Runners set off on the 2019 short course duathlon. PHOTO/FILE
MULTISPORT
CHRIS COGDALE
[email protected]
A big field is expected for the Wairarapa Multisports Club’s 32nd mountain duathlon on Sunday.
The popular event starts and finishes at the Clareville Showgrounds and has long- and short-course options for individual competitors and teams.
Not for the faint-hearted, the long course starts with a 400m run, followed by a 33km cycle around the Carrington circuit and up to the Mt Holdsworth car park.
The competitors then swap their cycling shoes for running shoes and a gruelling 10.2km mountain run up the Atiwhakatu track to Mountain Hut and back.
It finishes with a 19.5km cycle back to Clareville.
Richard Day won the 2019 race in two hours, 47 minutes and six seconds, and Jennifer Sweny was the first woman home in 3:12.17.
The father and son team of William and Laurence Kent won the team’s event.
The short-course race also starts with a 400m run, followed by a 19.5km cycle to the Mt Holdsworth car park.
A 5.2km run, involving two laps of the Donnelly Flat’s loop, and a return cycle leg to Clareville finishes the race.
Ashley Christie took individual line honours in 2019 in 1:40.30, with Briar Templeton first woman to cross the line in 2:08.50. Stephen Brown and Logan Barham were the first team home in 2019.
There is also the option for runners to compete over the long-distance mountain run, which was won by Phil Cox last year.
The long course race starts from the Clareville Showgrounds at 10am on Sunday, with the short course race getting underway at 10.15am.
The mountain run starts from the Mt Holdsworth car park at 11am. A race briefing for all competitors is to be held at 9.45am.
Competitors can enter online at www.wmsc.org.nz for a reduced entry fee, or on Sunday morning at the Clareville Showgrounds.
