The National Duathlon Festival will take place in Richmond this weekend as athletes from around the country meet to compete for national championships, with top finishers earning a spot at the world championships in Rimini, Italy in September. Several Midlothian residents will be competing in the race, including Thomas Waldrop, who was the top ranked duathlete in the United States in the 60-64 age group in 2007.

“It’s a coup for Richmond and Sports Backers to get the championships,” Waldrop said, “I really like the course, I think it’s superior to the course from previous years.” Waldrop has competed at the championships, which have been in Cincinnati in recent years, several times. He also traveled to Hungary to compete in the short course internationals last year. He has also competed in the famous Hawaii Ironman triathlon seven times.

The course in Richmond begins next to Second Street by Gimbles Hill Park. The competitors will cross to Belle Island and then return, a five kilometer (3.1 mile) loop. After completing the loop twice, they will get on their bikes and do a ten-kilometer loop four times. The course crosses the river and runs along Riverside Drive before turning up 42nd Street and turning around near Forest Hill Park. After the bike leg, the racers will run the running course a third time before finishing.
“Running in [a]etting surrounded by a city is unique,” noted John Landry, 57, who will be in the race. “I suspect the times will not be particularly fast for this distance, you’re not going to average 20 miles per hour biking on that course.”

Waldrop agreed that the highly technical course would keep speed down and challenge the cycling skills of the competitors.

This race will be the first duathlon for Jason Ford, who is competing in the off-road division. Unlike the on-road race, the off-road racers ride 30 kilometers on a course that circles Belle Island before winding down the river parallel to Riverside Drive and crossing the Boulevard Bridge before returning downtown.
Like the other racers from Midlothian, Ford, 37, has done many triathlons. He is competing in this weekend’s race to prepare for the Xterra triathlon in June because the bike course is the same for both races. Ford described the Xterra as the off-road equivalent of the famous Ironman triathlon. Ford is also targeting a top ten finish in the 35-40 age bracket, which tends to be the most competitive.

Also racing will be Joseph Strukl. The 23-year-old graduates from VCU in May and is heading to the University of Virginia for graduate school. Strukl competed in a full season of triathlons last year. He has been working to improve the running portion of his triathlons over the winter, “so I thought I’d try a couple duathlons to see where I was,” he said. He is aiming to beat his personal best time in the runs of 41:59.

Tom Doyle, 60, is more than ready for competing in the on and off-road competition. His goal is to earn a spot at the world championships in Italy. “I started cross-training on the bike, then doing duathlons, and after you do that eventually you start swimming a little bit, and end up doing triathlons.”

All of the athletes said they trained at least ten hours, often approaching 15 hours of focused training as they near race day. “Triathlons seem to be a niche sport in Richmond area, which helps keep you involved and focused,” Ford said.

- Republished from MidlothianExchange.com.