On Sunday 18th February the first of
the Burnham on Sea Duathlons took place. The race
consists of a 750mtr pool swim, followed by a 5k run along the beach. The entry
was a little lower than usual, due mainly to the Tough 10 race being held at
Weston Super Mare at the same time. However 37 competitors turned out on a
clear, sunny, frosty morning.
The swim is broken down into wave
starts, max. 4 per lane all starting at the same time.
The waves are seeded so that the slowest swimmers set off in the first wave. Having previously estimated a swim time on their entry form.
( swim estimates range from 9 minutes to 24 minutes,
so all abilities are included ).
Allison set off in the second of the
three waves setting a person best swim time of 12mins 16 secs
before steaming along the beach in a time of 26 mins 30
seconds, giving her a time of 38 mins 46 secs, 20th overall and first female vet 50.
I set off in the last wave ( which included a 9 min estimated swim time ) and swan the
30 lengths with two others in my lane. I managed 11min 45 secs
and was about 11th overall in the swim. The run then started along the front and
down onto the beach past the wrapped up walkers, along the footpath, which was under 1foot of
water for 100 yards, onto the golf course, over the sand dunes and then back
along the beach to the finish, my run taking 22 min 11 secs
for an overall time of 33 min 56 secs and 8th place
overall.
The next race is scheduled to take
place on Sunday the 25th March, the final race being Sunday the 22nd April.