On a chilly Canberra morning we had a very good turnout for the annual Sri Chinmoy Off-Road Duathlons at Black Mountain.

The long course athletes started first with their run heading into the Australian National Botanical Gardens where they followed the boundary road most of the way around. The field was still quite close together as they mounted mountain bikes and headed out for a strenuous 23km through scenic Black Mountain and Aranda Nature Reserves.

Once the long course was off on their bikes the Short course race got underway. This was a quick affair, with runners back very promptly for their bike leg. Prominent in the lead runners were a number of junior athletes. Adrian Shepherd led the short course from start to finish with a significant lead at the end.

The long course was a much more challenging event and attracted a quality field. Rowan Beggs-French, a new father, had a tremendous race and just missed out by seconds on breaking the course record. A few minutes later he was followed in by Dave Osmond, and Luke Kay who were also closely followed by Guy Jones and Thomas Brazier (honourable mention for fastest run legs).

While the weather never really warmed up the rain that threatened never actually came, providing a nice social time for athletes as they enjoyed their post race breakfast.

Thank you to all the participants and their supporters for making this such an enjoyable race. We look forward to seeing you all at this same location next year.
Full results are published, as well as a photo album.