Milton Keynes - Heartbreaker Duathlon
22nd October 2006
With over 185 athletes looking to start the Heartbreaker Duathlon and with the race hosting the first qualifier for the 2007 ITU World Duathlon Championships in Gyor, Hungary as well as being one of the qualifiers for the 2007 ETU European Duathlon Championships in Edinburgh the event delivered both quantity & quality. There were a number of Team GB athletes that had raced the Elite & Age Group events at the ITU World Duathlon Championships in Corner Brook, Canada and at the ETU European Duathlon Championships in Rimini, Italy seeking an early qualification slot. The international field was augmented with athletes flying in from Ireland, Australia and the USA to race.
The rain on Saturday didn’t dampen any of the athletes or the event crew’s enthusiasm and the decorated transition area & finish chute soon started getting the atmosphere going, mind you any event stage adjacent to a pub is always going to have a good feel to it. Sunday presented almost ideal race conditions, although bracing it was dry and the rain held off throughout the race.
About 40 female athletes started the event and Michelle Lee showed her intentions from the start, leading out from the gun. Michelle was chased hard through the first 10k run by Ester Evans but she maintained about a 75 second lead into T1. Next off were the veteran men’s age groups, about 60 athletes in this wave and finally the senior and elite males started with approximately 80 athletes in this group. With all three groups coming together on the first run it became a great spectacle for the spectators around the transition area with a constant flow of athletes receiving encouragement.
The athletes had been advised about the testing bike course and in particular 'Heartbreak Hill', the 1km long climb with a gradient that started at about 12%, but kicked into a 1:5. The event organisers added a nice little twist by introducing a hill prime for the fastest male & female athlete up the hill during the race. A headwind from the turnaround point to the bottom of the climb meant that many of the athletes couldn’t get any real speed or momentum prior to the commencement of the hill and “Heartbreak Hill” did exactly what it said on the race brief and claimed the heart, lungs and legs of a number of the competitors.
The bike course was a true test and out of the top 10 male athletes only Chris Ball managed to break the hour. First into T2 was Australian Rafael Baugh, who tried to run himself out of sight, however not far behind was Matt Moorhouse and Oliver Mott, Oliver opting to use a pedal platform to ensure a swift transition time.
Into transition in fifth place overall was the first female, Michelle Lee – Michelle posted a 68.28 bike split and went out onto the second run with a comfortable lead. Nikki Baron & Donna James went out in second and third respectively still racing hard for podium and qualification places.
By now athletes were more aware of the headwind at the far side of the lake and tired legs were tested on the final 200m as the athletes raced towards the windmill and the finish gantry.
Raf Baugh maintained his place, running in the winner in a time of 1.56.29, Oliver Mott ran himself into second place coming home in 1.57.45 and Matt Moorhouse rounded out the podium in 1.58.17.
Michelle Lee’s dominated her race from start to finish, crossing the finish line in 2.11.38, taking second place was Donna James in 2.17.47 with Nikki Baron finishing in 2.18.19 to conclude the female top three slots.
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