About 100 people who love dirt and sweat and who don’t mind the occasional knee scrape will gather at the Shasta Mine Trail Head on Saturday, May 16, for the Whiskeytown Off-Road Duathlon.
What’s a duathlon? It’s an event in which participants run for a few miles, then jump on a bike and ride. Then they run some more. As the Whiskeytown event’s name implies, you get to do all of that running and riding on trails and dirt roads in the National Recreation Area. The event starts with a 3-mile loop run followed by an 8-mile mountain bike ride. Then you repeat the 3-mile run. You can also participate as a team, with one member handling the footwork and the other pushing the pedals.
Now in its third year, the event is a marriage of the SWEAT running club and the Redding Mountain Biking club.
“I call it a grass roots event,” says race director Tori Parks, who serves on the board of both organizations. “I want everybody to have fun and get cool stuff and come back next year.”
If you’re a semi-regular runner and mountain biker, there’s no reason you couldn’t do the event solo this year – without any special preparation. The course is relatively short, the run has no major hills and the ride, well … as long you know what you’re doing on a mountain bike, you’ll be fine. If not, consider nabbing a teammate from the mountain biking club.
“Every year we have a few people who are way over the heads on the mountain bike portion, but they always finish” says Parks. “You need some mountain bike skills. You need to understand there are areas you should dismount. Some of the best riders in this area don’t ride everything.”
What she’s talking about specifically is the Buck Hollow Trail. It isn’t much more than a mile long, but it’s fairly tricky. Still, a big stretch of the ride is on the Clear Creek Watch Ditch Trail, which is mostly flat and a joy for even hacks like me to ride.
The run is more straightforward, as long as you scale back your time expectations.
“You need to be comfortable on trail,” says Parks. “Running on trails does take a little more attention. You can’t run as fast as on the river trail.”
Redding’s Amy Meyer has done the event the past two years and plans to toe the starting line again on the 16th. Meyer is a dedicated runner and freely admits she’s a fair-weather mountain biker.
“The duathlon is what gets me back on the bike after the winter,” Meyer says. “I like that it’s an all off-road event. It’s a good course for anyone who has never done a multisport race.”
What should a first-timer expect? “Your legs feel like Jell-O when you come off the bike for the first half-mile of the run,” Meyer says. You know you’ve only got a few miles to go, though, so it’s easy enough to push through, she adds.
The top solo athletes and teams will be shooting to finish in less than an hour and a half, but plenty of individuals and teams will get to spend more than two hours enjoying the course. I checked out the course last week and found it in splendid shape. Since then, we’ve received a lot of rain, so I expect there will be muddy stretches and several creek crossings on the course on race day. What fun!
Last year, about 25 teams and 50 solo participants endured a wickedly hot day. This year, there could be more teams than individuals, according to Parks, who is doing what she can to ensure better weather.
This Saturday, May 9, is the final day to register at the advance price of $35 per individual or $60 per team. After the deadline, add another $10 for each entry. If you’re a procrastinator, you can sign up on Friday, May 15, between noon and 5 p.m. at Fleet Feet in Redding, or between 7:15 and 8:15 a.m. on race day. For more information, check the event website, http://www.sweatrc.com/Duathlon/Duathlon.html, or give Parks a call at 515-6157.
Paul Shigley continues to seek sympathy at his home in Centerville for scrapes and bruises from his most recent mountain bike endo. You can reach him at paulshigley@sbcglobal.net
