Mallory Park: A challenging but entertaining day out for the team
Betsy Griffiths, Zoe Hughes in action, the team tent was welcome refuge from the wind and rain!
We had the whole PE1crew out at a wet and windy Mallory Park Race Track this weekend for a day of racing. The lake at Mallory was affected by blue-green algae, meaning the swim had to be cancelled, and the race was changed to a duathlon consisting of a 2.5km run, 20km bike and 5km run.
The day started with the Youth A boys’ race. Unfortunately, Leon was struck down with a bug and wasn’t able to make it to the start line, but we were still out in force for the rest of the day.
In the junior/senior female race, Betsy and Zoe both had great first runs. Betsy made the front pack and then proceeded to drop all but three athletes on the bike, with the girls working very well together. They came off the bike with a 50+ second lead over the next pack, putting Betsy and Martha (Leeds athlete) in a strong position heading into the final run.
Betsy Griffiths working hard on the bike
However, things took an unexpected turn on the run. Due to a poorly marked course and no lead bike, both Betsy and Martha took a wrong turn (adding 400m), losing their podium positions in the process. A competition jury was held after the race to review the incident, but the decision did not change the outcome. Zoe finished strongly, but unfortunately picked up a stitch on the final run. Betsy eventually finished 18th and Zoe 24th.
Strong running from Otis and Betsy
Next up was Otis in the Tier II junior/senior race. He had a solid first run, staying just ahead of the main pack, before keeping himself safe on the wet bike course. He then produced the fastest run of the day to finish 2nd. This should have been a win, but Otis decided to run out of T2 with his helmet still on, meaning he had to run back!
Tom then lined up in the Tier I junior/senior race as a youth. He had a great first run, coming into T1 with the main group before making the front pack on the bike. He started to feel a few flickers of cramp during the bike and, coming out of T2, had to hold back slightly on the run. After a few minutes, he found his run legs and finished 9th overall and 1st youth.
A challenging but entertaining day out for the team, with plenty of positives to take away and lots learned from the racing.
Tom and Zoe on the bike leg, Otis looking strong on his run
