The largest ever duathlon in Poland „Be the first on the motorway”

This Saturday, on September 10, 2011, at 12:00 the one-off and unique, largest ever in Poland, sports event takes off on the motorway under construction, the A2 Duathlon, under the banner “BE THE FIRST ON THE MOTORWAY”.

Duathlon is a variation of triathlon. Participants will run 4 km, then cycle 14 km and again run

2 km. What is new in this Duathlon edition is that two participants can perform in a relay, where one person is a runner and the other is a cyclist.  The competition will take place on both motorway lanes, near the newly built Trzciel intersection. The participants will run in the Poznań direction, and the cyclists will ride in the Berlin direction. The Duathlon participants will be the first official users of the A2 Motorway to the town of Świecko.

– We chose this unusual event to communicate to the world that we are completing the construction of the motorway to Świecko. The concrete pavement will have been laid by mid September. Now the motorway will be opened to runners and cyclist, but on December 1, 2011 drivers will travel along the motorway to freely and safely get from Poznań to the German border, says AWSAII’s President, Mr. Andrzej Patalas.
– We want to show the benefits of the new concrete pavement long before the motorway is opened and promote a healthy life style, he adds.

The Duathlon is organised and inspired by the A2Strada, the main contractor of the A2 Motorway to Świecko, in cooperation with Strabag, Autostrada Wielkopolska II S.A. as Project Investor and Autostrada Eksploatacja SA, the Operating Company. The Strabag concern has regularly organised a similar sports event (triathlon) in Vienna; this year 285 persons took part in the Strabag’s race. We already know that the A2 Duathlon will be a major attendance success. A few days before the scheduled closing of registrations, the start lists have been entirely complete and we know that 318 participants will attend the Duathlon.

The Contest Office will open at 10:00 a.m. and the race will start at 12:00 a.m. The time limit was set for two hours, and after these two hours the route will be closed. The best competitors will be decorated at 2:15 p.m. The event shall be led by a two-time 1990 triathlon winner, Jerzy Górski.