In this sport, it’s a rarity that everything aligns perfectly on race day. But at the Long Distance Duathlon World Champs – held, as always, at Powerman Zofingen – things seemed to come together for me into a performance that I can be truly happy with!
It was a nervous start to the day: after throwing down a couple of morning coffees and racking my bike in transition, the disgusting weather turned up right on queue half an hour ahead of the start. After seeing others wrapped up in long-sleeve thermals and packing rain jackets under their saddles, in a slight fit of panic I bought a pair of ‘Swiss Duathlon’ arm warmers from the expo – literally 2 minutes before my start time… I should have started my watch at that point, as I must have busted out a few hundred metres at 3:15k pace to get to the start line on time.
The gun went off and I was away on the first run, 2 very hilly 4.7km loops on road and light trails (250m elevation gain!). Basically, run up a stinking hill and back down the other side, twice. Honestly, the first run went by in a flash. People had told me not to give everything at this point, but I probably still hit out at 95%. First age-grouper into T1 and I had caught the first of the Elite men’s field (that started 2 mins ahead!). A solid start.
Onto the bike and time to pull up those arm warmers. By this point, the rain was nothing short of biblical. Still warm from the run, though, I remember smiling to myself on the first climb thinking about how epic this was.
I had a pacing plan for the bike, which I stuck to perfectly for the first 2 of 3 50km laps. It felt hard, but achievable, and on the second ascent of the Wiliberg climb I managed to bridge up to a group of 6 Elites and rode straight past all but one, who came with me.
After 2 strong laps the cold really started to set in with the rain unrelenting. Shivering and legs now feeling like stones I just wanted to make it to the run. Power and pace dropped off but I made it into T2 ready for the task ahead. It later became clear just how attritional the conditions had been, with a third of the field DNFing due to the cold.
Finally onto the second run. That is, after forgetting to put my shoes in the transition box and having to run back to put them in – a moment caught on the live stream! I was relieved to get to this point but nothing had prepared me for the brutality of this run course after a long day in grim conditions. 550m of elevation in 25km, with some horrendously steep pinches along the way – it quickly became apparent that I just had to ignore my watch for any pace targets, and tell myself “Just. Keep. Running.”. It took all my mental strength to do that on some of the steep inclines, but I was able to savour the final 2km of downhill back into town knowing that it was all but over!
1st Age-Group athlete over the line and 8th Overall, ahead of 10 of the Elite starters on the day – the epic conditions making it all the more of a sweet finish line feeling! Duathlon Age-Group World Champion, sounds alright to me!
It’s a result that gives me so much confidence and more motivation than ever. My hope now is to continue progressing specifically with Duathlon and come back next year as an Elite in my own right!
One final thought goes to the beauty of long course racing. At times in the past I have been baffled by those that suffer through Iron distance races and go back for more year after year. But in long course racing, I learned that it can be as much about fitness as it is about grabbing the day by the balls, gritting your teeth, and battling your mind to get to the finish line ahead of your fellow competitors.
Duathlon Dan 