The 2023 April Cowman (Trail) Duathlon

120 Calfman (Olympic Distance) and Stampede (Sprint Distance) athletes took to the start line on a very lovely Spring morning on Sunday 16th April for a duathlon in and around Emberton Country Park, Olney. April Showers the days before made sure that our Cowman Duathlon venue was wet enough for a new event village and some very interesting trail sections on the run course, but that didn’t stop our athletes crossing the line with some massive smiles on their faces…(or maybe it was a grimace!)

The new shorter run course offered some great PB potential, and Robert Fletcher from Barracuda/Orion led the first leg of the Calfman race with an impressive 36:30 (10K) run time, closely followed by first female, Jenny Millet (Halo ID) in 39:38.

A breezeless day meant our athletes weren’t competing with the wind for their 1 or 2 laps of the 20K cycle route which had some tough climbs and descents in equally good measure. Peter Cowler (Wellingborough and District AC) was taking no prisoners with his 40K cycle and transition time of 1:04:33 but quick on his (w)heels was Alex Garner (VeloElite RC) in a very competitive 01:05:18.

Georgina Dunlop (Walden Tri), our Cowman Duathlon Poster athlete flew round the Stampede course taking the top spot in a very impressive 01:18:30. Taking second place in the Stampede was Abigail Davison (Bedford Harriers AC) in 01:22:49 and in third we had Katie Spendlove in 01:24:06.

In the Stampede Open Category, we had Craig Dyce (Walden Tri) first over the line in 01:07:44, closely followed by Edward Delville-Jones (Walden Tri) 01:08:40 and coming in at third we had Jack Thompson (Bracknell Forest Runners) with 01:10:12.

Winning the Stampede Relay, we had Team HPDC in a time of 01:54:44.

In the Calfman Open Category, Robert Fletcher (Barracuda/Orion), took the podium’s top spot in a finish time of 02:03:01. Second place was Alex Garner (VeloElite RC) 02:06:09 and in third place Peter Cowler (Wellingborough & District AC) 02:07:32.

In the Calfman Female Category Jenny Millet (Halo ID) came first in 02:21:42, Mary Reeves (Do3) was second with 02:34:25 and in third was Emma Clift (Redway Runners) with 02:49:29.

There were many athletes representing clubs on the day with the largest attendance from Bedford Harriers with 11 athletes. Team MK were next with 6, followed by GreenlightPT with 5. Walden Tri made a noticeable impact with their 5 athletes in attendance, with 3 athletes achieving podium places. Other clubs in attendance were Redway Runners, Wellingborough and Distrct, Wooton Road Runners and Body Limits.