Ipswich Duathlon Claire Waters reports: This race is highly recommended for anyone who fancies trying a duathlon. The only downside being dragging yourself (and your long suffering support team) out of bed very early in order to be ready for the 8.10 kick off! At least we had a lovely morning for it. The run course was very picturesque - along a dam over Alton Water, and then along country lanes with a couple of minor hills. Next it was out on the bike for a circular route towards Ipswich, with a couple of sharp turns and unpleasant long hills. We were quite spread out by this time, and I went for a long time without seeing anyone or marshalls. I was beginning to wonder if I'd managed to get lost, and so was very pleased when another marshall came into view. Going into the second run, I was neck and neck with the 3rd lady. It's a real struggle to get your legs to do what you want after the cycle, and I felt like I was going at a snail's pace. I was very relieved to hold on to second place. I should point out that Gavin would have beaten me if he hadn't had a problem with his bike gears. Or at least that's his excuse...... ha ha! Gavin Long adds: I echo Claire’s comments about the event (although not the last line)! I was pleasantly surprised to see the range of abilities. Obviously there were some very quick ones, like the guy who ran 16.12 for the first 5K, but there were also a lot of ‘less competitive’ participants, so the event didn’t have an elitist feel to it. It has definitely made me keen to do some more of these ‘triathlons without the swimming’. I should point out that even if I’d been on Lance Armstrong’s bike, I wouldn’t have been able to make up the 4 mins 20 seconds that Claire beat me by on the bike.