Cholmondeley Castle Standard Duathlon, 18 Jun 2023

On 18th June I did my first venture back into the world of standard distance duathlon for several years. Although I have previously won British and world medals at this distance, I had taken a little break from it due to the location/timings of the events and very much enjoying the draft legal racing over the sprint distance. Standard distance is HARD and I was quite nervous for the inevitable pain to come. This race was a qualifier for the world championships in Australia next year so main focus was to chase down the Q! The race was also part of the infamous Castle Series - well-organised races but often involving off-road running and hills!

I had finally managed to shake off the nasty virus that made my last race at Darley Moor rather unpleasant and had a couple of weeks of decent training before the race. I drove the bike course prior to the race and took a variety of shoes for the running terrain! It was quite a small female field with some familiar faces. The weather was warm but slightly overcast.

Off we went on the first 10km run. The course started on grass, turned into tarmac and then finished running up and down a steep grassy hill. Two laps of this for the first run of our standard race! I set off feeling good and tucked behind one of the other fast female runners. After 2miles I started to feel a little uncomfortable with continuing at the pace so dropped off a little. The hill sapped some of the energy out of my legs and I started to feel very warm and a little light headed. I eased back again, knowing that I still had a lot of bike and a second run to go! Another lady came past me but I focused on settling my HR, getting some water on board and making it round to the bike.

I got onto the bike well and my legs felt pretty good. I had opted for my road bike with clip on TT bars due to concerns about my TT bike handling on this road surface and with the hills. However in hindsight I would have been fine with it! My position wasn’t as comfortable or speedy as it could have been but I tried my best! A well renowned speedy bike lady came whizzing past me and I tried to re-focus on hanging on to her wheel (from 12m away!). I was managing well until I saw her take a left hand turn that seemed a little too soon. However, it had a huge arrow pointing that direction and I also assumed it must have been the correct left turn, so down I followed. As I continued down that road, the race signs disappeared and it didn’t look like the road I had driven down the night before. After a couple of miles one of the other ladies in the race was coming back up towards me and that confirmed my doubts that this must have been the wrong way! The road would have continued to the race course but would also have been a huge short cut resulting in a DQ. So round I turned and went back up a steep hill to the junction. On returning to the junction, I noted the sign had been turned back the correct way, damn it! At this point, I was frustrated, hot and could feel my calves trying to cramp up. I wanted to throw the towel in as I knew this would again be a subpar performance, but qualification for Worlds was the aim and I could achieve that if I kept going! So onwards I went, taking in electrolytes and fluids at the aid stations and stretching out my legs a little. I found myself slowly overtaking other athletes in the wave who had gone “the right way” which was satisfying. The other lady in my age group was surprised when I finally passed (I was initially well ahead until I went wrong!) and asked if I had done an extra lap or something- I laughed and proceeded to overtake. I came into T2 tired but knew I could get myself round the final 5k.

I set off on the final run and my legs felt surprisingly good! (No cramping this time!) I passed a few more ladies who had not done an extra 4miles and then we reached the final hilly section again. I was completely cooked at this point and struggled up the hill. I actually did a run/walk mix to help keep myself going before the final descent to the finish.

I crossed the line - so pleased that I had persevered, finished and qualified but also thoroughly annoyed with the bike course situation. After a discussion with the race officials, it appeared the sign had been moved by an angry local resident and then subsequently moved back. My final finishing position was 4th lady overall, 1st in AG. Time not as good as I wanted but not bad considering the extra bike distance 😅

Now to take a little break from duathlon and return to the triathlon world! My big personal challenge this year has been to get back in the pool and work towards a standard distance sea swim at the British Champs in Sunderland at the end of July! I haven’t done a triathlon since 2021 so it’s quite the comeback, starting off with a warm up sprint at Dorney Lake on 8th July.

Megan Powell