OrganicAthlete Victoria
Track & Trail Sprint Duathlon
Saturday, May 17th, 2008, 11am-5pm
 |
| From 2008-05-17 - ... |
As forecasted, it was a beautiful warm and sunny day in Colwood (just outside of Victoria) at the Juan de Fuca velodrome, home of our unique, challenging and fun Sprint Duathlon. During set-up our volunteers and competitors showed up, and we got under way relatively quickly.
Despite our efforts of promotion, only 5 full competitors appeared (full as in competing in all four of our events, three others competed primarily in the cycling events), but we treated them well, and began our event! We had one Junior racer, three Masters and four Seniors.
First up was a 500m bike sprint, a traditional velodrome event (originally we listed as a 333m or 1 lap sprint, but decided to stick with the track event since there were such small numbers.) Don Gillmore took the fastest time with a shattering 35.30 seconds, Marcus Hadley and Adam Lawrence in the Masters category took the next fastest times, and were separated by hundredths of a second at 39 seconds.
Next up was the 333m Foot Sprint, around the apron of the track. Our sole Junior rider Derek Belcher went first, and held onto the fastest time being the only to crack 50 seconds with a 48.87. Lawrence ran the next fastest time, at 51.50, and all others trailed by several seconds behind him.
 |
| From 2008-05-17 - ... |
The sprint portion over, we began the Kiddie Kilo! Thanks to Lotte Hadley, Ian Gillmore and Meghan Gillmore for coming out and racing!
 |
| From 2008-05-17 - ... |
Next up was the intense endurance cycling event of the Pursuit. Juniors and Masters rode 3km, and Seniors rode 4km. Riders are paired on opposite sides, and literally pursue each other, going for the best time. Again, Don Gillmore took the fastest time, nearly cracking the 5 minute mark with a 5'02. Emile DeRosnay was close in 2nd with a huge Personal Best of 5'06. The fastest 3km times were in the bout between Lawrence and Hadley, but in the end Lawrence edged Hadley by a second.
 |
| From 2008-05-17 - ... |
The final event was the 5km run, which began with a loop of the velodrome, then onto the Juan de Fuca chiptrail for the majority of the run, and closing with a final lap of the velodrome. The young Derek Belcher once more had a commanding lead, being the first to come out of the forest, and completing the run just a hair above his goal, at 20 minutes and 22 seconds. Hadley finished second, 20 seconds back on Belcher, and a minute up on3rd finisher Lawrence, followed by Marcus Durrant and Roland Rabien.
 |
| From 2008-05-17 - ... |
In the scoring, this tied Hadley and Lawrence for points, but in overall time, Hadley came out on top, taking first place in the Masters category. Belcher of course won the Junior category, and Roland, our sole full Senior competitor, took the gold medal in his age group. Marcus Durrant finished 3rd in the Masters category to round out our tally.
Full results and times can be found on our website (listed below), as well as a list of our sponsors (who generously contributed upwards of $1400 in prizes) whom we'd like to thank. Also, a big thank you to the members of OrganicAthlete Victoria, and friends and family who volunteered their time.
A special thank-you to OA Victoria members Kevin Park and Evan Guengerich for their exceptional assistance in making the event happen.
We're aiming to make our next event will hopefully be the Organi'Cross, a cyclocross race this fall at an organic farm. As well, we're hoping to continue the Track and Trail format in 2009, hope to see you there!
Dave Shishkoff
President, OrganicAthlete Victoria
www.OrganicAthlete.org/victoria