Derby Double Duathlon Report by Andy Thornton
18th April 2010

It makes it so much easier to get up early and head to race in the early hours of a Sunday morning when the sun is already up and what looks to be the start of a glorious day. Early on there was still a chill in the air and competitors and the race attire ranged from people being wrapped up in plenty of warm layers to some brave souls wearing nothing but their tri-suits.

After removing the cars parked on the run course, locating the labels for the bikes in transition and ensuring all the marshals were in place the race got underway about 20 minute late.

As the hooter went Graham Moffat (4 Life Tri Club), already wearing his bike helmet, set off around two slightly dew slippy fields, through the woods, back down the school drive, through the car park and once more around the first field to complete the first run of just over 2.5km in 09:05 with Gordon Irvine (Belper Harriers) hot on his heels. In transition the most frenetic activity came from the timekeepers who were faced with the majority of the field passing by in the space of a couple of minutes – as you can see from the results they did a good job!

The first bike leg saw a pre-race favourite Ed Walters (Derby Tri) hit the front to record the 2nd fastest bike split over the undulating 7 mile course in a time of 21:07. The fastest bike split and new split record went to John Manning whose running legs might not be what they used to be! However, there is nothing wrong with his biking legs as 39 people, including myself will admit. All we heard was the whoosh as John went flying past to set a blistering 20:39.

By the end of the first bike leg the race was set and two battles had formed at the front of the field. Gordon Irvine had caught Ed Walters by the end of the second run leg only to see Ed Walters stretch away again on the 2nd bike. The battle for third was between the top two male vets – Tony Caulton (MVH) and John Pope (Ceepo TFN RT) battling it out in a similar way with Tony edging the runs and John the bike.

Although Gordon Irvine put in a great final 2km run of 07:29 this wasn't enough and Ed Walters held on to take victory by 2 seconds. The battle for third was won by Tony Caulton.

The ladies race held quite a bit of interest for the Derby Tri contingent as it saw two of their top ladies go head to head again. The spoils this time went to Lizzie Hill (Derby Tri) who was the leading lady from start to finish managing to hold off Naomi Warr (Derby Tri) and Gemma Redfern (Belper Harriers) who came in third.

In the relay event the Paul Martin Team took the glory.

We do hope that all those that took part enjoyed themselves and hopefully we will see you all again next year. If you have any feedback or suggestions for this event then please let us know at ddd@derbytriathlonclub.co.uk. Also if anyone has any photos of the day then could they please let us have them we can upload them to our website for all to see.

This race is organised and run by Derby Tri Club so everyone that made this race happen did so by volunteering their time and this report would not be complete without a few words of thanks.

Thanks to Paddy Watson, Headmaster of Foremarke Prep School for allowing the Club to once again use this fantastic venue.

A big thank you to Mark Nixon of Foremarke School who makes this race happen by preparing the course and venue and also to his wife Marie who was in the kitchen preparing all the post race refreshments.

Our race referee on the day was Mick Skivington who I think only had to have a word with a few competitors about helmet on before you touch your bike. Cheers Mick!

Thank you to TFN, Giordana & High Five for donating the prizes.

And last and by no means least thanks to everyone that helped to marshal, timekeep and help out in the kitchen.

Summary Results

Male

1. Ed Walters (Derby Tri)
2. Gordon Irvine (Belper Harriers)
3. Tony Caulton (MVH)

Male Vet

1. Tony Caulton (MVH)
2. John Pope (Ceepo TFN RT)
3. Richard Billington (1485 Tri Club)

Female

1. Lizzie Hill (Derby Tri)
2. Naomi Warr (Derby Tri)
3. Gemma Redfern (Belper Harriers)

Female Vet

1. Sheona Revill (Stamford Striders)
2. Sue Herriman (MVH)

Relay

1. Paul Martin Relay Team
2. Martin & Hayden Relay Team
3. Kerry Pape Relay Team

Full results can be found by clicking here.