Blackrock Race Report
Tuesday, June 21 2005 @ 11:17 AM IST
Contributed by: eimhin
Paj writes in with the following race report from Blackrock Tri at the weekend.
Well, the 2nd Blackrock Tri was my second race of the season and i had been looking forward to it all week. Sunday morning and I got up at 6:45 to start packing the car with all the required stuff. Trying to get my girlfriend to wake up was proving more difficult than I expected, but a bout of pre-race-nervey-flatulence soon convinced her that the bedroom was no longer as comfortable as she thought! Up to Blackrock (a lovely seaside village in Louth with gorgeous
scenery) and time the register. My race number was 79 and I liked it. It has a zing to it - 79 feelin' fine!
Trying to find a spot in transition was a different story. The transition area was very small. Bikes were packed together. I found one with as much space as i could though, for my strategy of Super-Fast-Transitions (tm). Met up with some other Piranhas; Wes, Niall "S-Mart" Smart, Don "The Animal" Clarke and Cillian (needs a
nickname) Balfe, and at ten to ten we waded into the sea...
My Brother who is a keen fisherman told me Blackrock was shallow, he wasn't kidding! we had to walk about 300 yards out to sea to the start point and the water was still only waist high, ideal for non-swimmers. The hooter went off (Ray I got over my mental block if you know what I mean!) and the swim began.
I use the term Swim very loosely, as when I was sighting I saw that a good portion of competitors were walking the swim! Anyhow I kept plugging away and after finishing the swim course began the long walk back to shore.
You'll see on the results a lot of the swim times are very similar as everyone was bunched together getting out of the water - due to the shallowness the pack didnt break up like it usually does.
I saw Daithi in the crowd as I exited, good man for cheering the clubmates on Daithi! Into T1 and out the other other side - I forgot to put on my helmet so I had to go back to get it! Still, only 55 seconds in T1. I was chuffed with that and the Italy Transition practice had paid off.
On the bike leg the problem with the pack not breaking up in the swim resulted in a few bunches of cyclists together, I avoided them and kept pedalling, coming ever closer to the dreaded run....
With 1k to go Don Clarke passed me on the bike - so I had someone to keep up with! Into T2 with "the animal" in my sights....but then the run began and Don like so many others sped off into the distance! And the trend continued, with body after body running past me. My knee was definitely feeling every step - I had twisted it again on Thursday night and it was pretty swollen before the race, so i was forced to run like a cripple until the finish!
Soon enough though it was all over and I crossed the line in my usual position of Tail-End Charlie, but it was great to finish and there was a good crowd at the finish line to give the boost for the last 500 yards or so. All in all it was a great day. The crowd and sun made it. And I got a t-shirt too - excellent!
Piranha Finishers (starting at number 5)
| Pos |
No |
Firstname |
LastName |
Age |
Swim |
Rank |
Trans1 |
Cycle |
Rank |
Trans2 |
Run |
Rank |
Overall |
| 1 |
1 |
THOMAS |
ELLIOTT |
30 |
00:09:47 |
(001) |
00:00:12 |
00:24:23 |
(003) |
00:00:29 |
00:21:28 |
(003) |
00:56:17 |
| 2 |
30 |
AIDAN |
WOODS |
29 |
00:11:21 |
(021) |
00:00:27 |
00:24:51 |
(009) |
00:00:40 |
00:19:24 |
(001) |
00:56:41 |
| 3 |
95 |
THOMAS |
SIMMONS |
26 |
00:09:55 |
(002) |
00:00:34 |
00:23:56 |
(001) |
00:00:41 |
00:21:41 |
(005) |
00:56:45 |
| 5 |
90 |
GARY |
CROSSAN |
33 |
00:11:16 |
(020) |
00:01:21 |
00:25:44 |
(016) |
00:00:16 |
00:19:39 |
(002) |
00:58:14 |
| 6 |
111 |
DAVID |
TILLY |
40 |
00:11:02 |
(014) |
00:00:26 |
00:24:25 |
(004) |
00:00:28 |
00:22:35 |
(010) |
00:58:54 |
| 7 |
18 |
WES |
MURPHY |
27 |
00:10:26 |
(007) |
00:00:41 |
00:25:05 |
(011) |
00:00:31 |
00:22:47 |
(014) |
00:59:28 |
| 17 |
6 |
JEREMY |
CRISP |
37 |
00:10:40 |
(010) |
00:01:02 |
00:25:03 |
(010) |
00:00:39 |
00:24:58 |
(035) |
01:02:20 |
| 40 |
20 |
NIALL |
SMART |
28 |
00:11:43 |
(031) |
00:01:18 |
00:26:38 |
(026) |
00:00:46 |
00:26:33 |
(057) |
01:06:55 |
| 85 |
44 |
DON |
CLARKE |
40 |
00:13:41 |
(132) |
00:01:47 |
00:28:49 |
(070) |
00:00:53 |
00:29:04 |
(087) |
01:14:12 |
| 139 |
79 |
PAT |
NOLAN |
27 |
00:12:14 |
(066) |
00:00:55 |
00:31:31 |
(102) |
00:00:33 |
00:40:25 |
(150) |
01:25:37 |
Related Links
Paj's photos from the race
Daithi's photos from the race
Triathlon Ireland Race report
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