Issue 16: February, 2010

REAL Women's Duathlons Returning To Christchurch

REAL Women's Duathlons

The popular REAL duathlons that see women from all over the South Island gather in Christchurch and Queenstown to enjoy outdoor exercise together will return in March.

The 10-event nationwide 2010 SPARC REAL Women's Duathlon Series is not competitive. It is designed to encourage all women to experience the benefits of REAL which stands for regular exercise, active lives.

Duathlons will be held in Queenstown on Sunday March 21 and in Christchurch on Sunday March 28. The events involve two forms of exercise, on foot (walking or running) and on a bike.

"This is REAL's fourth season and we find that South Island women make our duathlons down here into bumper celebratory events," event director Jane Patterson says.

"More than 1000 women enter each South Island duathlon with many women doing both - travelling for a girls' weekend away. We have women coming from Invercargill in the south to Nelson in the north and they have picnics with bubbles to celebrate after they finish."

We say to women: Do it for yourself, whatever your age, level of fitness or personal challenges.

The distance is achievable for most levels of fitness and women can choose whether they walk, jog, run or do a combination of these. They can do the whole course by themselves or as part of a relay team sharing the 3.5 kilometres walk/run, 10 kilometres bike, and finishing with a 1.5 kilometres walk/run.

"We say to women: Do it for yourself, whatever your age, level of fitness or personal challenges. ;We know that the personal benefits women experience will rub off on others: their partners, families and friends.

REAL Women's Duathlons

"In fact, our best advertising comes from women telling their friends about the duathlons and joining them up so they can all train and participate together. Over the years, that has seen us have more than 26,000 entries in our duathlons nationwide."

The Christchurch duathlon will again be held at McLeans Island National Equestrian Centre. A special course is laid out for the REAL duathletes, with the on-foot sections on mown grass and the bike section on the flat roads outside the centre.

Entry forms, training and nutrition programmes and feedback from duathletes are on the website www.realduathlon.co.nz.