Cornerbrook, Canada. – 29 July 2006
"If anyone has bought the latest issue of 'Durham Life' magazine, you may have seen a small article on my recent participation in the Age Group Duathlon World Championships in Corner Brook, Canada. The magazine will be publishing a more in-depth article on triathlon / duathlon and my experiences at the Age Group World Champs in their next issue to be published in September, available at all good newsagents ...
In their coverage of the Duathlon World Championships, the daily newspaper in Corner Brook described Duathlon as 'like triathlon but without the water', but when the thunderstorm woke us up at 03.00 on race morning, we had a good idea that this was going to be a duathlon with far too much water. The hot and humid weather of the previous few days had given way to torrential rain that lasted right through the night and all the way through the age group races.
The provincial town of Corner Brook had given itself over to two full weekends of triathlon and duathlon, inluding an ITU Triathlon World Cup race and culminating in the ITU Duathlon World Championships, both Age Group and Elite races, over the weekend of 29/30 July. I've not been to any comparable events, but it seems the entire town of Corner Brook puts it's heart and soul into providing the best race environment possible, with main roads through the town centre shut down for the entire weekend, giving all the athletes a challenging but safe course for both running and cycling.
The word that cropped up most often in post-race conversation was 'brutal', and that is a fair description of the whole course. The first run was four laps of 2.5km along main roads with 150m along a gravelled track, and there was no more than 10m of each lap which was flat. Think of a compressed version of Prince Bishops run course, completed 4 times. I managed to get into transition after 37.13, which turned out to be 20th fastest run time out of 34 in my age group. As transition was halfway up one of Corner Brooks many hills, each of the four 10km bike laps started with a very rapid descent (which was interesting given the streams of water running down the road), leading to a technical left / right / left, which then gave way to a little respite by way of a flat-ish section to the turn-around point. However, the same hill that allowed such a fast downhill start to each lap was my undoing, and i bombed every time i had to climb it, losing several places each time. I finished the 40km bike in 1:12:27 and even including transition times and a hilly course, that is a poor time by most standards. Worst still, i was conscious that i was now in last place in the race against my fellow GB 35-39 age-groupers, 6th out of 6. A quick T2 led out onto the first of two run laps over the same tough run course, and once i got my run legs back i managed to pass a few who were suffering even more than i was, eventually catching and passing my 5th-placed GB team mate to ensure i wasn't last GB in my age group! With no-one to catch up to in front, and no-one catching me from behind, i had a steady run in to the finish to clock 2:11:27.
Finishing 26th out of 34 wasn't where i wanted to be, but to have been there, completed the race and savoured the atmosphere was reward enough. If anyone gets the opportunity to race or even holiday in the Corner Brook area, i would recommend it for the amazing level of friendliness and hospitality shown by the locals alone. On top of that the roads are great for cycling; challenging, well surfaced and very little traffic, but keep you eyes peeled for moose!"