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16 May 2009 - Valentia

Last weekend we raced in Valentia Island with our biggest ever contingent to represent the club on a weekend away race with 19 competitors plus family and friends.  We hired a few houses and together with a few campervans had a great weekend with lots of pre-race and post-race fun.  It was also the race in which we unveiled our new club gear which looked great on everyone.  The weather forecast wasn’t promising the night before so Teena Casey put out her Child of Prague to give us some help but to no avail.  The morning of the race was wet, cold, windy and miserable for the 440 competitors who were taking part.  The Valentia race is unique in that the swimmers get the ferry across to the mainland and swim the 700m back to the island where they then proceed with the rest of the race.  But due to the weather, the proposed swim route had to be changed and it took place in the more sheltered marina.  The water was very cold which we were expecting after our few swims in Dunmore East recently but it still made it very hard to breathe or relax especially with lots of other swimmers kicking and swimming beside you.

There was a 300m run from the swim exit to transition so most people put on shoes to make it easier to run on the stony road.  The transition area was in a field which was quite mucky by the end of the race which made all our footwear the same.  The 20k cycle went around the island with the first mile or so uphill.  There was a very strong wind with strong gusts which made it hard and quite dangerous for anyone with deep rimmed wheels.  As the weather was wet and miserable still, many people put on jackets for the cycle which kept them warm and made the race comfortable.  Many others did not, wearing just skimpy tri gear and were close to hypothermia after coming out of a cold swim and not being able to warm up on the bike or run.  People’s feet were still numb on the run which at 4.5k was a bit shorter than expected but welcomed. 

Shane Scadding felt the cold and didn’t swim as well as he had hoped but he made up for it on the bike and finished 7^th overall in 1.02.37, finishing 1^st in his age-group.  Next across the finish line was Martin Kirwan in 19th place in 1.07.25.  He even stopped to put on socks before the run as he didn’t want to risk blisters and hamper his Ironman training.  Stefan Green was next home in 22^nd place in 1.08.32 with Michael Bowes not far behind in 1.08.53, to finish 26^th overall.  There will be many battles between these 3 in the forthcoming months.  Michael Moloney and Noel Ryan were also only a few seconds apart to finish in 1.11.18 and 1.11.40 respectively.  Tom Casey was making his comeback today after breaking his femur before Christmas which put him out of action for a while.  He had an excellent race to finish in 1.13.46, 1^st in his age-group.  Andrew Hickey was not having a good morning before the race with a punctured wheel and a loose derailer on his bike which he didn’t know would last the race or not.  Luck was on his side though and he had a great race to finish in 1.13.53.  Noel Dillon was next home in 1.14.44 with Gavin Quinlan seconds behind in 1.15.27.  Brian Slattery found the swim tough as it’s his weakest point but his strong bike and run saw him pass lots of competitors to finish in 1.17.31.

Siobhan Dunphy was 1^st of our females’ home in 1.20.12.  Olive O’Brien got into a bit of a tangle in transition as she tried to put on her fully zipped rain jacket over her head with her helmet on her head. She had a stormer of a race though (considering her lack of training!) to finish in 1.26.27.  Eleanor Carey also put in a great performance to finish in 1.27.58 with Catherine Galvin next home in 1.32.30.  Helen Whyte put on her cycle jacket for the cycle and run which kept her cosy and warm for the race but found the strong wind gusts quite frightening on the fast downhill sections.  She was happy with her race to finish in 1.33.28.  Michael Carroll was also snug in his new club cycle jacket and finished in 1.37.34.  Norma Goggin found the swim cold and bit of a shock.  She was a bit confused in transition as she had her jacket and helmet on ready to leave when she realised she still had the wetsuit on her legs.  She could not warm up on the bike and run and was very close to hypothermia.  She was delighted to finish the race in 1.38.03, 1^st in her age-group.  Kat Whyte was delighted with her race as she hasn’t trained as much as she would have liked and finished in 1.40.00.  Despite the weather, everyone had a great race and a great weekend and will come back for more again next year.

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