This Year

The 2008 triathlon season began for the Hadleigh Hares on Sunday 6th April with

the Diss Duathlon. The event comprises an undulating 5km run taking in the Diss

town centre, a flat 18 mile bike ride through the local countryside and finally

a repeat of the earlier 5km run. Over one hundred brave (or foolish) competitors

turned up very early to test their mettle in the coldest race conditions for

many years. Marianne Aitken, Martin Alabone, Paul Barton, Steve Bowen, Tim

Bowman, Doug Grimwade, Karl Purdey and Nick Rush emerged from a hard winter of

multisport training to compete for Hadleigh Hares in an incident packed race.

Purdey set the early pace with a stunning 21:11 for the first 5km (plus

transition) followed by Grimwade in 21:44 and Bowman in 23:57. The snow started

once the competitors began the bike leg providing an extra dimension to the

race. Grimwade closed the gap on Purdey finishing the bike leg in 53:21 with

Purdey finishing in 54:35. Bowman consolidated his position with a solid bike

leg of 56:11. On the final run Grimwade managed to hold off Purdey and finished

15th overall in a time of 1:38:07. Purdey completed an excellent race, finishing

in 18th place in 1:39:04. On the final run an epic battle between Rush and

Bowman saw Rush claw back a two minute deficit to beat Bowman by inches. Rush

finished in 33rd in 1:45:21 followed closely by Bowman in 34th in 1:45:23.

Barton completed the first leg in 24:13 but his run of bad luck at Diss

continued with a puncture on the bike leg putting him out of the race. Martin

Alabone proved that a lack of winter training had no effect on his race with a

solid performance, finishing in 2:00:36 in 74th place. An injured Bowen

completed the race in 77th place in 2:02:48, but limped in with an achilles

injury having walked most of the final run leg. Finally, Aitken, despite

tapering for the London Marathon, impressed all by winning her age group in her

first ever multisport race, finishing in 2:04:46 and setting herself a high

standard for the rest of the season.

Whilst it is early days, the looks on Bowman's and Rush's faces suggested a keen

rivalry is developing which should add an edge to this season. Grimwade and

Purdey will also be locked in battle over the next few months and Barton vowed

to return with new tyres. All in all it is shaping up to be another exciting

triathlon season for the Hadleigh Hares.

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