Dudfield Duathlon 2020 Results
Great fun, and a good challenge for those new to multi sport type events (how tough is it to run hard straight off the bike!) but also for the seasoned pro’s.
We turned up at Race Headquarters (aka Graham’s house) where we registered, picked up our timing bibs, and admired the assortment of lycra on show…! After a bit of sandbagging and pre-race smack-talk we transitioned (that’s ‘tri” talk for those new to the game) down to the start/finish line on Peacockes rd. After some final gear checks and course briefings – we were under starters orders….3,2,1 and we are off…
Immediately Rob T showed a clean pair of heels with Paula and Dave G in hot pursuit…The runners soon sorted out their respective positions and it was head down and get to work….the first run leg is only 2.5km so before we knew it – we were back at the transition, and (at least some of us) fumbling for our helmets/shoes/hats etc…definitely some gains time wise to be made here….I think Shona had the right idea and ran/biked in her running shoes so saved many valuable seconds at the changeover…
Then it was the bike leg – 6km each way out to the end of Peacockes road and back. I have ridden this road a few times, but for some reason the hills seemed longer and higher this time? And there was fierce gale on the first half which really slowed me down [editor note Met Service had it pegged at around 11kmh so not exactly a gale]. It was a little better on the return leg downhill and with the wind – which is a cyclist’s favourite position…
Rob had led out the cycling leg but was eventually run down (or is that biked down) by Blair on his super aero TT bike – great average speed by Blair – well on his way to winning the teams section with Paula…
Rob had another strong run on the second run leg, but it wasn’t enough to catch Paula, who had another outstanding run to bring it home for Team Blair & Paula….
Other notable efforts were Kevin Knowles with 2 very fast, and even run legs, and Shona for doing it tough on the only mountain bike, while everyone else was on sleek road going machines…Also Graham Clarkin who turned up and won the 5km time trial.
Final results as below:
| Event | TIME | Run 1 | Bike +Trans | Run 2 +trans 2 | House | ||
| Team | Blair & | Paula | 39:51 | 09:55 | 19:53 | 10:03 | |
| Duathlon | Rob | Townsend | 40:02 | 09:09 | 21:32 | 09:21 | Kahu |
| Duathlon | Dave | Gunn | 45:06 | 09:57 | 25:02 | 10:07 | Kiwi |
| Duathlon | Mike | Harris | 46:55 | 10:53 | 24:55 | 11:07 | Kahu |
| Duathlon | Kevin | Knowles | 47:07 | 10:06 | 26:48 | 10:13 | Ruru |
| Duathlon | Vaughan | Kestle | 51:55 | 13:27 | 25:10 | 13:18 | Tui |
| Duathlon | Shona | Dewson | 54:07 | 12:40 | 28:52 | 12:35 | Kahu |
| 5 Km | Graham | Clarkin | 26:26 | 12:48 |
Chloe (official event photographer) has posted a few photos of the event on the Hawks Facebook page – including this one of the athlete support dog in attendance…
