Last Sunday saw the revival of the Alltrax Newnham Stinger; an off-road duathlon with a run-bike-run format. Competitors set-off at mid-day with a 5KM run followed by a 20KM mountain bike course, and then a final 3KM run. The final run was the real interest of the event for me; it was hard enough hiking up the trail with the camera gear which sent the athletes through rivers and bogs (I personally witnessed one runner lose a shoe, and heard tales of a couple of face-plants later…), over gates and under fallen trees. I loved the format and it would be great to see a longer off-road running only event in this style which has more in common with mountain biking than XC running. Husband and wife Certini team-mates Maddie and Jay Horton (Maddie featured above) won the solo mens’ and womens’ categories, with Amy Tapping and Paul Sole taking the Mixed Pairs win, Carla Haines and Heather Booth for the Female Pairs, and Duncan Baldie and Paul McClymont for the Male Pairs category.
