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30 May 2009 - Tri Athy

Last weekend we travelled to Athy en masse with 29 members taking part in both the Olympic and Sprint distance races, the largest ever race day in Ireland with almost 2000 people taking part in total with a top class entry field.  The weather had changed for this weekend with the temperature soaring from early in the morning so there was lots of sunscreen applied for both competitors and spectators.  This race has been billed as the fastest Olympic distance race in Ireland with many people setting their fastest times on this course.  It was also our largest ever club participation in a race.  It was an early start for those taking part in the Olympic distance race which 21 of us were, with 5 starts with 15mins between each start.  This race consisted of a 1500m swim, which was 1100m downstream and 400m upstream, followed by 2 laps of a 20k bike course followed by 2 laps of a 5k run course.  The 1^st start in the swim was the fast start which was very overcrowded in the narrow river which resulted in it being very rough with lots of reports of kicking and punching and goggles being knocked off.  The cycle course was on closed roads but because it was an out-and-back course it was very narrow and congested especially by the time the last of competitors had descended onto the course.  The run was pretty flat just made difficult because of the blazing sun. 

Shane Scadding was 1^st of the club home in almost the same time as last year in 2.01.41 to finish 17^th overall, 1^st in his age-group.  Davin Power only decided at the last minute to take part as he had been injured and missed training over the previous few weeks but he had a great race to finish 37^th overall in 2.06.57.  Michael Bowes was delighted with his time of 2.11.15 as he managed to knock a massive 11mins off last year’s time for this race.  Martin Kirwan was only a few seconds behind to finish in 2.11.31 taking a whopping 18mins off last year’s time.  Stefan Green was next home in 2.13.03.  Noel Ryan and Colin Fanning started their races in 2 different waves, 45mins apart but still managed to finish in exactly the same time in 2.17.28.  Barry Lambe, representing the club for the first time was next home in 2.21.38 with Michael Moloney next in 2.24.53.  Brian Slattery was delighted with his swim time but thought his race was over when he cycled over a dead hedgehog on the bike but was lucky not to puncture and finished in a pb time of 2.28.10.  Andrew Hickey was next home in 2.28.15, his first time doing this longer distance followed by John Brennan in 2.31.52.  Marc O’Cathasaigh and Maria Griffin were also doing this distance for the 1^st time and had excellent races to finish in 2.32.20 and 2.32.23 respectively, with Maria posting one of the fastest run times in the female race.  Derek Barrett was next home in 2.32.48 with John Power a few mins behind in 2.39.35.  John Carew and Dave Forristal were also attempting this distance for the 1^st time and were delighted with their times of 2.45.07 and 2.47.33 resp.  Michael Carroll was next home delighted with his pb time of 2.56.21 with Catherine Galvin not far behind in 3.01.36.  Sean Roche was a bit nervous before the race as this was his 1^st attempt at this distance but he had a great race to finish in 3.10.52.

Once the Olympic distance race had finished and everyone had cleared all their belongings away, the sprint race began with 8 club members taking part over 7 different starts.  It was late afternoon at this stage and the sun had showed no signs of cooling down.  The 750m swim was all downstream which made for some very fast times, followed by a 20k cycle and 5k run.  With over 1000 competitors in this short race it got very congested especially on the bike course which made it very difficult to overtake cyclists ahead of you safely. 

Louis O’Carroll was flying the flag for the club as he was 1^st home in 70^th position in 1.09.13 and excellent result for the Junior.  Stephen Butler was next home in 1.11.20 with Aidan McCarthy not far behind in 1.13.23 and Bruce Wardrop only seconds behind in 1.14.07.  Olive O’Brien was 1^st of the females home in 1.17.50 with Norma Goggin in 1.21.51 taking an impressive 8mins off last year’s time.  Helen Whyte was delighted to take 5mins off last year’s time to finish in 1.23.41 with Olive Costello absolutely thrilled with her 1^st outdoor swim triathlon to finish in 1.32.08.

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