Doug Heady came from behind in the last kilometer to finish first in the 1st Annual Team NordicSkiRacer.Com Fall Duathlon Series in a total time of 38:09. Almost two minutes behind Mike Muha at the end of the run, Heady powered through the transition, then had the fastest rollerski leg of the day to beat Muha by 14 seconds. Dan Motowski came in a strong third, with Tim Feldkamp fourth.

Mark Schumde was shadowing Muha in the run until he stepped on a root and injured his foot, forcing him to retire from the race.

Bill Kaltz and Greg Worrel - both suffering from foot or leg injuries - elected to race the rollerski-only division. Kaltz put in the second-fastest rollerski leg of the day to beat Worrel by 13 seconds.

Race Director Dan Motowski put together a well marked course over the mountain bike trails and paved bike path at Island Lake Recreation Area near Brighton, Michigan. The running trail was roughly 1/3 up, 1/3 down, 1/3 flat with relatively easy hills. The trail utilized both the Blue and Yellow mountain bike trails between the Riverbend Picnic Area and the mountain bike trailhead. The running portion of the race was roughly 5 km long.

The rollerski path went up the paved bike path hill from Riverbend, then followed the mostly flat path for 3.1 miles. There was one road crossing, and the finish line was over the top and down to the bottom of the biggest hill on the bike path at Island Lake.

Weather was a bit worrisome leading up to the race. Forecasts from the day before had called for rain overnight and scattered showers the morning of the race. It did rain overnight - slightly, but the sun was out in full force at race start. There was a bit of a breeze and temperatures were in the comfortable 50's.

The race series is a great opportunity to get the lead out. By having competitors out on the course, everyone was pushed to go that much harder. A great way to train for the cross country ski racing season coming up!

The second and third Duathlon races of this series will be held on Sunday, November 9 and December 7. Is anyone going to beat Doug's time?