Floods and pictures of the track under water on twitter sparking rumours of the event being abandoned were a distant memory for this years BUCS duathlon. Competitors were faced with pretty good conditions, crisp but not too cold, dry and almost no wind...athletes were in for a fast day (slightly different run course from last year so times cannot be compared).
482 athletes finished the 2013 BUCS Duathlon at Castle Coombe motor circuit (2mile run, 10mile bike and 2 mile run format) an increase on last years start list which is great to see. Cardiff Met had a short road trip over the bridge with a few others from Cardiff Uni and South Wales Uni, and were attending the race with a slightly bigger team than last year (6men and 1 woman).
Recent BSc Sports Coaching Graduate Fenella Langridge was competing in the open event and raced strongly to finish 7th woman. The relay event, whereby a runner races the first and third leg and a cyclist completes the bike leg, attracted some high calibre athletes including Olympic track cycling hero Ed Clancy.
The BUCS men were first off at 1335 with Welsh athletics legend James Thie most likely to be out in the front runners after the first 2 mile along with Richard Horton (current World U’23 duathlon Champion).
And predictions were correct with Richard Horton piling on the pressure from the gun wanting to run alone in dry and still conditions, where there is not much advantage for running in a group. James Thie was 22 seconds back in a rapid 9.36mins and found his bike easily this year to speedily get out before the main chase pack 12-15 seconds back, including Cardiff Met’s reigning BUCS Duathlon champion Oli Mott and 2012 and 2013 BUCS duathlon bronze medallist Sam Wade. The race was on for the men, with Oli piling on the pressure and taking over the lead after 2 and a half
laps putting in a considerable amount of time into Horton on the bike knowing that Richard would again unleash those very fast running legs in the final 2 miles.
Further back, Sports Management first year student Kieran John was settling into a good rhythm and was beginning to pick some of the big pack off. Similarly Billy Harris and Adam Jones were riding well with the wind picking up slightly on the bike leg. Billy is a MSc Strength and Conditioning student aspiring for 70.3 completion next Summer so this was a good test in a relatively new sport. Adam is a strong cyclist so was at home on the bike and settled into both run legs well.
At the head of affairs, Loughborough were packing out the top 10 with Alex Matchett riding well, extending his lead slightly over Sam Wade who was holding on and hanging tough. Dan Bigham from Oxford Brookes Uni had the fastest bike split of the day and in his multicoloured trisuit was overtaking almost everyone to set himself up for a top 5 position overall.
As it stood, coming off the bike Oli was in the lead (although a slight mishap by not putting his bike in the correct place would come back to haunt him), Dan Bigham, Richard Horton, Alex Matchett, Sam Wade and Richard Carter were chasing the medals...Richard as expected exploded out of the second transition (T2) and was running Oli down fast, Alex Matchett had got into a good rhythm striding out well, and Richard Carter was sat on Sam Wade’s shoulder and appeared to look the fresher out of the two. Around the top of the course Carter had indeed been stronger and fresher and overtaken Sam to settle into third position, meanwhile Sam had edged past Alex in a close battle for 4th position. And that is how it stayed to the finish line; Mott, Horton, Carter, Wade, Matchett and Bigham.
Race officials had to deliver news to Oli that he had not racked his bike according to the rules and was therefore disqualified. Rules are rules and Horton who had run so well in a class of his own was promoted to 1st place, Carter to second and Sam Wade won the bronze medal for the third year in a row.
Meanwhile James Thie had a much faster bike leg in this years event and ran a superb 2nd 2mile run (the second fastest of the day behind Horton). So along with Kieran John, who enjoyed his first BUCS event and had a consistent day, and Sam Wade they won the mens team Bronze medal. Great performance and result, well done.
Loughborough dominated the mens event winning by a clear margin and Leeds Metropolitan University performed very well to secure a silver medal in the mens team race (with some of their World Class athletes missing which shows their strength in depth). Big congratulations to the winning team members and all finishers.
Within the womens race Zoe Thomas took to the start line in her first duathlon for a few season and after completing a Gwent League cross country event recently has signalled progress from previous years. Unfortunately the cold weather caused her muscles to suffer and with longer term aims in mind meant she could not finish the event and sensibly, but unfortunately, had to withdraw.
Charlotte Walker a gold medal Age Group World Champion at London in September 2013 from University of Warwickshire stormed the first run, bike and second run to win by a clear margin. Sophie Saller (Oxford University) added to her Gold from last year with a great silver medal and Vicky Johnston (Loughborough University) who biked very strongly achieved an excellent bronze medal holding off some very strong athletes.
Overall, Loughborough women dominated the field and won the gold medal, Univeristy of Warwickshire snapped up the silver with some excellent performances from their women and Leeds Metropolitan University took the bronze medal home. Well done to the biggest female field at BUCS duathlon (126).
Finally, the overall men and women’s combined team competition was won yet again by Loughborough highlighting their dominance. Well done to all coaches, athletes and support teams. Thanks must go to the race organisers and sponsors for putting on another excellent event. THANKYOU!