Jamie and I pitched up at a very snowy and slushy Selkirk for the second race (the medium distance) of the Bowhill Duathlon. Bumped into Mark who was doing it solo and not splitting the pain like we were and doing it as a relay. In a change from the last race, the bike section was first. We had to sing happy birthday to one of the marshalls on the start line, leaving him very embarrassed then I cheered on as the cyclists headed off into the first bottleneck of the course. From what Jamie and Mark said, it was a very tiring mud and slush fest turning into carnage in parts, with folk getting stuck, falling off or fixing punctures in the snow. Both did great, with Jamie finishing 39 secs ahead of Mark in the cycle. So after a smooth changeover of our timing “dibber” I headed off for the run. I was feeling pretty good and took advantage of many having tired cycling legs and overtook a fair few. Mark was doing great however and feeling more comfortable on the run and steamed past me. The course was very ungulating, mostly consisting of deep mud and slushy snow. It was very slidey and I did find myself sprawled out on the deck somewhat ungracefully on one slippy downhill! Was glad to see the finish line approaching and I put on a Rachael style sprint finish and managed to hold off the two pursuing male athletes, only to get my dibber lanyard stuck in my buff! Lost a few seconds trying to find it but all in all I was happy with my time. Our results were:
28th place – Mark Snodgrass (01:11:42 overall)
41st place – Susan and Jamie (01:15:27 overall)
The final race is the longest distance and is on 24th February – anyone else fancy coming along??
I normally do hill runs in normal trainers. Then wear fell shoes for racing, you appreciate the extra grip then! Having said that, I think trainers used to have better grip (in the old days!). You are now expected to have a shoe for every surface, road, trail, fell etc. And an extra shoe room in your house!
Well done you guys, sounds great 😉 Mark, can’t believe you have done all that hill training in road shoes!
Might be up for the next one too, she says without looking at the date yet….
Great effort you guys
Definitely up for the for the next one
A great event Susan and a real sludge and mudfest yesterday. I am extremely glad I listened to Rob and Carl last Thursday and purchased some fell running shoes for the run. A great outing.