Dunmore East Triathlon Race Report 21/06/08

Final Results

The SRAM Hook or by Crook Triathlon took place last weekend amid one of the worst rain falls that most people have ever seen at a race.  The weather in the sunny south east had been fabulous on previous race days but we ran out of luck on this occasion.  There was a beautiful red sky on the Friday evening at registration which we hoped would prove the weather forecasters wrong but we woke to the sound of torrential rain on the Saturday morning which did not stop until the race was over.  There was a lot of surface water and floods on the roads which we thought might turn the race into an Aquathlon and the sea was quite choppy which we thought might turn the race into a duathlon but after the course was inspected it was decided that the Triathlon could go ahead as planned, with the swim shortened to 660m to stay in the calmer waters.  We even got a phone call from WLR fm to enquire if the race was going ahead as they had queries from people.  Everyone was very careful on the roads though and it was great to see even the guys at the top end of the field pulling the brakes and cycling safely. The run route was quite flooded with runners having no option but to run through it but at that stage they were all quite soaked anyway.

To show how popular this race has become, over 400 competitors turned up to take part including almost 20 from Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club, back for the 3rd year in a row and some first timers from the Triathlon Ireland “New to Triathlon” programme, which was pretty amazing considering the conditions. 

There were 2 starts to the race with men under 40 in the 1st start and all females, teams and over 40 men 10 mins later in the 2nd start.  Trevor Woods from Cork Tri Club was 1st out of the water in 10.44mins followed closely by Owen Dwyer from Belpark in 10.47mins and Brian Jenkins from Limerick 3rd in 11.24mins.  Trevor and Owen pulled away from Brian on the bike and emerged 1st and 2nd on to the run.  But Brian found his running legs and with him having the fastest run split and the run being 7k he managed to catch and pass Owen.  Trevor won the race in 1.10.54 with Brian 2nd in 1.11.46 and Owen 3rd in 1.11.58.

The Ladies race was just as exciting with Ellie Jones from Pembrokeshire Tri Club having the fastest swim in 11.51mins and Barbara O’Hanrahan from Belpark emerging 30 secs behind in 12.20mins with Anne O’Leary from Piranha just behind in 12.31mins with race favourite Elena Maslova emerging 5th in 12.47mins.  It all changed on the bike though as Elena had the 2nd fastest bike split which brought her up to 1st place heading out in the run and she maintained this lead to finish 1st in 1.20.20.  There was a surprise in Rhiannon Ace from Pembrokeshire Tri Club who made up amazing time on the bike also to finish in 2nd place in 1.24.24. Ellie Jones lost time on the bike but had a brilliant run to finish 3rd overall in 1.25.35.

The Vets race was also hotly contested by Eamonn Tilley from 3 Rock tri club and well known local athlete Kevin O’Brien who finished within a minute of each other in 1.19.11 and 1.20.15 respectively. Dave Williams from Carrick Tri Club was 3rd home in 1.23.14.

In the female veterans race, Barbara O’Hanrahan from Belpark and Anne O’Leary from Piranha were out of the water closely in 2nd and 3rd place overall.  Barbara had the better bike pulling away on Anne and maintained the lead on the run to finish 1st over 40 female in 1.26.28 with Anne 2nd in 1.30.16.  Eidin Christie from Cork Tri club had a clear lead on any other contenders and finished 3rd in 1.35.18.

In the Junior race, Louis O’Carroll from Waterford Triathlon Club had a brilliant swim to emerge out of the water in 13.24mins with over a 3 min lead on his nearest rival Jeff Caulfield.  They both had pretty similar bike times but Jeff had a much faster T2 time and run than Louis which was enough for him to finish 1st Junior in 1.29.10 with Louis 2nd in 1.33.51.  Louis managed to beat last year’s time by over 20mins so he was delighted.

1st Team home on the day was a team from Pembrokeshire consisting of David Astins, Ian Cooper and Mark Jones in a time of 1.14.35 with local team LSD consisting of Des Colbert, Shane Kelly and Liam Partridge 2nd in 1.22.40.

It was a great day considering the weather and was very impressive to see so many people turn up to race on such a miserable day.  Waterford Triathlon Club would like to thank all the marshals from the various clubs and friends and family who were all frozen and wet standing at various junctions for doing such a great job on the day. It would not have been possible to have had such a safe and successful race without the efforts of everyone.

Great Performance from the Club Participants

We only had 10 participants from the club take part in the race as most of the other members were standing or running around in the rain marshalling the race.  Alan Smith was the 1st of the Club home to finish in 16th place in 1.20.24.  Michael Bowes is having a great 1st season as he finished 38th overall in 1.24.24.  Stefan Greene was happy with his race as he is only back in action again after an injury, finishing in 1.29.52.  Maria Griffin was 1st lady in the Club home in 1.31.28 with one of the fastest runs, to finish 9th female overall.  John Brennan was next home in 1.33.06 with Louis O’Carroll hot on his heels to finish in 1.33.51.  Louis was 2nd Junior home and took a remarkable 20 mins off last year’s time.  Colin Fanning who was competing in his 1st Triathlon was thrown in at the deep end with the tough conditions but had a great race to finish in 1.34.56.  Brian Russell who was only competing in his 2nd triathlon also had a great race to finish in 1.44.05.  Annette O’Mahony was happy with her race as she finished in 1.55.11. She was told after the race by her other half that she has no excuse now for not training in the rain as she had a great race in those conditions.  Tracy Pollard was also delighted that she raced on such a miserable day as she finished in 2.00.14.

 

(c) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO WATERFORD TRIATHLON CLUB