I was fortunate enough to attend the 2007 World Duathlon Championships in Gyor Hungary this year.  Quite a different atmosphere from Australia. While my dad and I were there we saw some very interesting buildings and some very different people.  We took a train ride to Budapest to see the river and some of the 700 year old buildings.  In one section of the town the buildings were covered with bullet holes. There was some sort of protest going on.

 

The race itself was a great success.  I was at the front of the starting line with 451 people behind me. My goal was to take off and sprint the first 200m to get away from everyone else and not get tangled up or have my shoe stepped on.  Luckily, about 20 other people did this with me, so I didn't look like a moron out of nowhere.  The 10km was fast....30:10 (it was short by about 1.1km) and I was in 11th position. The transition went very smoothly, and I came out with a few guys. For the entire 40km bike portion people were drafting off one another all over the place (drafting is illegal) and it seemed like the motorcycle that was following us was handing out yellow cards and five minute penalties to everyone. I was lucky enough not to get a card. Even though I wasn't drafting, there were times when the pack of us were so tight, I thought the motorcycle guy was going to hand me one.  I made up one spot on the bike and came into the second transition with an American.  My transition from the bike to the run was flawless and I got out before he did.  About 1km into the 5km race, he caught up to me and was starting to pass, I decided to hang on to see if I could keep up.  Not only did I manage to match his pace, he ended up slowing down and I ended up beating him quite easily in the end for 9th/16 in my age category and 40th/451 overall.  Although my placing was further behind that it was last year, I had a personal best in all 3 portions of the race.  So I pleased with the result and hopefully I can take a bigger step up for the European Duathlon Championships in Scotland on June 16 where I'll be racing in the elite category. Wish me luck.

 

And one another note... in my race bag they gave me a large can on Hungarian beer.  A little odd to be handing out to all the athletes don't you think.