Lucy Gossage wins Spring Ballbuster Duathlon

Vitus Bikes Pro becomes first female overall winner in events history.

On Saturday hundreds of the UK’s most hardened duathletes descended on a location now synonymous with sporting challenges: Box Hill. Despite the chilly conditions, there was excitement in the air as competitors prepared to take on the 8 mile run, 24 mile bike and 8 mile run in what is generally considered to be the UK’s toughest duathlon.

Prostate Cancer UKFrom looking around the venue you could see lots of different clubs being represented with members proudly showing off their colours. There were also plenty of participants in their charity kits including several for official BallBuster charity Prostate Cancer UK helping the great work they do for men’s health.

The race started with the leaders going out in a very strong pace and after the first 8 mile run lap we had Will Newbery of Primera TrainingBible leading the way into transition. He was followed by George Dunn and Ben Webeck who were both close behind. Slightly further back was the first female, Chain Reaction Cycles / Vitus Pro Lucy Gossage.

George had such a quick transition time that he left T1 in front of Will despite entering 17 seconds behind him. Lucy also had a quick transition which helped her catch up time on the front three.

A storming 24 mile bike leg from Lucy was enough to put her in second place as she overtook both Ben and George but was still behind leader Will. However, with Lucy spending almost double the time that Will did in the second transition Will had a good lead going into the final 8 mile run.

The second run leg was expertly timed by Lucy as she gradually closed the gap on leader Will before finally taking the lead on one of the final climbs. It seemed Will had no reply and that left us with the first ever female winner of any of the BallBuster events we’ve had in the 25 year history of both Spring and Winter BallBusters. Huge congratulations to Lucy Gossage for claiming this title in a winning time of 2:49:28 with Will Newbery just holding onto second spot in a time of 2:50:35 in front of third placed George Dunn who was just three seconds behind him. Ben Webeck was fourth but the third male overall finishing in a time of 2:53:01. Catherine Benger of Clapham Chasers was the second female to finish in a time of 3:08:04 and Gemma Farrell was third woman overall coming in with a time of 3:17:45.

After claiming the victory Lucy was stunned to learn she had also made history in what is such a tough event. So tough in fact that third placed George Dunn was heard commenting that he thought the event was tougher than a 70.3 race due to the fact there are no flat moments in the race and even the downhill bits were agony for your calves when running. He did however say that it was all worth it for the fantastic Victoria sponge cake available from the café at the finish!

Originally posted on www.humanrace.co.uk/