2009 World Duathlon Championships - My Story

Tarik Djeddour went with the GB squad to the Duathlon World Championships in Concord, North Carolina. He'd prepared well, taking a sabbatical from work to train properly but there'd been setbacks along the way, including a spell in hospital following a crash in road race. But it all came together on the day.


Tarik Djeddour on his way to a silver medal in the World Duathlon Championships. Click on the photo for more images.

'Toes behind the yellow line' the man yelled, as if a couple of centimetres advantage gained at the start would make all the difference over a racing distance of 55km. These were the final words that I and my fellow competitors heard before what seemed like an eternity before the starting hooter was sounded for the start of the 2009 World Duathlon Championships which took place at Lowes Motor Speedway on 26th September in Concord, North Carolina. As the lashing rain stung my face, momentarily my mind registered the surrealistic quality of the scene Ð here we stood somewhat pathetically in nothing but lycra race suits on the wide race track of a vast NASCAR stadium capable of holding more than 100,000 people and normally host to noisy, fast, high horse-powered car racing. But I tried to put this thought aside, as now was the time to focus. I have learned to savour this part of the race, the calm before the storm, where all of my senses are heightened and I can use the emotion and energy of the moment to be at one with my thoughts and to give myself an internal pep-talk. I reflected on the past 6 months and the many often solitary miles I had covered training on the road, from the mind-numbingly straight carriageways to twisty alpine cols, in baking heat and wind and rain. I thought about the setbacks I had overcome such as a calf strain in April and a skin graft to my elbow as a result of a crash whilst racing in June. I also thought about what I had already achieved - silver medals at the European Championships in May and at the London Duathlon a week earlier. I told myself 'Relax, you are ready, you can win this!' And then the hooter sounded, battle commenced!

The race consisted of a 2-lap 10km run, a 2-lap 40km bike, and a 1-lap 5km run, all based in and around the motor speedway. The first 10km was run at a supersonic pace (quite aptly in a town named Concord!), with me registering 15:38 for the first 5km lap and 15:19 for the second. A lead pack of around 6 athletes, including me, established itself after 1km or so and continued to draw out a lead. During the second lap, I was passed by the eventual gold medallist in my age group, US athlete Dirk Heinze (obviously a man full of beans...sorry!) I tried to stick with him for as long as I could, but he had clearly judged his effort better than me and as we transitioned to the bike leg, in spite of a developing stomach cramp, I told myself to focus and stay positive as the race was far from finished.

The bike leg was a wet and dangerous affair (save for the portion in the oval speedway). Watch my practice lap at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yymmcb9WVfM , with slick hairpin bends and older age group competitors to pass. The stomach cramp eased as I set off on the bike through the tunnel leading out of the stadium for the first of 2 laps. The motor-racing theme continued with the lap taking in the drag-strip located close to the stadium, which was surprisingly one of the few flat sections of the course. As I completed this first lap, I had not been passed by any of my competitors but I also lost sight of Heinze. Exiting the stadium for the second time, an ambulance with f lashing blue lights forced me on the wrong side of the course momentarily as it entered the stadium to attend to an injured cyclist Ð a reminder if ever we needed it to the dangers of the courseÉlycra does not offer much protection when you slide on tarmac at 30 mph! On this second loop I focused on maintaining my pace and taking some nutrition on-board through my specially adapted aerodynamic water-bottle, and energy gels. As I neared the end of the lap, I was passed by another US competitor and so now relegated to third position. I had to ensure a speedy transition to keep him in sight.

The last 5km run, as always, was a case of mind over matter, fighting the urge to plod along at a jog due to legs feeling so wobbly, and trying to bring muscle memory of running fast into play. The stomach cramp also came back with a vengeance so it was a great motivator when I saw that I was gaining on the second-placed athlete that had passed me on the bike. I timed my passing move at a steep descent so that I would have the advantage of a large speed difference which would translate to a larger physical gap once we reached the flat. This worked as intended and he was soon de-motivated enough not to try and stick with my pace. As I covered the last km a fear gripped me of likewise being passed, which gave me sufficient motivation to ignore the lactic acid in my legs and hold the pace until the finish. As I entered the finish straight, the team coach handed me a Union Jack and I saw the smiling faces of my family cheering me on.

In that instant, I knew that I was satisfied with the silver medal; after all, this whole adventure had been more about travelling in hope than about the destination.

My overall time was 1h 47mins 44 secs, with splits 32:17 (10.4km), 56:55 (40km), 17:05 (5km).

f you like technology you can watch a cool interactive animated replay of my race at http://www.zumtri.com/race_files/ITUDuathlon2009/ZumTri.html# by clicking on ÔAge Group ChampsÕ then entering ÔDjeddourÕ in the name field

You can follow my progress on Facebook - Tarik Djeddour and href="http://twitter.com/tazza76" target="_blank">Twitter.