Baddeck Duathlon 2018

Now in its third year, the Baddeck Duathlon is a great event and one I have no issue with driving a distance for. What used to be the weekend of my favourite triathlon is easily one of my new favourite races. 

The weather this year was great, crazy considering how bad the weather in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton in general has been so far this Spring/Summer. Sunny with a few clouds, a light breeze and mid teens temps. Perfect.

This event also has a later start time, so the morning is super relaxed. Eventually though, we all have to meet in the big circle to get our race briefing.

Then it is off to race start, where apparently we have to wait for someone (no names, ha ha). Now as much as I would love to win this event, it is great to see a strong top 10 group of people show up and for there to be a great race. It means I have to push myself, and that is part of what we like doing, right?

Soon we were off. Run 1 is a 5km route on a gravel road with the start being a 1 kilometer climb, before a small dip happens and then the climb continues. It certainly is a hard run, but a hard run is better for me (I guess?). I quickly took second place and watched as first zoomed away. Wow, Tyler was fast. The best part of the run? Possibly when an emu ran up to a fence and screamed at me.  Or possibly when I got to the turn around, still in second, and knew that the big downhill was coming.

I pushed fairly hard on the downhill to make up some time, but in no way could catch first.  Still I came in to T1 in second with a time of 18:04. I was happy with that.

A quick 32 second transition and I was off on the bike for the 22km route around Big Baddeck.

I'm not bad on the bike, but I am certainly not as good as the top guys. So it always comes as a surprise when I get to catch and pass someone. Within a few kilometers I was in first. That was short lived though as within a few more kilometers, Allan passed me for position. Then by 10 kilometers in I was passed by Daniel and Colin to fall back to fourth.

Now I knew that my run, even on a short course could be enough to hold my position "if" I could stay as close as possible to the next few guys I knew would be coming along.  So I pushed and pushed hard. Soo, I looked down and saw I was coming into the finish, still in fourth. This was good news. I popped off my bike, ran through T2, switched to running gear and was off. Combined time was 40:38 and I was still in fourth.

Catching third seemed unlikely, but I knew that the 2.5km second run (same course) meant I couldn't let up.  Also you just never know.

500m in I realized how hard I pushed the bike, as my calf started to cramp, something that hasn't happened to me in years. It was at this point that I was worried I may have to walk and therefore lose my position. The cramp seemed to subside and off I went. The turn around came quickly and soon I was running down hill again.

I pushed it and managed to maintain my spot, zooming through the finish line with a second run time of 10:14. I had clawed some time back from second and third place, but not nearly enough. Still year 2 and I finished in 4th again, though this time 1 minute faster on the same course with similar conditions.  I was pretty happy. 

My overall time was 1:09:30.

Thanks to the organizers for hosting again and the locals for always being welcoming.