On Sunday 13 September 09, myself (Pete McCarthy) and my great friend Dave Bentley, undertook to complete the London Duathlon, to raise funds for CRY in memory of my beloved daughter Amanda, who sadly died on October 12th last year

http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/amanda-mccarthy

The day started early, with a wakeup call at 0600, in order to make sure we could have a decent breakfast of porridge and bananas before heading off to Richmond Park to make our start time of 0905. We arrived in Richmond Park at the competitor’s village at around 0730 and began the process of registering and racking our bikes.

This was the first multisport event Dave and I had ever taken part in, but any nerves or apprehension quickly disappeared as we realised how professionally organised the whole event would be, and how varied the levels of ability were.

At 0905 we were off on the first of 3 legs of the race (a 9km run). This went well and we were able to take in the great spectacle that is Richmond Park, with deer and other wildlife all around you at every turn. This run warmed the legs up nicely for the second leg, the bike.

We set off on this leg (20km) and were just finding our stride when we hit heartbreak hill!! This was one of the most difficult parts of the course, and was made worse by the fact that we knew we had to do 2 laps on the bike, and so would have to endure this hill again – nightmare.

Once complete on the bikes, and now with very heavy legs, we entered transition for the final leg, a 5km run! The first half mile of this leg was very difficult as the muscles and blood flow had to change from producing a cycling action back to a running action, and to be honest I’m sure we looked as strange as we felt running this final leg!

We completed it though, and for 2 fellas who are getting on a bit (mid-40s) we did it in a respectable time of 2 hours 15 minutes (including transition times). Most importantly though we did it with the help of our families, friends, work colleagues and all the people who visited www.justgiving.com/daveandpete-rideagain

we have received approximately £900.00 in sponsorship for this event, and that money has gone directly to CRY in order to help fund the fantastic work they are doing. We plan to keep taking on new challenges in order to support CRY and are truly thankful that you all keep digging deep with your help and support both financial and supportive.

So once again, many thanks from Dave and me, and thank you for all for supporting such a worthwhile cause xxx

Pete McCarthy