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Coed y Brenin Duathlon makes a splash

Debut off-road duathlon draws 250 athletes to Snowdonia for a true trail test

Matt Baird

Heavy rain. Blazing sunshine. Single digit temperatures. Plenty of mud and hills. And more hills. The debut Odlo Coed y Brenin Trail Duathlon from Always Aim High kicked-off in North Wales today in true Snowdonian style, with over 250 duathletes attempting either the full or sprint-distance run/bike/run races.

Consisting of a 28km mountain bike course along the famous ‘Tarw Du’ section, and sandwiched by a 9km and 5km trail/fell run with some tough technical sections, the full-distance race was a stern test of stamina and mental fortitude for duathletes.

In the men’s full-distance race, Doug Hall emerged victorious ahead of Dylan Lewis and Dafydd Hollis, with less than five minutes separated the top three. The women’s race was similarly closely fought, but Sarah Willhoit took first place ahead of the hugely experienced Rhian Roxburgh and Rosemary Byde.

Following an hour later, the sprint course was made up of a shortened 15km lap of the same ‘Tarw Du’ course, with a 5km and 1.8km run on either side. 220’s Matt competed in this race and it boasted a hugely enjoyable yet testing mix of technical trails, lightning descents and hundreds of metres of lung-busting elevation gain, all flanked by panoramic views of Snowdonia and plenty of camaraderie.

Tom Nesham added the men’s sprint race win to the his Slateman sprint victory in May. Tom crossed the line a full 10mins ahead of second placed Rob Kerr in an astounding time of 01.08.48. Gwynedd Jones rounded off the top three.

The women’s sprint race was a much closer affair with Nicole Walters of T3 Triathlon claiming first place ahead of Kim Baptista. Always Aim High stalwart Suzie Richards was third on her return from injury.

The race organisers believe that the race – the first duathlon to be held at the Mountain Bike park in Coed y Brenin – drew a record number of duathletes for an off-road duathlon in the UK. And, with Human Race’s Wildman and Iceman no longer on the UK calendar, there’s certainly room for further growth, with the 2018 event already confirmed as a Welsh Triathlon National Championship race.

Full race timings for the Odlo Coed y Brenin Duathlon can be found at tdleventservices.co.uk, with more information on 2018’s race at alwaysaimhighevents.com.

Top 3 2017 Odlo Coed y Brenin Duathlon results

Men’s Sprint Duathlon:

1. Tomos Nesham 01.08.48

2. Rob Kerr 01.20.13

3. Gwynedd Jones 01.22.45

Women’s Sprint Duathlon:

1. Nicole Walters 01.20.59

2. Kim Baptista 01.21.48

3. Suzie Richards 01.27.49

Men’s Full Duathlon:

1. Doug Hall 02.20.45

2. Dylan Lewis 02.23.55

3. Dafydd Hollis 02.24.03

Women’s Full Duathlon:

1. Sarah Willhoit 02.42.32

2. Rhian Roxburgh 02.44.25

3. Rosemary Byde 02.50.15

Profile image of Matt Baird Matt Baird Editor of Cycling Plus magazine

About

Matt is a regular contributor to 220 Triathlon, having joined the magazine in 2008. He’s raced everything from super-sprint to Ironman, duathlons and off-road triathlons, and can regularly be seen on the roads and trails around Bristol. Matt is the author of Triathlon! from Aurum Press and is now the editor of Cycling Plus magazine.