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Dave Smith makes GB Team

By CoachKev | Published 29 March 2016 | No Comments

On Friday the 18th March I headed down to Nottingham for the second of three GB age group qualifier event for a place in the GB team at the Duathlon World Championships in Spain in June.

I assumed by being later in March and south of the border would lead to higher temperatures as I browsed the BBC weather app in the hotel on the evening before the event but no, the forecast was dry but around 4°C, another days for leggings and no tri-suit.

The morning wasn’t quite as cold as forecast but still not warm enough for shorts so I went for a base layer, long sleeved top and gilet. Having suffered from cold hands that couldn’t manipulate the ratchet on my shoes at the previous event I had to judge if the extra few degrees would be sufficient to keep my hands warm and save me what might be crucial seconds in transition.

There were over 600 competitors as they combined a sprint duathlon with the standard resulting in multiple waves at the start and lots of people traffic as we set off on two laps of a 5km course. Having recced the course the night before I was aware of the incline some 300m after the start and paced myself starting nearer the back of my 50 to 79-year old grouping some two minutes after the ladies and 20-min ahead of the youngsters. Most adopted the usual fast start making for plenty of markers to chase down as we looped around the 5km cone and headed back almost to the start for the second lap.

Having pushed to next level in the 10km run a few seconds of meditation was required to function, put on my crash hat, running shoes off and cycling shoes on which didn’t lead to a stellar transition time.

The bike course started downhill and straight into a neutral zone where I chatted to a very apologetic lady who was part of the sprint event and was convinced she was holding me up, but I let her know I was happy to catch my breath and ratchet up my shoes so the pace was more than adequate.

The bike course was picturesque, so I was told as we pedalled through the park and out onto the main road an undulating terrain with no need for the small ring. One lap done and I start seeing the youngsters joining the course, some more markers and I became a marker too with some disc wheeled TT bikes rumbling past. Ready to peel off to transition and the no gloves choice was the right one as I pinged the ratchets leaving my feet in the shoes for the hill before T2 ready to pull them out just before the dismount line.

Some well marked bike racks lead me straight to my red Pentland Triathlon towel and on with the running shoes. Straight out on the run and a marker ahead, again tell myself to build the pace, and I get past him on the hill, next marker and nobody else to catch. I starting thinking about my position, how many are still ahead? Getting closer to the 2.5km turn and the lead bike and leader go past, Claire Steels the 2015 duathlon world champion, then the first male oldy, then another, another was that 3 or 5, keep running, hold form. I could hear the tannoy then see the barriers then the finish line – done, almost literally.

Was it enough to qualify for a place in the GB age group team and a place in the World Duathlon Championships? I would have to wait until mid-week for the official results – Wednesday lunch time I checked the BTF website five times before I believed the Q next to my name – Qualified – Thursday and the official email arrived notifying of my place on the Great Britain Age Group team and my place in the World Duathlon Championships in Aviles, Spain on the 5th June 2016.