Monday, February 19, 2018

Powerman Arizona Duathlon

This event took over the former Desert Classic Duathlon at McDowell Mountain Regional Park and, despite greater marketing hype, managed to keep the same shambling semi-organized quality that made the Desert Classic so charming, at least when it wasn't raining. To be fair, the Powerman people upgraded the pickup packet (both a t-shirt and a winter running stocking cap) and the post-race food (hot waffles and Nutella), and the decals with the race numbers would have worked better if I had picked them up the day before and put them on at home (both warmer and no sunscreen), but nobody would confuse this little race with a Big Deal.

The course was basically the same as last year, but in 2 huge improvements, it wasn't raining, and my timing chip worked. However, showing that when it comes to the podium, 90% of life is who else shows up, a couple of very fast 60+ guys from outside Arizona dominated my age group. While I finished 6/6 in 60-64, my time would have been 3rd in 55-59, 4th in 50-54, and 2nd (no way I'm ever beating Murray McPherson) in 65-69.

Run1 31:40, T1 2:17, Bike 1:34:23, T2 2:33, Run2 34:09; results here. I thought that was very creditable considering my foot and ankle issues; there was discomfort but I finished and managed to push past a very gracious Dan Knott in the last half mile. Surprisingly, considering the better conditions, my overall time wasn't as good as last year; I think this was a longer bike course somehow. But I managed the trail runs on one semi-bad foot, so Victoria, here I come.