From Triathlon Ireland Last weekend saw our first triathlon for the season in Portloaise. Trilogy Triathlon Club hosted their inaugural Portlaoise ‘Try-athlon’ event. The race was a triumph for Junior sport, first-time triathletes and a group of Women in Sport athletes from Laois and its surrounds. The weekend before, the annual Waterford Duathlon, organised by Waterford Triathlon Club, took place under clear blue skies in Fenor.
For race results from the Portlaoise Sprint Try-athlon, please visit : www.triathlonireland.com
For race results from the Portlaoise Sprint Try-athlon, please visit : www.triathlonireland.com.
Please read on for race reports……
Triathlon Season 2009 Kicks off in Portlaoise
The 2009 triathlon season opened up last weekend in Portlaoise when trilogy triathlon hosted their inaugural Portlaoise ‘Try-athlon’ event. The race was a triumph for Junior sport, first-time triathletes and a bunch of Women in Sport athletes from Laois and its surrounds.
Competing over the sprint distance, the event started with 30 lengths of Portlaoise Leisure Centre pool, a 20km out-and-back cycle along the old Dublin Road and a 5km run out of Portlaoise and back again for the finish. The perfect blue sky and warm temperatures resembled Summer, though many found the tailwind on the inbound leg of the bike challenging.
Limerick’s Mike Yelverton started with 20 other juniors in Wave 3 and quickly established a leading position – not just in the wave, but in the overall race. For a long time after his finish in 1:06;XX, he was the ‘live results’ winner, eventually moving into second place when Shane Scully, competing in the last heat of the day crossed the line less than one minute faster than Mike.
If a junior male was to be the second fastest man on the day, then Ailbhe Carroll refused to be outdone, the Nenagh junior also ranking second lady overall. Carroll beat off competition from two local juniors, Susan Gillen and Laura Ridgeway, but could not overcome Senior Lady Andrea Horzova, from Laois.
The winners podium on the day was completed by seniors William McCormack (Belpark) and Sean Farrell (3D Tri), junior males Redmond Traynor and Eric Stears, with ladies Sinead Roche (Trinity College Dublin) and Karen Robinson (Trilogy Triathlon) taking second and third senior ladies places.
While every race will have winners, not every race has the number of personal achievements as Saturdays. Over 60 finishers became triathletes on 11 April, and of these were 30 local ladies from Laois who had trained diligently and enthusiastically through Winter for this big day. Supported by Trilogy Triathlon and laois Sports Partnership, most of these entrants could not even swim when they entered their first tri, and it was with many a tear that participants, supporters, marshals and onlookers greeted their realization of personal achievement.
Results:
Male Senior
1st – Shane Scully (01:05:39)
2nd – William McCormack (01:07:14)
3rd – Sean Farrell (01:09:24)
Ladies Senior
1st – Andrea Hruzova (01:15:57)
2nd – Sinead Roche (01:17:33)
3rd – Karen Robinson (01:21:24)
Male Junior
1st – Mike Yelverton (01:06:29)
2nd – Eric Stears (01:15:24)
3rd – Redmond Traynor (01:19:03)
Ladies Junior
1st – Ailbhe Carroll (01:17:16)
2nd – Laura Ridgeway (01:35:51)
3RD – Susan Gillen (01:45:27)
Waterford Duathlon
Last weekend Waterford Triathlon Club held their annual duathlon in Fenor with over 100 athletes registered from all parts of the country. We had glorious sunshine and the country roads were nice and quiet so early in the morning. There was a great sense of excitement and nervousness among the competitors especially the first timers which duathlons always attract. Before the start of the race we had a draw for the winner of the bonus prize of €300 which anyone who competed in this race, the Spokes Tramore duathlon and the Carrick Tri club duathlon in Rathgormack were in with a chance to win. Madeline Ronan from Kilkenny was the lucky winner so she had a smile on her face for the next few hours.
As soon as the race got underway, Mark Doyle from Belpark Tri Club made his intentions known as he broke away from the pack and had a good lead on Dzintars Klava from Dungarvan cycling club and Brendan Delaney coming back into transition after the 5k run before heading out on the bike. Things changed on the 19k bike though which was quite windy in places, with Mark Doyle stretching his lead but with Philip Nolan also from Belpark coming in 2nd off the bike with Martin Kirwan from Waterford Tri Club coming in 3rd. With the final run only being 3k it didn’t give athletes much time to make up places. Mark Doyle was the clear winner in 58.30mins with Philip Nolan finishing 2nd in 1.01.07 and Martin Kirwan holding on to his 3rd place in 1.02.33. Brendan Delaney was 1st vet home in 1.05.15 with Chris O’Donovan from West Cork Tri 2nd vet in 1.07.03 with Michael Bowes of Waterford Tri coming home 3rd in 1.09.22.
In the ladies Catherine Brown of Carrick Tri Club and Siobhan Dunphy of Waterford Tri Club came back after the 1st run only seconds apart with Una May and Deirdre Keane not far behind. Catherine had a great bike to put herself 1 minute ahead of Siobhan heading out on the final run and she managed to stretch that lead even further to finish 1st female overall in 1.11.51 with Siobhan 2nd in 1.13.28. Deirdre Keane was 3rd female home in 1.19.01. Una May was 1st female vet in 1.15.08. Tommy Carroll was 1st male junior home in 1.18.35. We had no mishaps or punctures with everyone who started the race making it over the finish line which is quite unusual and great to see.
We would like to thank the great work done by all our marshals on the day, most of which were our own club members who gave up the opportunity to race in order to help out. We would also like to thank members of Carrick Tri Club, Waterford AC, friends and family for the brilliant job they did in marshalling the race. We would also like to thank the gardai, Fenor GAA, Fenor school, Mother McHughs pub and local residents for all their support.
