On Sunday 6th November Bayside Tri Club welcomed nearly 200 competitors to Stokes Bay for their second time hosting the Bayside Autumn Duathlon. A race that is quickly developing a reputation as a well organised, friendly, local event that caters for those looking to try a multi sport race for the first time and those more experienced / seasoned athletes looking for an end of season leg stretch.
Approximately 50 competitors were signed up for the shorter 'Super Sprint' distance event, a 2.5km run / 10km bike / 2.5km run. The remaining 150 were signed up for the longer 'Sprint' distance race (double the distances of the Super Sprint).
An early start for all involved started with registration and bike racking, race brief and the start gun going off at 08:00. The weather was fairly kind to competitors and marshals alike although with clear skies over night and a gentle onshore breeze it was a little chilly.
The run starts at Bayside Cabin end of Stokes Bay and heads straight down the promenade, with views over the Solent to the Isle of Wight, all the runners had great scenery to keep their mind off racing. After the smooth/flat Tarmac of the promenade runners had some gravel path to deal with before turning back Fort Gilkicker and retracing their steps to T1.
Competitors were in and out of transition quickly and headed out in the opposite direction to the run leg, heading west they followed the sea front road along towards Stubbington before speeding back to Bayside Cabin for the final run.
Local retailers Absolute Running, Southsea Cycles and Bayside Cabin provided a prize fund with various age category prizes up for grabs. Overall winner of the Super Sprint was Ben Coward (Southampton Uni Tri Club) and Daniel Bailey was first across the line in the Sprint race.
Portsmouth Tri Club won the prize for best represented club, with Southampton Uni Tri Club, David Lloyd Port Solent, Bayside Tri, Royal Navy Tri, Hantspol Tri, Stubbington Green AC, Denmead Striders, Portsmouth Joggers, Gosport Road Runners, Team Wiggle, Hardley Runners, Tring RC and Fareham Crusaders all represented.
Bayside Tri listed the race on www.racecheck.com allowing all competitors to leave a review and score the event. On the 2nd January it was announced that the Bayside Autumn Duathlon had won 'Best 2016 UK Duathlon' in the racecheck.com awards, with a rating of 4.79 out of 5. Lots of positive comments were left by competitors, including "I had a smile on my face from start to finish and I would definitely recommend it to anyone, 100% brilliant".
The Bayside Autumn Duathlon returns on Sunday 5th November 2017.
