Whare Flat MTB Duathlon - Race 4 WInter Series - June 15th 2008

I went and raced in the Whare Flat MTB duathlon yesterday along with 12 others. It was a cracker of a course. We started with a 4km run along a forest road and back along the "snake" MTB track and back to where we started to get on the mtb, I took off pretty quick on the run and established a bit of a lead and held this to the mtb transition. Onto the MTB and it was a quick balst up the forest road before dropping onto the "Snake" mtb tracka dn this is where the fun started, the track was greasy and windy with a few we surprise bumps and things in it, one trip over the handlebars early on in this for me and then another on some slippy clay (my mezcal semi slicks were not the best tyre choice for the day!) on the technical stuff i was passed by the second rider and lost a bit of ground to him, it wasn't until we started the climb back up longridge road i pushed hard and reeled him in and passed him to take the lead again, from here it was another nasty single track section which was steep and rutty I got passed again (my lack of technical skill and the fact my seat was a bit high for the steep drops didn't help) so I was off the MTB in 2nd place and onto the last run which was a repeat of the first run. Here was where i gave it heaps and established a lead before getting back onto the the single track, from here i hammered it and really ran hard to make a comfortable lead and managed to finish FIRST!!!!! with a 2min lead put into second!! I was pretty stoked to pull this one off.

Mac Bay Multisport Race - Race 3 WInter Series - May 25th

Well a few hard people (or completely crazy) headed out to Mac Bay yesterday in the wet miserable weather to race the Mac Bay Multisport and duathlon race. it was a 5km Kayak, 15km MTB, 5km Run. I had a solid paddle cranking along with Matty G until the end where he put 20-30 m into me coming out of the water so i was in 2nd onto the MTB and held close till top of Castlewood road hill by Larnachs Castle and then was caught and passed by Ray Hope so sat in 3rd for the rest of the race, coming down the paradise track was wet and greasy riding, I was taking it pretty easy and not too crazy down here due to the whole in my hip and skin still repairing from the race 2 weeks ago!! off the MTB and a good solid 5k run to finish 3rd. behind Matty G in First and Ray in 2nd.

3rd

Whare Flat Duathlon Race 2 in Winter Series - 10th May 2008

Well there was a real cracker of a mtb duathlon course i went and raced yesterday. It was out the bottom of Whare Flat/Swampy Summit Rd and involved a 2-3km run/crawl/slide through the bush which was a mud fest followed by a fantastic Mtb through some forestry single track also laced with mud and slippery roots etc, following this we ran the first run in reverse and slipped and slid all through this!! All the time it was wet and rainy!! I had a good race and led off the first run and onto the MTb Matty Graham established a lead early on, of which i chased hard but once onto the single track he made further gains on me. I was storming around the mtb tack on the verge of out of control at many times, near the end of the bike stage i came rocketing over some wooden bvoard walk, i didn't realise i was on this until i was sliding along on my side over this and then ended up off the boardwalk and into a tree - ouch!! - i have onle huge lump and open graze hol,e in my hip now with all the colours of the rainbow developing on it today!! so up and away again only to find my front tyre going flat, i thought it was only 1-2km ot the finish of this stage so i ploughed on up the gravel road out of the forest but it was further than i thought. I ended up having to stop to make a quick tyre change , while doing this i was passed and then had to chase hard onto the last run but couldn't quite make up the time lost from the puncture!! Finishing 3rd i was prett happy with this, Matty Graham Finished 1st, with another Matt 2nd and Myself 3rd. All oin all a great time out in the rain despite the crasha dn puncture!!

3rd

3 Peaks Runnign Race - Sunday 20th April 2008

I went and ran the 3 Peaks Race yesterday for the first time. A pretty cool course with some decent hills to sort things out amongst the field. I started at a pace i felt i could maintain and ran so i was able to run all the up hills and keep a steady and solid pace throughout the race. A good climb up onto the top of flagstaff to start and i was feeling good, along to Swampy and then down some pretty slippery stuff to get to where you cross the motorway and a climb up the hills onto the top of Mt Cargill (it was here i was feeling strong - a few leppins in the system by now and i charged up tho the top before the decent down through the Mt Cargill walkway and onto the finish at Chingford Park. Coming down off Mt CArgill i really wound it up and enjoyed the thrill of running down the track bordering on olut of control at places just hoping for solid foot strikes on the somewhat greasy track in places.

Anyway as a first go at this race i felt i ran strong and the runnung is feeling good at the moment. My goal was to go under 2hrs30min - i managed to achieve this coming in in 2hrs29min1sec!! this placed me 10th Open man and 17th Overall. Some of those dedicated runners are quick with the winning tim being 2hr4min!!

Anyway this is the link ot the full results,
http://www.leithharriers.com/ThreePeaks/ThreePeaksResults2008.html

Broad Bay Multisport Race - Race 1 Winter Series - April 13th 2008

Well i went out and raced the first of the winter multisport races yesterday at Broad Bay. I didn't actually realise they started this weekend but went out there for a blast. The race was a 5km paddle on the harbour which was liek glass so made for some pretty quick paddling, i cranked it up and can out of the boat first with about 1min on the next paddler and ontot he MTB for about 15-20km of gravel roads and then onto the run which was a good steep run over the hill and bush and then back down to Broad bay to finish there. I got caught ont eh bike and lost about 2min on the bike and never made this up on the run but was certainely trying, I finished 2nd about 3min behind 1st. Overall a good race and felt pretty strong especially in the boat. It certainly made me feel a little quicker when Dougal and Matty are away at the Traverse and not racing!!

2nd

Snapshot of Some Events June 2007 - May 2008

I am no longer recording my training on this site, i am now recording all of this on a site www.mapmyrun.com this site you can probably link to my training by searching andrewjsloan and it should come up. I will put photos on this site and race reports here still



Here is a video of some races from June 2007 through to May 2008