On 1 March the second Trail X Off-road Duathlon of the year was hosted at Matterley Basin, near Winchester, attracting athletes from 14 and upwards, to race over either the Half X distance or Full X.

The morning drizzle and recent days of rain set the scene for a muddy course, but started to clear for the start of the races. The Full X athletes started of first, with athletes from 16 yrs up able to race over the full distance, taking on the initial 5km run, followed by 15km on the mountain bike and rounding out with a 2.5km run.

A few minutes after the Full X field had headed up over the hill, the Half X was away – 1 lap over 2.5km followed by 10km on the mtb, and ending with 2.5km for the final run.

Coming in from the first run was Oliver Goodman in the Half X, taking the first run in 9.50. Over the hilly lap, taking in two fireroad sections with a technical and twisty wooded section in between, Will Smith of TRI-it (Intelligent Training) followed into T1 shortly after, in 10.14, both athletes leading the Half X field, competing in the 14-18 category. They exited T1 neck and neck to start the undulating bike course around the Matterley Estate. Behind them, lead girl in the Half X Darcy Walker entered T2 with a sizeable advantage over those behind her.

Adam Brown, entered T1 first in the Full X, coming in in just under 20 minutes over the technical and testing run course, 25s ahead of Henry Bramwell-Reeks behind him. Louise Fox of Race Off-Road led the women starting the first bike with an advantage which she held over the remainder of the race.

Following the 2 lap bike for the Half X and 3 lap for the Full X with positions changing and gaps extending and closing, the leading Half X athletes were first to start the final run, with Oliver Goodman into and out of T2 first with about a minute over Will Smith just behind. Positions remained the same over the final run as Oliver Goodman ran his way to the overall win, followed in 2nd overall by Will Smith and behind, Alex Tasker followed in the 14-18 Half X to take 3rd. Lead girl Darcy Walker came across the line 1st overall in the Half X, with Italia Keogh the 19+ female winner in the Half X. David Carr of Vittoria Sigma Sports took the 19+ male win, finishing the Half X in just under an hour.

In the Full X Adam Brown led into the final run extending his gap over the bike to run his way to the win overall in the Full Distance, followed home by Henry Bramwell-Reeks, taking 2nd and rounding out his race with the fastest final run split by nearly a minute and a half. Next across the line was Keith Evans of Malvern Tri Club, finishing 3rd overall and 1st in the male 50-59 cat. In the women’s Full X race Louise Fox took the win, leading from gun to tape, and was followed in by Hannah Quay of TriBirdSport Coaching and Rachel Clay claiming 3rd overall in the women’s Full X.

Trail X UK put on another great event, with some proper muddy conditions and a mixed course with fireroads, mud and trail on an undulating course around the Matterley Basin Estate.

Matterley Basin is the second of two cross duathlons early in the season but check out the calendar on our site for more off-road races upcoming this season as well as plenty of other triathlons and multisport races on the road as well.

Photo Credit: TrailX UK