A swim in the North Sea, a bike ride along the dyke and a run through the dunes. That was how the triathlon was advertised on the homepage. And all this with a fresh coastal breeze. Unfortunately the breeze turned into a severe storm. High waves prevented any swimming.

The German Lifeguard Association (DLRG) was unable to send out boats for security. So, it was a duathlon. A 3.1m/5km run, a 25m/40km bike ride and another 6.2m/10km run. The changeover area at the beach had turned into a real mud bath, because of the constant rain, but the rain stopped just in time for the start at 6:30pm! I had a pretty good start and was able to switch to the bike track far ahead. This is where the wind kicked it up a notch. When I returned to the changeover area the second time, I was pretty beat and I couldn't find my spot.

I ran around in a panic until I finally found my running shoes and was off on the second run. I finished after 2:10h, 28th out of 175 starters and 9th out of 39 in my age division.
After 2:24h my team colleague Rainer crossed the finish line and rounded off our awesome overall result.
I think we will be reading a report about this hardcore event by him too. Against the Wind Triathlon: the name was the game, except that it was a duathlon.
Leif