We arrived Friday night (Rita and and our caravan) as we had volunteered to help with marshalling the junior event on Saturday prior to my event on Sunday. On offer was free camping food and drink and a goody bag. And free entry to their next event.
HUUB limited promoted the juniors from 8 to 16 and teams from East and West Midlands fought it out for trophies and medals. Falling off a bike at 8 yrs of age brings on tears for boys or girls. But a cuddle from mum or dad soon and they soon recovered to challenge for points. By the time the 16 yr olds came on at 1400 hrs we were getting sunburned and hungry. 5 hrs of marshalling the bike On and Off line was fantastic and we will definitely be back again. Up early on Sunday morning I was like a kid at Christmas. Just waiting to GO. But last night why did I try chasing that ex British team coach on his bike my left thigh is hurting real bad. So I rang my Physio " K" " please bring majic sponge and some Gels." At 1300 Karen appeared a!ong with the rest of my support team, her husband ,son,and her mum and dad. And of course her majical healing hands. 15 mins later I am ready for the 1400 hr start of my 2nd qualifier for ETU 2019 Duathlon age group. This week I have competition in Brian ex coach of the GB and another duathlete who has represented the GB on numerous occasions. At the pre race " pep talk" they decided that my new found mate Brian is incorrectly dressed and cannot take part ( his chest is not covered sufficiently) luckily Rita is just over the barrier. I shout "get Brian my black wife beater shirt or he can't take part". With 2 mins to go Rita comes to the rescue. Brian is allowed to enter the event ..... just. Typically I tripped after about 2km ,but I know the rules if you are bleeding. They drag you off until you stop bleeding ( abit like rugby) . So I rap a large tissue roundmy elbow and carry on. By now the pack has disappeared but I came to run and ride my bike and that's what I will do. So I complete the 5km run grab my new bike and pedal off into the afternoon sun , on my own . But it's 8 laps and all my friends and newly found admirers are yelling go Mike go.And do I go....... You bet I do last time out on my other bike 20km took 1hr 12 mins .today it's 55ins and 10 secs. But I still have another 2.5km to run. I want under 2hrs for this duathlon but it's not to be official time was 2hs .0 mins 4secs. Loved every minute of it and meet some fantastic new friends. Many thanks to Rita Karen and her family. You may ask what happened to the 3 rd man ( the international athlete ) he is still out there running. I settled for 2 nd in class (Brian was firstl) I will be back next year before I go to Spain and I will try harder.
A little bit of (unashamed) own trumpet blowing
ARE YOU FRIDAY READY? POM-POMS START HERE! 🥳📣🤞🍀
A missed race for me☹️…but a great event!
