The Decathlon Duathlon - Sign up

Decathlon Duathlon

Clare and I nipped into the Bolton branch of Decathlon to grab some new gym and running clothes but as soon as we entered the store we were presented with a large display advertising the Belmont Duathlon; a 6k run, 28k cycle and 6k run.  The date, two weeks before my half marathon attempt in Blackpool.  I picked up a leaflet, put it in my back pocket and continued with our shop.

On our way home, Clare asked me, "So are you entering it then?"

Having competed in a couple of Triathlons before, I miss the buzz of such events, and even claimed the first annual "Fastest Cousin" award on our initial outing.  The run was always my weakest point of a Triathlon and the bit I always dreaded the most.  Things have changed a little since then.

I really do have to praise Clare as much as possible, she has recently become a run widow for three nights a week as I tootle off round local streets for a couple of hours with my run buddy Rosh, and yet she is always wanting me to push myself and achieve new levels.  She is so supportive of my crazy little schemes, and sometimes, like with the duathlon, is the one that pushes me to do more. Without Clare I would still be a 24 stone lump that struggled to get off the couch, and for that I owe her everything.

Still deciding on whether to do the event or not, I received a phone call from my over-excited friend Daavv.  I say over-excited, Daavv always has a new giddy thing that he is passionate about over everything, and we love him for it.  Daavv recently took up cycling and has, within 12 months become a cycling legend.  Out on the bike pretty much every day, finding new routes and convincing me to cycle from Manchester to Blackpool at midnight with only two weeks training, I am always up for joining Daavv in his next expedition as I know, 100%, it will be great fun.

Daavv was calling me in relation to a new cycle route he had found that he wanted to share with someone, I was that someone.  I hadn't been out on the bike since our Blackpool jaunt, and thinking that if I was to partake in the Belmont Duathlon then I would need to get back out on two wheels, Daavv's call could not have been better timed.   Upon agreeing to join Daav for his Sunday cycle, I thought it was my time to mention a new cockamamie event, so suggested that Daavv join me for the Duathlon, as always, he was up for it.

So, due to a unexpected visit to Decathlon Bolton, followed by a suggestive push from Clare and then Daavv's random call, I am now signed up for the Belmont Duathlon.  A 6k run round Horrocks Wood, 28k loop up to the M65 roundabout and back, and then back into the woods for another 6k, it seems like this was meant to be.

With my entry fee paid and a bike needing a polish, I have a new date in the diary, Sunday 12th April 2015, the Duathlon event begins.