Cardiff Duathlon, 30 Jun 2024

Duathlon races in the summer months are a little sparse to find. I was keen to get a race in before Worlds in August to practice putting all my training together in that race setting. I was fortunate to stumble across the Cardiff Duathlon, part of the Cardiff Triathlon weekend - a closed road event around one of my favourite running spots in Cardiff - the Bay! A slightly different format to usual with the shorter run first - so a 2.5k run, 20k bike, 5k run event. Non-drafting bike but keen to go full race sim- I decided to race on my new aero road bike!

7:30am start time was the earliest start I’ve had in a while. Unfortunately, race/alarm anxiety and a body clock change due to a recent string of very late finishes at work meant that I really struggled to get to sleep the night before. Armed with a grand total of 3.5hrs sleep, I cycled myself down to the start. (At least I could practice that jet lag feeling….) After setting up transition I found my chief supporter- mother Powell. We talked race tactics, sussed out transition and headed over to the start. It was a small but friendly field with a lead bike showing us the way and a blue carpet start and finish. A small count down to start time and we were off. The first run went off fastttt. One girl went flying ahead but I didn’t panic, follow and overdo it. Instead, I settled in to my planned run pace and had a comfortable run in to T1.

Run 1- 9:13

I had a really good T1, managed to overtake the girl ahead of me and mounted my bike in probably the smoothest way I ever have in a race! Off I went onto the bike. The bike was 2 laps of a flat and fast closed road course featuring two 180 degree turns. There were triathletes out on the course already from earlier racing so it was a little congested. However I found a good rhythm, was able to put some good power down and navigated the technical sections well. One near crash with a spectator who stepped out without looking got the heart racing a little higher… but overall it was a great bike! Having the shorter run first meant my legs didn’t feel quite as cooked as they usually do. I had a smile on my face throughout and time flew by!

Bike- 32.55

I came into T2 pretty sure that I had a good lead on the other girls. Arriving to empty racks is always a nice feeling and again I had a good transition and headed out on to the final run.

The duathletes were the first athletes of the day on the run course and I noted several spectators cheering and pointing me out as first lady. I had a few glances behind me but couldn’t see anyone until passing the turnaround point at 2.5km. My run felt pretty good, 5km off the bike did seem an awful long way on tired legs (when you’re used to a shorter run!) but I kept it going, focused on keeping my breathing controlled and legs turning over. As I approached the final stretch towards the finish I had one final glance behind and knew that the win was mine! I came down the blue carpet with a smile on my face and lifted the tape across my head with joy- it’s been quite some time since I had last done this!

Run 2- 18:50

Final time: 1:02:38 

1st lady by 2 mins, 7th overall out of 52 finishers.

Although a small race, I am so pleased with my execution of it. I highly recommend this event and would definitely come back again! The injury comeback is well and truly here and I’m excited to see what further improvements I can make in the build up to the World Championships in 6 weeks time!

Megan Powell