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Having always lived in Dunedin, and competed
for strong Otago teams both in Track & Cross Country
running, Victoria has really taken her racing to the
next level this season leaving her traditional rivals
behind
her.
Victoria sent us the article below:
I've just returned from Affoltern am Albis,
Switzerland where I competed in the Elite Under 23 section
of the World Duathlon championships.
With the heat-wave sweeping Europe
I spent one week training in the heat chamber at Otago
University acclimatizing to
temperatures of 38°C only to find that race day dawned
with low temperatures, rain and hail. This, in turn made
the run course very muddy and the technical cycle course
more hazardous.
This was my first experience of international competition
and what an experience it was! The people, the atmosphere
and especially the enthusiasm the Swiss crowd have for
kiwi competitors. Throughout the race you could here people
in the crowd calling 'come on Kiwi' and 'Kiwis can fly'
and people ringing huge cow bells.
A duathlon race consists of a 10km run, 40km cycle, then
a 5km run. This course was very hilly but the roads were
very smooth with very steep descents, but living in Dunedin
I was used to the hills! For my first international event
in the under 23 Elite level I was rapt with my 13th placing.
The world championships are run at 2 levels with Elite
races to earn world rankings and age group races for the
more social competitors. The day after my race I turned
21 and the NZ team gave me a 21st birthday I will never
forget!
As a full time 3rd year dental student I funded my trip
by working nights as an Arc GIS operator and was extremely
grateful to Eagle Technology for their generous sponsorship,
which removed much of the pressure associated with preparing
for a world championship.
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| Training on the hills at home in Dunedin |
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Me and my bike case
(note the Eagle logo on the bike case ) |
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| Preparing to pack my bike into its case for the trip |
For more information about Victoria
see www.victoriabeck.co.nz
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