British Championships Standard Distance Duathlon, Grafham, 29 Oct 2023

The final race of the year, and one where I was hoping to finish off in style. I felt pretty good in the lead up to the race, knowing I was fit and in good shape. After avidly watching the weather forecast all week to check the wind and rain situation it was delightful to wake up to glorious blue skies and relatively little wind.

On getting to the venue, the realisation of just how ‘off-road’ the off-road bits were was a bit of a shock and not something I was really prepared for. Parts of the run involved literally 6 inches of (very slippery) mud. I felt super strong in the warm up and was all ready for a good race, until I realised a VERY strong lady had taken a late entry and was in my category.

After a lot of internal conversation about whether or not to wear gloves, we were off. The first three km of each of the run laps were brilliant and I settled into a really comfortable 3:45/km. On each lap, as soon as we hit the mud/grass section I felt like all the speed was sapped out of me. But I ran hard and was well positioned as 8th female overall going onto the bike.

The bike was a lovely undulating course with only a little bit of wind. I felt I kept a strong aero position throughout and was making up some good places over some other women. Frustratingly I got stuck behind a couple of cars going REALLY slowly at one point which was rather annoying.

Back to T2, and after all the faff of whether to wear gloves and the state of the grass on T1 exit, I forgot to really confirm in my head which way to run out. Cue a wrong decision and trying to go out the bike exit…probably 30-40 seconds lost.

Anyway, onto the second run. Knowing I only had 20 or so minutes to go was such a good feeling. I went as hard as I could for the first 3k on the tarmac to try and catch the two ladies ahead of me, but knowing that there was still a gap on getting to the grass/mud, I knew my position was ‘safe’ and tried to enjoy the last 2k of 2023.

Finishing in 6th overall and 2nd in my age group (behind an amazing athlete and fellow mum) was a result I should be proud of. I’ve found it hard since the race to balance my overall satisfaction with my race execution with the actual result, but I’m finally getting to a position where I can be proud of what I’ve done this year!

Sarah Harding