In summary the Kirroughtree Duathlon is a belting race if you like your fell running and mountain biking.  Great courses for both run and ride, in a lovely setting with a fantastic visitors centre serving top nosh, brilliantly well organised by the Galloway Hillbillies and with the best commentator and master of ceremonies outside the Yorkshire 3 Peaks CX.  And when I turned up the sun was out and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen.

Starting with a 10km run up in the hills and then a 16km loop round the famed Kirroughtree red, the event is definitely challenging for solo entries but it at least it doesn’t have a that horrible run off the bike to finish.

My race went well with a 49min run and then just over an hour for the ride, for a combined time of 1hr 53 mins.  The run was surprisingly enjoyable apart from the steep scrambling section towards the finish.  My ride though could have been much better if I knew the course.  The red is an excellent run but there are some challenging sections that would have been better handled if I knew they were coming. Huge thanks to the guy who was behind me for a couple of miles shouting warnings for tricky bits ahead and the lines I should be taking – unfortunately he cramped and dropped back before the end.

I finished 15th overall and 2nd V50 – just 16 seconds down on the win.  Having been leading after the run I will be back next year to sort that ride out.

Thanks to Jason and Debbie Miles for their kind hospitality and Rachel Eaton and Richard Nash for the photos.