Race report from MPTC Duathlon at Somers, Sunday 13th August 2011.
Contributed by Richard Squires.
Race 3 of the Brooks Duathlon Series was held on Sunday 14th in Somers. A number of Melbourne Triathlon Club racers made the journey, including Sean Smee, Geoff White, Steve Makin, Joost Van Vliet, Ken Murley, Paul Speed and Richard Squires. Amidst some confusion regarding the Teams Series Points Competition, the athletes were keen to stamp some MTC-style authority on this race. As the morning unfolded, it became clear who the leading team is, was and should be as we head into Race 4 at Kew.
Conditions were sunny with a light breeze, a damp, mossy dead road and a field of approximately 80 athletes. Photos on the MPTC website show a fairly dominant display of white, blue and orange at the start line, and some other action photos of the race. The slightly uphill start ensured a rapid heart rate increase and set the stage for what was a blistering first run. More blistering though, was Joost’s choice of race wear……. A shiny silver, futuristic type setup that reflected heavy beams of direct sunlight into others racers eyeballs, and caused much chatter amongst the onlookers!!!
Sean Smee completed the first run within 2 seconds of first position, with a scintillating time of 16:02. Richard Squires had a great run, and got so excited by his time, that he completely forgot to take off his runners, and ran out of T1 with helmet on, bike in hand and runners firmly affixed to his feet, while Paul Speed furiously yelled at him from behind: “trainers…, trainers……, trainers”. Richard spent the next few seconds perplexed, looked around for sports trainers, and wondering why the hell Speed was yelling that to him, as clearly he wasn’t bleeding, didn’t need strapping, massage, or water…..
When an amused onlooker pointed and laughed at Richard saying “that dude still has his shoes on”, the penny dropped. Off came the runners (not trainers Speed, runners) and onto the bike they went. Two things need to be mentioned here: Paul Speed posted the FASTED bike time of ANYONE. And…. Geoff White forgot his bike shoes completely. This mean that one of our guys went VERY FAST, and another of our guys MAY NOT HAVE. ;)……. Hilarious for everybody in attendance. Props to Geoff for completing the race in sneakers… not trainers, and a massive congratulations to Paul Speed, who had a phenomenal bike leg.
The second run came around it was clear that Sean Smee was going to give all in attendance a lesson in COMPLETE DOMINATION. A solid bike and very good second run ensured the win overall. A rampaging Speed came in 5th overall after a great second run (age group 1st), Steve Makin had an awesome race (Age Group 3rd), Ken Murley continues to inspire with another agegroup 1st. All our athletes completed the course unscathed and enjoyed the atmosphere of a well-run, sunny and friendly, rural event. Thanks to Bike and Run Program Prescription Guru- Sean Foster for getting the guys firing, and to MPTC for putting on a friendly, well run race. Also thanks to the Sun, who made a delightful cameo, and was the cause of much merriment and good cheer. We’ll be looking forward with great hunger and enthusiasm to continue the amazing form into Race 4.
