Hot off the press, Parys has won her age group in the European Duathlon championships 2010 held in Nancy France. Still waiting for official results but have been advised she achieved 4th place overall and won her age group by a margin of around 3 minutes. Splits show a blistering pace with 36:30 (10k run), 1:05 (40k bike) and 18:+ (5k run)
Well done to Parys, a just reward for hard training, looking forward to a race report from Parys
Yesterday Ellen ran the London Marathon and with the limited air travel during the week, it was an absolute miracle that I managed to get on a flight to London in time. therefore i did find it a little surreal to be watching the Marathon yesterday.
I am sure Ellen will provide a better account of the day, but in what could be described as very good conditions for running London was taken over with Marathon fever.
Having discussed with Ellen her goals for the race over the last week and reviewing recent training, we set two goals, the first to go quicker than last year and the second to target sub 3hrs. Both of the goals were achievable but you never know what can be thrown at you on race day.
It was an absolute joy to spot Ellen on Bird Cage Walk with only 600 meters to go and definitely on target to achieve both goals. The end result a massive pb by 10minutes and under 3 hours. As the finishers T-shirt says “LonDONE”, well done Ellen.
Parys headed up to Scotland for the weekend to race the Scottish Duathlon champs at Stirling University Duathlon. This race is also a British Triathlon qualifying race for the Duathlon World Champs being held in Edinburgh later this year.
Parys’s sole objective at this race was to obtain her qualifying place for the world champs. The field also comprised of a number of Elite racers including Catriona Morrison the current ETU Duathlon European Champion and hence focussing on the main priority in such a tough field was difficult.
In Parys’s own words the race was the hardest race she has ever done, with an incredibly tough run and unrelenting head wind on the bike. However it is the result that counts. As anticipated first female was Catriona Morrison and Gillian Palmer was second. Parys rounded out the top 3 female finishers overall in a time of 2:08:31 and has booked her place onto the GB age group team for the world champs. Great result. Parys now turns her attention to the ETU duathlon champs in May 2010.
Ellen, raced the Broadlands Half Marathon in mid March, here is what she has to say about her race.
“Keeping on the theme of gear, for a road half marathon last weekend in preparation for the London Marathon, I decided to try wearing lightweight racing shoes – something I had previously dismissed due to the improbably large number of trainers which already attract comment from unsuspecting visitors tripping over them on the way in to our home. I lined up on a narrow country lane to the East of Norwich for a great event organised by Norwich Road Runners, through countryside and flint churches so beautiful I found myself regretting the lack of a camera and time to use it… Although Aussies might struggle to believe it, with spring on its way, I even caught the sun. Cheerful support in the villages along the way had an amusing effect on a few male runners who took a while to admit to being overtaken. In such pleasant surroundings, I was able to keep to Tongy’s advice on pacing and ran comfortably, speeding up towards the finish and feeling very light footed in the new trainers! Glad to say this enabled me to take home an embarrassingly huge trophy, especially when being made to drink out of it in the evening.”
Well done to Ellen, we had previously discussed a pacing strategy, to start the first half at marathon pace and speed up to half marathon pace. The race plan was executed to perfection and what Ellen fails to mention (minor details?) is yes she did take home a huge trophy as she was first female overall, she broke the course record (again!) in 1:25:06 and was 16th overall, so more than a few males would have been overtaken. Well done to Ellen on another great race performance, we are now gearing up for the final preparations for the London Marathon.
Andrew Tong | Triathlon coaching 