- A couple of months back, a GCN viewer
told us about a race here in the UK,
which pits riders against runners.
Brilliant, we thought, runner versus rider.
Not much competition there, sign us up.
- Except, it's an off road run,
and the course record is held by a runner.
- Yeah, and things are getting really
serious now, because you will no doubt
recognise Mark Threlfall presenter at
the Global Triathlon Network.
So, this isn't just a case of runner
versus rider, this is now also a battle
between GCN
and GTN.
- But Si, it's just a bit of fun though, isn't it?
- Of course, mate!
Of course it's just a bit of fun.
It's not fun, we're gonna smash them.
The race is organised by Bingley Harriers
Running Club, and it's located just
to the North of Leeds and Bradford in
West Yorkshire, in the UK.
It's a simple premise, a mass start race
up a big hill, and back down again.
Runners against riders.
It's just five point seven five miles long,
but with a course record of 33 minutes,
you can get a feel for what's in store.
Now, if I'm honest, though, I thought
it would be a no brainer.
How could a bike not beat a runner?
Well, I was in for a rude shock.
(playful music)
- [Mark] Si, you're takin' your time then, mate?
Seems like the GCN has lost this race already.
- This isn't a triathlon, alright?
Getting changed is not a competitive sport.
(dramatic music)
- [Voiceover] I first heard about the
Taiwan KOM Challenge in 2015.
(car door opening)
- [Man offscreen] What ya doin'?
- Oh, uh, to be honest, just waitin' for Si
to get ready, so I thought I'd kill some
time, watch the Taiwan KOM Challenge
just to size up the competition.
To be honest, looking at this, it's not much.
(playful music)
- Do you want any moisturiser?
- I'm alright, thanks.
- Okay.
- Anything else?
- Uh, glasses.
(bottle closing)
- Real hardy cyclist.
- Yeah.
(dramatic music)
(heavy breathing)
(dramatic music)
Alright then, GCN versus GTN,
and the pair of us versus Bingley Harriers.
There's the man, Rob Cheb.
Money's on him.
(countdown bell)
(upbeat music)
- [Si] Now, for a start, I couldn't even
ride off the start line.
The hill was simply too steep.
Now, that's not good news because
I really suck at running.
And Mark, it would seem, is really quite good.
(upbeat music)
Starting through open fields, it's really,
really heavy going on the bike.
And the runners have made it
look like light work.
Now, already it seems like there
is a balance between surface and gradient,
that can very quickly tip in favour of the runner.
Which is my excuse as to why Mark has blasted
into an early lead.
(upbeat music)
The course then climbs up through a wood.
Although, unfortunately, that means
yet more running.
(upbeat music)
And now you can really see just how bad I am.
Yeah, that bad.
(upbeat music)
Thanks.
(crowd applauding)
- [Spectator] Go on, Si, go on!
- [Si] (mumbles)
(heavy breathing)
(upbeat music)
(heavy breathing)
Now, though, it's downhill, and
finally it feels like the table
has turned in favour of the bike.
At last I catch my first glimpse of Mark.
(upbeat music)
(heavy breathing)
Gonna keep up with ya now.
- [Mark] Come a long way, Si.
Joke.
- (groans)
You alright, buddy?
(heavy breathing)
He has to go ahead now.
(panting)
(applause)
(upbeat music)
- Now, humans are undeniably brilliant endurance athletes,
but cycling makes it many times more efficient.
It's generally considered that cyclists can
cover five times the distance for the
same amount of calories.
Now, if this race was around a village run then,
there really would be no contest.
But it's not.
We're off road, and it's pretty extreme.
The bike very quickly becomes a hindrance.
In fact, just picking it up would
theoretically slow running down by
20 seconds per kilometre.
Now, presumably uphill then, that would be even worse.
(wind blowing)
It's the final stretch now, and things are really tight.
Just a kilometre of rough, boggy field to go,
and it is anyone's race.
Mark's streaked back into the lead.
There's just one last opportunity.
Our 45 degree field that we ran up at the start.
(heavy breathing)
(cheering)
(laughing)
- [man offscreen] I got one.
And two.
Well done.
- So that was pretty close, Si.
- Yeah, it was quite, wasn't it?
- Gotta say, I didn't see you for quite a while.
- No, mate, you absolutely smashed me on the climb.
I didn't think I was gonna get you back.
I couldn't see you on the mooreland.
But I guess as soon as it started to go downhill
I was just able to pick up a little bit more speed.
- And you came tearing past.
- I did come tearing past, and then immediately
fell off, which is slightly embarrassing.
And then every time it rolled after that
we were just passing to and fro, weren't we?
- It was good fun, yeah.
And then you did actually make a mistake
in one of the last fields, so
it allowed me to catch back up.
But yeah, that was close, good fun.
- Ya know, I think part of the problem
was that I was having to go so deep running
that when I got back on my bike, my arms
didn't really wanna work properly,
so I just couldn't control my bike properly at all.
I was just riding terribly, and riding blind as well.
There was bits there.
I was properly just like (wails) massive
piece of granite, jumped over that, like massive rocks.
Yeah, genius, brilliant, brilliant event.
Right, do make sure you give this video
a big thumbs up.
This is an absolutely cracking event,
definitely one to put in the calendar for next year.
If you're in the neighbourhood, strongly
recommend you turn up and give it a go.
Do also make sure you subscribe, but this time
gonna say subscribe to GTN.
Definitely go and check it out.
- Thanks very much.
- See what Mark and Heather get up to
over on the Global Triathlon Network.
Do you want to throw to a GTN video, Mark?
- Ooh, yeah, I think I'll throw to the one
with Dan Loyd where how to run a fast 5k.
You can see that by clicking here.
- Loyd, he should have been here, shouldn't he?
Alright, and for GCN video, why not
check out Cyclocross Skills with Sven Nys.
After my crash again today, I gonna be watching that.