ‘stale’ Daz!).
Finishing in 14th position, another guy in great shape is Mal Rose. His running is a major strength, particularly off the bike; he reminds me of a robot, relentlessly powering onwards! Mat Stephenson showed that there is life in the RAF Ironman record holder yet. Mat battled for much of the race with myself and Jase Walkley. At the finish there was very little separating Myself,Mat, Mal and Jase.
As for me, 13th place and an ok race. Happy enough with where I am inpreparation for some longer stuff to come! I just need my calves to recover quickly from this blast! Early indications are that they will! Yippee!!

Pictures by Ben Lonsdale! Cracking they are too! There are some great action shots and some great shots capturing the occasion (and plenty of snot too!). Thanks Ben.