It’s 9 am on a Sunday morning in May and I am jostling for position in a huddle of around 100 other athletes penned into a starting area in a cobbled square in the centre of Zeitz, East Germany. Despite being located in a far flung corner of Europe one other resident from Reach - Russell Arnold, two from Lode - Dave and Steve Peck and one from Newmarket - Robin Taylor, are in the ‘competitors pen alongside me. BANG the start gun goes and we’re off in a stampede of white running shoes and multicoloured race suits…. The 2002 European Age Group Duathlon championships is underway (at least wave one is – the hundred athletes in wave two have to cope with pre-race nerves for another hour). Ahead of us is a race that involves a 10k run followed by a 40k bike and then another 5 k run. This is where I discover if all those long runs across the fens through Upware and Wicken and the hours of Sunday morning bike rides south of Newmarket (struggling to keep up with Russell and his son Mark) have been worth it.

I know I have to take this steady - I have never raced this distance before and the course is hilly (not great for one who has trained in the fens). On lap 3 it really started to hurt, but an out-and-back leg of the run meant I could count the woman ahead of me half way through each lap and I knew I wasn’t doing too badly. Russell was miles ahead flying round with the leading pack and Dave and Robin were close behind. This meant we passed each other several times - so lots of support and comfort from familiar faces. My run over in about 41 minutes, now I just had to hold my own on the on the bike. A long haul out of Zeitz, a loop through country lanes and undulating farmland, a wonderful descent back into Zeitz and an awful hill up to transition – twice. I caught two women and then was caught myself by two others. I worked hard not to lose them and finally I was exiting transition for the last run in a group of three, battling with the wibbly-wobbly/dead legs feeling you get when you try to run after biking hard for over an hour. The hills hurt and the cobbles felt more and more uneven but the end was in sight now. Entering the town square and seeing the big finish gantry was a great feeling. But it wasn’t one I could relish for long. Immediately over the line a German official approached me to say I had been picked (randomly I hope) for dope testing. I wasn’t allowed out of her sight and she stuck with me like glue. I drank gallons of water fast in order to be able to ‘pee into the ‘not-so-small’ glass bottle’ despite post-race dehydration after the race. I am told I must have really made it to be drug tested - I wasn’t so sure!

The final brought smiles to all our faces. I had staggered across the line 3^rd in my age group 6^th overall in a time of 2 hrs and 29 minutes. The men’s race was much more competitive (not so many female croc pots out there doing this sort of thing). Russell came a fantastic 10^th in his age group in a time of 2:24:15 despite being crippled by cramp half way through the first run. As for the residents of Lode, Dave Peck came also came 10^th in his age group in 3:02:28 - and this was a man who, following a hip replacement in November 2000, was told he shouldn’t run again. Steve Peck was 13^th in his age group in 2:22:55 and Robin came in 17^th in 2:46:07. I hope you agree we did our little corner of the world proud - fenland villagers are clearly made of stern stuff. 

Juliete Vickery