Bray Sprint Triathlon Sunday July 23rd 2006

Wednesday, July 26 2006 @ 11:40 PM IST

Contributed by: eimhin

Daithi writes in with the following race report from Bray Triathlon.

When I saw this race going up on the TI events calendar I thought to myself "I have to enter this one". It's only a short trip down the M1 and then round the M50. No hassle with traffic early on a Sunday morning - 50mins door to door. It’s great to see more races on the east coast. Wicklow Tri Club laid on a great race, which was well marshaled and controlled. The grub in the Martello was grand and Mr/Mrs Niall Larkin picked up the biggest prize of the day.

The action itself was pretty eventful from the start. Direction of the swim course was only confirmed at the race briefing – which was determined by the direction of the current. After the briefing we set off for the green flags at the north end of the Promenade. Batman was on hand to show us the way (I kid you not). More concerning for me was the fact he was wearing the race number that would put him next to me in Transition. It turns out he had just completed an Ironman (has everybody except me, done one of these or signed up for one next year? – sprints are just so the last century). We were warned to take the current into account. I think most people would have needed a sailing qualification to straight line the swim. Apparently it provided endless amusement to those folks on-shore - take a look at the swim times. The aim at the end of the swim was just to reach the beach and worry about how far you had to run afterwards...

After T1 it was then off to the Glenview Hotel along the N11. Oh yeah, and the little set hills to get there. For a race that was going through a built up area, the marshals had the road well controlled. Once the N11 was reached it was head down and shoot from the hip time. I was beginning to think I was having a great cycle. Steve Cleary always passes me early so no issue there, next thing, Ian MacFarlane passes me and only after 5k. I promise myself I have to work harder on the bike. It was 18k in Carrick before he caught me. I get to the turnaround knowing the wind will be at my back and that speedometer will be showing numbers that I approve of. The next thing I see out of the corner of my eye is Fergal ‘The Hulk’ Coen chasing me down - better put the skates on. He waits until we start the descent to the promenade. There is no fear in that man and I’d nearly swear he was doing wheelies off the speed ramps on the way downhill.

Into T2 and then out on the run. Two laps of the promenade with a little hill up to the Ferris wheel, just in case we thought the run was easy. It was only now that I realized that there where loads of Piranha on show. I had my targets and was making my way through the field. My ultimate goal on the run was to catch Tibo. I was making good progress as I approached the Ferris wheel for the last time. I knew I was getting closer as he passed me on his way down, but he knew my intentions. He stepped up a gear and I never saw him again. I graced the finish line under the 1hr 20min mark. Everybody in finish was talking about the swim times. I was happy with another good performance. As we stood around shooting the breeze, Liuwe comes along and takes all the group photo shot’s along with the other 130 photos in the Gallery - fair play to him! I wonder when he is racing again. It must be soon, as he appeared to make a note of who is on his list.

Although nobody troubled the winner’s podium, the club did pick the biggest prize on offer via the raffle. It was definitely, another great day for Piranha, Wicklow Tri Club and Triathlon in Ireland.

Seeya all in Castlewellan or Carlingford!

Daithi

Related Links
Club photos from Bray

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