Race report: Kielder Duathlon - Sunday December 4, 2011

The second Kielder duathlon proved to be a huge success as the challenging conditions added a new dimension to the event

This time the heavy snow held out until after the event but with heavy rainfall over the preceding days mud was going to be the dominating factor...and lots of it! Amidst the vast expanse of Kielder Forest in Northumberland National Park, right on the Scottish Border, this is a truly unique area combining open moorland, a maze of forest trails and as usual, plenty of hills, totting up to a whopping 1,700' of ascent. Kielder Castle, former hunting lodge of the Duke of Northumberland, provides a spectacular backdrop for the event.

A strong lineup in the men's event including Carlisle Tri's duo of Mike Pluckrose, second place finisher at Whinlatter and Mark Ryan, last winter's High Terrain duathlon series winner. Also on form from Whinlatter were Daniel Clarke (Mersey Tri) and John Bousfield (Arragons Tri). In the women's race, defending champion Louise Wilkinson (One Life) knew she had a battle on her hands with the top two finishers from Whinlatter Philippa Liles (Keswick) and Angela Brand Barker (Keswick Bikes) in attendance.

Photos © Liam Bird

The initial 4.27 mile run included an ominous 666' of ascent climbing up to 1,279' onto the open slopes of Deadwater Fell. Moving into an early lead was 20 year old Tim Calder (Hexham) opening up a gap of over a minute at the top of the 1.5 mile climb over the chasing group. The descent off the moor was a true test of off road running ability. A narrow sinuous trail through the heather with an abundance of icy cold bogs to wade through, it was going to be tough.

With over a two minute lead, Tim stormed through the castle gates recording 31:12 (Run + T1) and was out on the bike before the next runner was in sight. With slick (in the mud) transitions Mark (32:47) and Mike (32:55) set off in determined pursuit. Former international orienteer and fell runner Angela was clearly thriving on this kind of terrain leading the women in 41:37. However,right behind were Philippa in 42:03 and Louise in 43:00. In fourth position and moving onto her strongest discipline was Kirsty Eastwood (A Quick Release).

The 13 mile mtb route was based around the Blue graded trails but with 750' of ascent and climbing up to 1,280' Combine this with Kielder's own unique microclimate and it was always going to be a testing route. Tim's earlier decision of not layering up was proving costly as a heavy snow shower forced him to stop and don a waterproof. Meanwhile, Mike was in his element powering into the lead and starting to open up a sizeable gap. Based in Keswick and obviously used to such changeable weather Philippa described the conditions as 'atmospheric' and clearly thriving at her strongest discipline. Determined not to let her establish a lead on the bike however, as at Whinlatter, Angela was clearly on form and the two battled it out together with the lead constantly changing hands. Closing the gap, Kirsty had now moved into third with Louise close by in fourth.

The latter stages of the mtb section included 'Lord Kielders Descent', a natural line of narrow singletrack winding through the trees and creating a mud slalom. Demonstrating excellent descending skills, Mike took the descent in his stride entering T2 in 1:32:50 also recording the fastest bike split of the day in 59:55. Next was John in 1:36:52, followed by Daniel and Mark together at 1:37:06.

Photos © Liam Bird

The second 3.8 mile run took competitors out along the route of the Old Railway Line crossing Kielder Viaduct and past Bakethin reservoir Nature Reserve. With a four minute lead and still running strongly Mike was not going to be troubled and won in a time of 2:00:21 also first MV40. The battle for second was not so clear cut with three strong runners heading out together. It was Daniel who proved the strongest pulling away on the long steady climb away from Bakethin to finish second in 2:02:14, recording the fastest second run time of 25:08. Next was Mark in 2:04:28 followed closely by Paul in 2:05:48. Fifth went to Tim, warming through again and recording 26:43, a one to watch in the future!

In the women's race Angela led into T2 in 2:02:02 but with over two hours of racing only ten seconds separated the two leaders. Kirsty was next in 2:04:49 recording the fastest bike split of 1:19:27. Angela finally broke free of Phillapa and steadily increased her lead to win in 2:35:29 and also first FV50. Next was Philippa in 2:38:59 then a fast moving Kirsty in 2:40:16.

Carlisle Tri wrapped up the team category once again with David Milligan their third counter finishing in 8th position.

Competition was as fierce as ever in the relay category for pairs. Andrew Hibbert and Nick Greenbank (Burley Bashers) won the male pairs in 1:59:02 after a closely fought race with local forestry workers Jacob Tangey and Paul Pickett (Ginga Ninjas). In the mixed pairs it was Shonah Dobson and Rich Holland in 2:17:32.

Kielder attracted a great deal of newcomers to the sport. Competing in her first ever event Katy Woodroff summed it up nicely "The most beautiful torture I've ever been through".

Photos © Liam Bird

Men's results

Women's results

Photos © Liam Bird

Full results available at www.highterrainevents.co.uk