London Duathlon (Review)

Well, this was the most anticipated event, ever since i was bitten by the triathlon bug last month. Since i am not a keen swimmer, this was a perfect opportunity for me to push  myself in the two disciplines i love doing - Running and Riding..

The day itself was picture perfect - Clear blue skies dotted with pure white clouds. Picture a perfect sunny day , and today was such a day. 

This day being the only day in the year when Richmond park is closed for vehicular movement, the traffic near the park was quite heavy. But once inside, it was very well organized, except for the bit where in we had to carry our bikes over a temporary bridge, although the view from the top of the bridge was quite spectacular as as the riders and runners went past us below, with the park in the back ground. Apart from that the only other criticism i would have would be the dearth of stalls (only a couple of Maxifuel stalls and 2 other sporting equipment stall) and no Goodie bag at the end of the event.! :(. Being a global event (as i think it is) it was nowhere near the the sheer amount of publicity and stalls that were prevalent at the London Triathlon this year, although the triathlon is definitely a much bigger event as such.

Apart from that, the event was very well organised. Getting the whole of the park without any vehicular moment in itself deserves credit.

The registration was a breeze. I docked my bike at the stands. Followed by this i had around 20 minutes before my race began. The race was delayed by around 10 minutes, and i started the 10 KM run at around 09:55 (instead of 09:40). The course in itself was beautifully designed, with not too many uphills, and was relatively flat. After the 10 K Run, (not sure f the exact time, will be updated soon), a quick transition and i was away for the 22KM bike ride. I quite certain that i did not see any other single speed over the entire duration i was at Richmond park. But my Beast had just been upgraded with brand spanking new back sprockets at 12 inch, from the previous 16 in, making it a light weight speedster. 

I am quite certain this was the fastest i had been in a long time, although we can only confirm when i have the times been announced, officially. It did have a drawback though - i could not cycle the up the notorious Richmond Hill. Had to push that twice, over both the laps. Apart from that, it really did perform well, and i was happy with the speed.

The ride was again followed by a quick transition and dashed into the final 5 KM run. This, as expected was the toughest of the three, as your legs are accustomed to riding, and the sudden change after an intense ride, does not bode well with your body. However, i was able to maintain a good pace, and i completed at around 11:55, therefore an approximate time of 2 hours.

Would definitely do this again next year, and hopefully by then we have a few more stalls to browse through after the event.

Official Stats:

Official results over here..

Badge Number                      : 911

Gender Position                     : 723
Category                               : M25-29 (97 position)

Total Time                           : 02:10:53 (824 position out 1566 in the Challenge Route)

Run 1                                    : 00:49:07 (10 KM) (Rank 645)

Transition1                            : 00:02:45 (Rank 986)

Bike lap 1                             : 00:25:39 (11 KM) (Rank 1050)
Bike Lap 2                            : 00:26:41 (11KM) (Rank 1148)
Bike Total                             : 00:52:19 (22KM) (Rank 1125)

Transition 2                           : 00:01:23 (Rank 495)

Run 2                                   : 00:25:22 (5KM) (Rank 678)