Saturday saw the first of the ASICS Off Road Race Series, the WildMan trail run and duathlon organised by Human Race.
Over 500 athletes descended on MOD training ground at Hankely Common, Surrey to take on either the 10km or 15km trail run or the duathlon.
Conditions were damp, grey and cold, perfect for providing challenging terrain and obstacles that saw a number of athletes take a tumble.
The start line of the duathlon cut an impressive picture with GB athletes Richard Stannard, Paul Davis and Jez Cox limbering up to tackle the off road course.
Jez Cox took an early lead on the run leaving the pack behind, but was soon caught by Paul Pallister going into transition one. Paul Davies soon joined the leaders but unfortunately picked up a puncture and was forced to retire.
Jez Cox pulled away towards the end of the bike and extended the lead from then on, finishing first with a time of 2:07:38. Paul Pallister finished just behind in 2:11:47 and Richard Newey in third in 2:13:42.
Jez said “the course was hard, I under estimated the hills but it was good”.
He continued “I’ve been doing triathlons for 8 years and this year decided to try going off road and this is my biggest win so far. I’ve been building all year to win this race and am aiming to win all four of the ASICS Off Road Race Series”.
“Off road races are all different, they are more of an adventure because you don’t know what you will come across, rocks, gravel, sand, it’s a great day out”.
Paul Davies added “Off road duathlons have a great atmosphere and are a lot more relaxed, but still really tough”.
Jez Cox finished by adding that the ASICS Off Road Race Series “is the series to do, the racers and courses are just epic”.
The top 3 female finishers were Aileen Anderson from Bath Amphibians Tri Club in 2:29:32 (17 overall), Fay Cripps, 2:30:19 (20 overall) and Gillian Banks in 2:32:26 (26 overall).
Half the field were made up of trail runners, both 10km and 15km distances across the sandy heather plains, and steep sandy hills.
The 10km winners were David Hellard of London City H3 Harriers with an impressive time of 37:07 and Collette O’Neill of Hillingdon Tri Club in 43:43.
The 15km race saw Joe Croft finish in 1:01:29 and Claire Weldon cross the line in 1:06:04.
As with all off road trail runs we saw a great number of canine runners, in the 10km run Katherine Huggins came in first with a time of 51:41 and in the 15km Dicky Biddle finish ahead of the field in 1:04:57.
The next ASICS Off Road Race will be the MudMan on the 4th December at the MOD at Camberley.
