Thruxton Mass Attack Sprint Duathlon, 4 Oct 2026

The Thruxton Duathlon was the last chance to qualify for the World Duathlon Championships in Canada next year, so I didn’t want to miss it, despite having some pain in my left knee recently, which had put me off running. I went to the physiotherapist the week before and got some shockwave treatment and some exercises to perform, and hoped everything would be ok but I wasn’t happy with my fitness levels.

It was a really nice day for the event, sunny and dry, with little wind and the event was held on a car race track, so no need to worry about cars on the road. Usually, the distances are 5k, 20k, 2.5k, but this time it was 3.8k, 19k, 3.8k, with the run being one lap of the track and the bike being 5 laps of the track. I wasn’t sure how this longer second run would go, as it can be a struggle after the bike!

Unusually, the race started at midday, so I spent the morning resting, not sure what to do with myself, as I had stayed nearby the night before. The race started, and I let the fast group go, getting into a steady pace with some others, trying to conserve my energy for the rest of the race. I could see the whole course, which made it feel like there was a long way to run!

On the bike, I managed to get onto another athlete’s wheel when she came past me, and we took it in turns until around lap 4, when I got dropped as I was struggling after going up a slight incline into a headwind. I was disappointed to get left behind, and although I tried to catch up, I could just see the gap getting bigger at each corner and ended up riding the last 2 laps on my own. I came into transition and was surprised to see that there weren’t too many bikes there. My legs felt quite good on the second run, and I managed to overtake two runners, one of which was Charlotte, who I had been riding with at first. I overtook her not far from the end of the run, and I could feel her catching me up again, so I made sure to do a sprint finish over the line to come in 11th place and 2nd in my age group, giving me the qualification place I needed for the World Sprint Duathlon Championships next year!

Sarah Hunter