The Review Issue 7 | Page 22

22 To place editorial email [email protected] Powerman Success in Holland for Val and Alex Val Martin and Alex McPhee, both members of the Dooleys Cycles of Paisley racing team, travelled to Holland in April to take part in the Powerman Duathlon. For Val, this consisted of a 6 mile run, 36 mile cycle and another 6 mile run. It was her first time competing at that distance since winning a silver medal at the World Championships in 2008 so Val wanted to check out the course before changing to a new age group next year. Val narrowly missed the podium by 2 minutes but was the first GB athlete to finish and that performance means she has now pre-qualified for the GB team to go back next year where she hopes to take a real shot at the European title as well as the Scottish and British titles! As team support, husband Alex McPhee wasn’t due to take part in the event, however, he caught the duathlon bug again and entered the 1/3 Powerman which took place later that afternoon. The race consisted of a 5k run, 20k cycle and 5k run. Having not ran for a number of years and just back from illness this was a major test for Alex! And what a test it turned out to be as he won the silver medal in his category after a great bike leg. Next year he will be back looking for gold!