Sri Chinmoy Tri Club's SBR-Mini DUATHLON (run-bike-run) 2023

Thanks to all our Duathletes for taking part in our 27th and final GO TRI Duathlon.

Next year, we again plan to hold 3 Duathlons and a Triathlon at Tockington under the new SwimBikeRun-MINI event scheme. I'll email details to everyone who has done a recent GO TRI event as soon as they are finalised. It won't be drastically different, just some adjustment to the length of the run segments, a choice of 2 distance options on the day and a change to the bike course (multiple laps of a 5k circuit, instead of one long loop). We're also planning to move the finish line to the top of the field, so you can cheer finishers over the line while enjoying a coffee on the terrace. 

Conditions were tricky today - not in the usual way (wind or rain) but as a result of high humidity and a recently-rained-on road surface. Despite this, there were some great times as you can see from the provisional results below. Fastest in the open category once again was Mark Wilkinson who flew round in 41.03. A very close race among the runners-up in that category saw Neil Rowse take 2nd in 45.32 and Craig Williams 3rd in 45.48. Second place in the race overall and first in the Female category was Marie Monaghan in an impressive 44.11. Again, the runner-up places were only a few seconds apart, with Sharon Coultart 2nd in 50.03 and Sarah Bennett 3rd in 50.31 Trophies to our two winners will be posted out next week.

There will also be a race gallery (just some amateur / phone photos) at https://ukgallery.srichinmoyraces.org/Bristol/2023 - as with the final result, the photos may not be online until Monday and may appear a few at a time - the final collection should include a few shots of the run, a few shots of the early section of the ride and I think I managed to catch almost everyone coming out of the gateway (would have been every one of you, if I hadn't been interrupted by someone trying to close the road mid-race to work on a water main).

Thanks again for being part of our Duathlon and hope to see you next year.

27 athletes completed our Duathlon on Sunday, with conditions pleasantly warm or uncomfortably hot depending on your point of view - certainly the hard ground made run times faster than in our Spring Duathlon.

In the Female category, first place went to Melissa Mann in a time of 48:42, with Caroline Brooks (51:01) and Sarah Bennett (52:25) completing the podium places. In the Open category, a tight race for first was decided on the final run, with Alex Tedd recording an impressive 38:22 and Mark Wilkinson a close second with another sub-40 time, 39:46. Third place went to Peter Wheddon in 42:46. The age range in our race was 17 to 82 and it looks as though experience held the key to success, as 2nd place Mark was in the 55+ category, 3rd place Peter was in the 65+ and all 3 women on the podium were 50+ age-groupers. This makes those finish times doubly impressive.

Several riders were held up by a tractor & trailer and a car causing an obstruction on the narrow section over the low ground between Olveston and Pilning, but fortunately everyone was able to get around the situation and carry on to the finish.

Thanks to Emma and Rasmivan for their race photos and to everyone who has sent in their helpful feedback on the race route.

Our next events are a 2-miler in Eastville Park on 27th June, our 3 x 1 mile Team Relay on the same course on 11th July (free ice cream to all runners) and our final GO TRI Duathlon of the season on 10th September.

Results attached for Sunday's soggy duathlon - although the sky was pretty dry, the ground was quite the opposite, so the run and bike courses both had to be taken more slowly than usual.

Well done to all who took part and great to see everyone finish the race despite the tricky conditions.

In the open category it was another win for Chris Mills, just a week after competing in the European championships at Venice-Caorle (proving that while GO TRI is aimed at beginners, athletes with a bit of a pedigree in the sport are also very welcome). Nathan Irwin and Steward Downie, another two athletes who know the course well, took 2nd and 3rd. 

In the female category it was a mix of old friends and new faces, with first place going to Penny Guess, Alex Brown 2nd and Laura Neale 3rd.

As well as the attached results we have a small gallery of photos at https://ukgallery.srichinmoyraces.org/Bristol/2023/Sri-Chinmoy-GO-TRI-Duathlon-Tockington/

Our next race at Tockington is the GO TRI triathlon on 29th May which is now sold out, so if you know anyone who wants to take part please ask them to email me to get on the waiting list. There are bound to be some places released nearer the time so we will take late entries/substitutions. Our summer running series in Eastville Park starts on 9th May and details are here - https://uk.srichinmoyraces.org/races/bristol

Thanks again to everyone who supported our race, from winner to Lanterne Rouge and of course all the volunteers.

Garga Chamberlain

Sri Chinmoy Triathlon Club