A group of 24 determined athletes completed the inaugural duathlon staged at Wright-Patterson Sept. 27. The event, sponsored by base employees who are also members of the Wright Triathlon Club, consisted of a shortened “sprint” distance duathlon: a two-mile run, followed by a 10-mile bike ride, and finishing with a second two-mile run.

Participants included 14 military members and four contractors from the base along with six duathletes from the local area. Although the field included several veteran runners and cyclists, this was the first experience in a multisport event for the majority of the competitors.

Two local athletes took the honor as the top overall men’s and women’s finishers. Brian Barker led from start to finish in 46 minutes 23 seconds. The top female finisher was Cheryl Chaney coming in at 56:27.

Among the 14 military competitors, Capt James Stewart of the Air Force Institute of Technology led the field with a finish time of 58:56.

The race drew many positive comments from the participants. A common statement from veteran duathletes was that the event was “well organized” and had a “great, low-keyed atmosphere” compared to typical duathlons and triathlons.

Those new to the sport, such as 1st Lt. Christopher Michele, Capt. Maynard Porter, and Chuck Smith, appear to have caught the spirit of the race.

As stated by Lieutenant Michele, “I can’t emphasize enough how much fun I had and how much I’d like to thank the club for putting this event on,” said Lieutenant Michele. “I look forward to participating in more events. It was an awesome experience, especially since it was my first race.”

Porter, who added to the challenge by riding a mountain bike, said he was equally thrilled with the event and would like to next train for a triathlon.

“This was my first duathlon and I’m now hooked and plan on buying a road bike in the near future.” 

Smith, an avid bicyclist and race director of the local Blue Streak time trials, said the event was well run and he looked forward to more duathlons in the future.

Many first timers were caught off guard by the transition from bike to run. A former junior college distance runner, Senior Airman Brian Clahan said it was something he didn’t expect. “But after about 800 meters I was good and finished the second run faster than the first,” he said.

Experienced duathletes, like Tim Bowman, showed no difficulty with the race and simply used the event as “a great way to get a good training session in but also have fun racing with other people.”

Bowman said he also enjoyed the diverse field of first timers.

“It was nice to see young kids getting involved in racing and beating some old veterans,” he said.  

Complete results are available at http://www.wrighttriclub.org/Du_results_2005.asp.

Driven by the positive feedback, more events like this are being planned for Wright-Patterson in the future. Race director, Mike Randall said he was enthused by the success of the inaugural duathlon.

“The base was highly supportive and the venue was ideal,” he said. “I hope that we can continue to have these races next year and that more people will get involved.”

Other volunteers supporting the event were Paul Day, Lt. Col. Dave Hardwick, Mary Kemphuse, Staff Sgt .Marina Miller, Robert Morrisey, Mike Polakowski, David Torick and Dave Wheeler.

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