Naas Wheelworx Duathlon 1

Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 12:26 AM GMT

The 2007 season kicked off much earlier than in previous years with the inaugural Naas Wheelworx duathlon held in Punchestown race course on Sunday 28 January. The brainchild of Rob Cummins of the recently established eponymous Naas Triathlon club, this was the first in a series of 3 duathlon races on the last Sunday in January, February and March of 2007 and brings a welcome opportunity for those who are keen to get some out of season competition into the legs.

I arrived at Punchestown at 11am to find that the transition area already reasonable full and registration taking place under the main stand. Despite being a bit nippy, the weather was very good with no rain and not much of a breeze. After the race briefing, the 74 starters mad their way to the start line and the race got underway within minutes of the official midday start. The participating athletes ranged from complete novices to some of Ireland’s elites.

The run course was on the roadway used by the ambulance during horse racing on the race course and was mainly tarmac with an occasional wood chippings stretch where the road crossed the horse track. The first half of the run was slightly downhill with a few short and gradual climbs when returning to the main grandstand where T1 was located...

The leaders appeared to set off at quite a good gallop and given the good views available from all areas of the course, it was easy to see the field fanning out as the run progressed. My GPS watch measured the run at 1.97 miles and I reached T1 feeling in decent shape having run 7 minute miles for the opening run leg.

T1 was uncluttered and having decided to cycle in my running shoes rather than changing into cycling shoes, I was out onto the bike course almost immediately. We departed the racecourse and headed out onto the open roads where the marshals were stopping traffic in conjunction with the Gardai. The course was an out and back to Ballymore Eustace measuring 6.16 miles with a few short climbs mainly on the outward leg but nothing that was too steep or technical. I managed to pass a few and got passed by a few more but was quite happy with an 18 mph average over the 12.3 miles according to my watch.

Back into T2 and this was where I the lack of any brick session preparation hit me. After 200m I felt a few leg muscles cramp up and it took me almost half of the circuit to get a rhythm going. A few passed me down at the foot of the course but I managed to keep on going to the line, finishing in 72mins even and was reasonably pleased with a pace of 8 minute miles for the second run.

A decent enough crowd was assembled at the finish line and there were plenty of water, teas, bananas and sandwiches to tuck into before the prize giving ceremony. I picked up a spot prize (I believe it was for being the best dressed competitor since I was wearing the new Club cycling top!) The final official results were posted onto the website later on Sunday evening.

If this event is anything to go by, 2007 is likely to be a great season. The location and competition course was very enjoyable and hassle free. Rob and his team at Wheelworx deserve great credit for designing, planning and executing this successful event and for giving the tri community a series of off-season races to keep us on our toes.

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