London Duathlon

Race day !!
So as previously blogged...15 weeks of training for this event.  And it was definitely worth it.....
The night before I was pretty relaxed about things as I knew I had done done the training and practiced changing an inner tube! My right hand man Ron had pimped and tweaked my bike and that was running smoothly too. So, if anything was to go wrong it was probably going to be something I didn't have control over. Just the nagging doubt in the back of my mind of cramp, as this has let me down in the past.
We were staying about 6 miles from the venue and transition didn't open until 7.30am, so fortunately for me it wasn't a mega early start. The 24 hour Costa next door to the Travelodge was still a great help in the morning though.

The London Duathlon is the biggest duathlon in the world. 3,000 competitors across their 3 distances, duathlon, half duathlon, ultra duathlon, duathlon relay. Each race consists of laps of Richmond Park. Anti clockwise running (laps measuring 10km plus a short cut for the 5k runners) and clockwise cycling (laps measuring 11km) so I had to do 2 laps on the first run, 7 laps cycling and finally 1 full 10k lap running.

The large transition area before everyone else arrived

We couldn't have hoped for a better day weather wise. It was a beautiful autumn morning in the park. A lovely sunny day. Just a good temperature for shorts and T shirt racing, and for me, only feeling too hot on the last 10km run.

The Ultra competitors were first to start at 8.45am. We were set off in waves. Only 8 females taking on the challenge amongst the men, which appears to be pretty standard for this race judging by previous results I've seen.  Then from 9am waves of standard distance duathletes are fed onto the course, followed by the relay teams and finally the sprint (or half duathlon) distance competitors.  This makes for an extremely busy course. Especially on the first few laps of the bike.

Busy but beautiful

 I found it really hard to get into any sort of rhythm. Its a bit of a joke when you keep seeing signs that read 'no draughting'! as it can be wheel to wheel on parts of the course.

How many bikes?

Nice day for a ride in the park

There is a hill, so of course there is more congestion here, which is a bit of a shame as this is where I was hoping to gather some ground on some cyclists but getting past other riders was a bit of an issue until pretty much my last lap, by which point my legs were only letting me use my very easiest gear to get up it!

 However, after recceing the route a couple of weeks previous I had an idea that it was going to be a congested ride which is why I opted for my road bike as opposed to my TT bike, ie easier to manoeuvre and at least I would be near the brakes on the drops if I needed them in a hurry what with other cyclists weaving about in front! Even though there are some longer straights and some nice descents, you need to be a very confident technical rider to clock a good time on the bike leg of this course due to the business of it.

Last lap

A good start

The run loop is undulating and very picturesque. Plenty of time to look around, soak up the environment and check out the deer. There are plenty of water stations and marshals..all of whom were brilliant. Very attentive and encouraging. On the first lap of my first run one marshal shouted to me 'well done first lady' which amused me at this point, and I called back 'well there's a long way to go but its a good start!'






I ran the first 20km cautiously, targeting 7.30 pace, knowing I still had a lot of racing to do. I was really pleased with my pacing and ran into T1 ready for a bike ride!

Yippee !!!

T1 was probably the worst part of my race. Unfortunately the marshal on the gate as we ran in pointed us all the way down transition as if we had to run around the cones, even though I was racked on one of the closest rows to where we ran in. Another marshal then told me I didn't have to do this so I doubled back...so I lost some time here. Then, even after practicing loads, I couldn't get my helmet on, I got the straps all muddled. Rookie error.

After the bike leg and a smooth dismount T2 was better. Nice encouragement from the male ultra competitors here too who arrived at T2 the same time as me.
My legs were a bit wobbly for the first few strides but I soon settled into a rhythm. I got a bit hot at this point, but I knew there were 3 water stations on the route. There was plenty of water left so we could take two bottles, one for drinking one for pouring. One of the marshals recognised me from the very beginning and said 'well done you're still the first lady' which felt really special. I felt motivated as I over took 3 male ultra competitors.

Running into the finish 

I ran into the finish straight and could here Ron shouting encouragement to me...brilliant.
I heard my number announced as first lady in the Ultra as I crossed the finish line. Amazing. Don't you just love it when a plan comes into place?. I was so relieved, and so happy. I felt amazingly relaxed. Mission accomplished. 5:04:27 was my finish time. I would've loved to have gone under 5 hours as I think this has only been achieved by one woman to date. But, I'll take a win !!

The tweeted pic! First lady in the Ultra.

A woman from the events crew met me at the finish line to congratulate me and take a photo which she immediately tweeted ! Another great moment.

There was no prize giving, which was a little disappointing. Especially as the race was sponsored by Wiggle! A podium pic would've been nice.

I really enjoyed this race, everything fell into place. It was a bit of a funny in as much I knew I as the first female in my race all the way round. The ultra competitor bib numbers were blue, so it was easy to spot others in my race. After the very start I didn't see another ultra female. So at no point did I have to 'race' anyone! I kept to my own race plan, kept a rhythm. never went into 'the red' at any point. But then maybe this is how racing a longer distance should feel. Quite different to sprint and standard racing. I loved it. More time out there doing what I love doing...running and riding my bike.

Finally a big thanks to Ron and Neill for their input to this. I couldn't do it all alone, it's teamwork.

I would recommend this race if you are thinking of taking on any of the distances, but you do need to be aware that it is a very busy course. With all levels of ability racing. And all types of bikes.

You get a nice substantial medal and a T shirt available in all sizes for your efforts, but unfortunately no prize giving or awards for first finishers.


The organisation can not be faulted. The marshals are excellent. Plenty of water, and an energy drink station. An extra water station for the ultra distance cyclists.  As its laps supporters get to see you  at regular intervals without having to move from their spot. Ron and I spotted each other on all 10 laps which was great! And as race venues go it has to be up there with the most picturesque. Traffic free, just watch out for deer randomly crossing in front of you. The parakeets are a nice touch too!

Residents of Richmond park