World Sprint Duathlon Championships, Australia, 16 Aug 2024

It’s been a while since I’ve raced at a World Championships due to dates/locations. When I saw 2024 would be in Australia and would line up with a job where it was easier to get leave, I was super keen to make sure I could get to that start line! I managed to qualify for both sprint and standard distance but decided to just race the sprint so that I could have more time exploring Australia post race.

I headed out to Australia feeling fit, fast and ready to go. There were 12 others on my race start list from all over the world. I went into the race having no idea if I could make the podium, I would just give it my all on the day and see what happened. We arrived in Australia 5 days before the race which gave a good period of time to recover from the flight/time difference and travel to the race in Townsville, Queensland. I had done a little recce of the course over the two days prior- a beautifully flat and fast bike course and an undulating run course would make for good fun! Additionally with a 10am start time- it was going to be warm!

After much discussion about what pressure to blow tyres up to, multiple practices of transition flow and helmet putting on, I was ready to go. I had my usual pre-race nerves as we jogged up to the start line, on your marks- gooooo!

As usual, everyone set off very fast. Over the years I have learnt not to get sucked into this as people always slow down and build up too much lactate early on. I kept to a comfortable pace and soon started overtaking others on the 2 lap course. There was a particular uphill section along the seafront where I managed to power past several athletes - my running strength coming to play. I had planned on taking on water in the first run (something I wouldn’t usually do), however I was managing quite well in the heat so avoided losing a few seconds to this. Due to the wave being ages 16-39, it was challenging to work out who exactly was in my age group but as we entered T1, I could see most of the bikes remaining in our AG section - good news! 

Run 1- 18:54

I had come into T1 alongside Abby, a fellow Brit in my age group. After a good T1, we exited transition and headed out on to the bike course together. The first section of the bike course was technical with a lot of roundabouts and turns before we headed out onto the main out and back stretch. We joined an Australian athlete in a different age group and eventually managed to get a through and off going. The bike course seemed quite quiet and we couldn’t see any other female athletes around. We kept powering along assuming we must be near the front of the race. With around 2 miles to go a very large group of men and women flew past us. In draft legal racing you can draft someone in a different age group but NOT a different gender. In this group, the women were definitely drafting the men. We shouted at them to get off and the group did begin to dissipate. However, in my anger that so many women had cheated their way up the bike course, I lost focus and soon found myself dropped by the female group. I did my best to tail them into T2 but I was very frustrated that this had happened.

Bike- 34:18

I had a good T2 and headed out on the run course. At this point I thought my chance of a medal was over and I was angry. However, I channelled this anger into some good running and gradually picked off a few athletes along the final 2.5km run. I emptied the tank along the final 200m downhill to the finish line.

Run 2- 10:07

I crossed the line and was sad. When the rules aren’t refereed it’s very frustrating. I found Abby and we had a good debrief - she had finished slightly ahead of me but both of us had no idea where we had finished overall. We started discussions about how to launch an appeal before I had a look at the results on my phone and discovered that we had both medalled in our age groups - 3rd for myself and Abby coming 1st! We were shocked and relieved - our hard work had paid off!

Final result- 1:04:48 , 3rd in AG (out of 13) and 9th female overall (out of 225).

11 seconds behind 2nd place and 29 seconds behind 1st place. It was close!

On review, the age group positions were actually very fair and none of us had been involved with the cheating group. The overall position is all that could have been different. I also needed to learn not to lose focus when I got frustrated! Nonetheless, a bronze medal in a very competitive world championships was awesome. We had to change our afternoon plans to accommodate a medal ceremony! (I really hadn’t expected to attend 😅)

Alongside this great race result, it is also time to announce a planned break from the sport. I went into the championships knowing that it would be a final hurrah. Obviously a good result makes you think about your decision again, however I know that having a break is the right thing for me at the moment.

I have lived my life to a training programme for the last 8yrs and was ready for a break - mentally and physically. I plan to keep doing run training and events alongside my club, develop my strength training and explore the world of Hyrox. I will still touch base with the Catenary Coaching team but I will no longer be a coached athlete.

Trying to keep up my training alongside several life changes has not been easy but Tim has been there throughout and has always helped support me in making it happen. 

I have loved my time in the duathlon and triathlon sphere. I have met some incredible people throughout this journey and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved. Friends, family, fellow competitors, coaches, supporters, thank you all. 

5 European Championships, 3 World Championships. 8 podium finishes. It’s been a pretty good run. I may be back, I may not. Goodbye for now 👋🏻 

Megan Powell