Thruxton Sprint Duathlon, 1 Oct 2023

With a Standard Distance Duathlon World Championships 2024 qualification already in the bag from earlier in the year, I was keen to try and add to this with a sprint distance qualifier to make the trip to Australia slightly better value for money! I’ve never raced at Thruxton before but I love a circuit race and with this being only a 90min drive away with a 1pm start time, it was a no brainer. I felt really good in the days leading up the race, alert, full of energy and ready to go! The ladies field was disappointingly quite small, but with some strong ladies whom I hoped would make it a good race!

The weather was cloudy and humid with a typical race circuit wind. We gathered up ready to go and with some very motivational commentary, off we went! The first 3.8km lap was a fast, gradual downhill start, my legs felt really good and although first place lady was far ahead in the distance, I found myself striding past the other ladies into 2nd with a comfortable gap behind. I was left with a difficult decision, to keep pushing on and try go solo on the bike or drop back and form a pack. In the end, I kept going - I didn’t want to let my run training go to waste and I felt like I had a big enough of a gap to go for it! I finished the first run in 14:01.

T1 went very smoothly and I was out on the bike course in good time. I had the typical slightly tired legs that needed a bit of time to go into speedy bike mode but after a lap or so they woke up nicely. Three laps went by and still no sign of a ladies group catching me (and sadly 1st place lady was no closer). However, a speedy lady came whizzing past on lap 4. I tried to hop on but she was super strong! Frustrated that I was now in 3rd place, I put my head down and dug in. I came into T2 with 50secs to make up, finishing the 5 lap, 19km bike course in 33:28 (completely solo!)

I had a fast T2 and was off. Legs felt surprisingly good so I started my quest to hunt down 2nd place. I could see her in catchable distance and gradually caught up, passing at approximately the 1 mile point. I was super pleased and knew I just needed to keep it going to the end to keep that podium spot. I kept looking around to see if anyone else was catching but I was nice and clear. The final uphill, windy part of the lap was tough but I got through it and went down the finishing straight with a huge smile on my face. Final 3.8km run lap of 15mins.

Final position: 2nd lady overall in 1:04:10, and 2nd in my AG. Worlds qualifying place achieved!

Megan Powell