Navy Trident's Duathlon Report - Kurt Stevenson

Just to get you in the mood for Cyclesmith on Sunday, here's Kurt Stevenson's view of the Navy Tridents' Duathlon last week. Thanks Kurt -(Ed)....

I woke up this morning to the wonderful sound of rain and a heavy fog. Not exactly the type of weather I was hoping for as my first race back (and on a bike!) since my accident 7 weeks ago. Oh well! The race today was a 3km run/20km bike on the air force tarmac, followed by a second 3km run. Although the field was small (most of the multisporters opted for the sprint triathlon, but with my distaste for pool swims and my healing shoulder, the duathlon was ideal for me) I knew there were some competitive athletes, and that it would be a great race.

With the amount of fog on the race course, the start was delayed by about 25 minutes, so more pylons could be laid down on the bike course... vision was limited to about 100m. Finally, the horn sounded and we were off. Wearing my ASICS Noosa Tri shoes, I settled into a “tolerable” pace, entering T1 in 5 place, th 30 seconds back of Shawn Amirault, who entered T1 in first. I now had some serious work to do if I wanted to get a chance for the win. Run time: 10:42. 5th fastest.

I hammered the bike, and was able to move into 1st with about 6km to go (thanks Gray for the great helmet and 9.5 rear wheel... really nice ride and comfortable!), but was not able to shake Shawn, so we entered T2 together (legally, of course!). Bike time: 33:54. Fastest bike split.

After a quick change back into the Noosa’s, I sprinted out of T2, knowing I had to beat Shawn quickly (and get away from the rest of the fast runners behind). But, to no avail... we ran together until about 800m to go, when Shawn put in a bit of a burst and gapped me by about 10m. I could not get back to him... I did hold off those behind, and finished second, losing by 6 seconds... but I know I emptied the tank, and had nothing left to give. Run 2: 12:00. 3rd fastest. Overall time: 56:34. 1st Age Group, 2nd Overall.

It has been a long time since I have been in a real battle like this... and it was really hard, but also so much fun! I am looking forward to my next race already! The results can be found at: http://www.atlanticchip.ca/events/results-show.php?result=987

Thanks to my sponsors for all your support: ASICS (www.asics.com), Aerobics First (www.aerobicsfirst.com) and Synergy Sport (www.synergysport.com).

Keeping the rubber side down...

Kurt