Jane writes her race report from the sunny South East...where the Piranha's were hungry for more
I was one of a fair few Piranhas to race in the sunny south east last Saturday - Dunmore East to be exact. Barbara and myself travelled down together (we are trying to save the planet by travelling in the one car you see and it was LIve Earth Day too!) and dashed into registeration at 9.15am as it was due to close at 9.30am. We were still queuing around 9.45am and my stress levels were rising. Start time was due to be 10.30am. There were a fair few volunteers assisting with check in but most of them were only helping to give out the goody bags (not a great one - a capri sun, a nutri grain but a nice tshirt - pink for the girls and brown for the boys) with just one lady doling out the important numbers and timing chips. Anyway we got it done eventually and then scarpered up to transition. (note the "up" bit there - its important later on...)
Bedlam was the only way I can describe transition - not enough bike racks and a free for all - its only my second triathlon and in Athy you put your bike where your number was - so something new here. Got a few stern looks from other competitiors and kicked out of another spot but squeezed the bike in eventually and hopped into the wetsuit. Didn't apply any suncream that Barbara was offering and paid for it later with some sunburn. But with the crappy weather we have been having in Dublin recently a bit of sunburn on the arms was nice to be honest.
The man on the loudhailer in the corner of the carpark was funny requesting anyone with spare swim hats or helmets or safety pins to deliver them up for distribution. Think I heard him ask for a spare bike but I couldn't be sure! So at around 11am they did the race briefing and then we headed back down the hill for the start. 400 entrants over two waves - wave 1 was men between 20-39 and wave 2 was everyone else. Big group there - relays, vets, juniors and all the women. Standing start in the water - great supporters there to cheer us on and we're off. Glorious sunshine and all!
I won't bring you through every painful moment of my tri - I'm sure you all have better things to do and have more painful stories to tell then this one but my lack of training and overeating for the past few weeks showed quickly. The swim seemed about 1km - the steep run up the hill from the beach to transition was an added gem. The bike course was fine with that short sharp climb back up to the transition waiting at the end. But the 7km run course with the first 2km uphill just really didn't help. Lovely sun made for a warm run and honestly I'm not complaining. Thanks to the other Piranhas - especially Alexi who ran the last 200m with me - made me sprint it too - his number one supporter Irene and of course Barbara who had a great race once she found her bike - everyday is a school day eh?!
Other Piranhas who raced and did far better then me were Emily, Matt (came 8th overall I think) Mark, David, Fergal and more ... Race results are on www.raceahead.net but I don't know your surnames! You might let us know how the race went for you.
A good fun night out then was had by the gang - I had themrolling in the aisles with my story of being bitten by a real piranha - in the ass - and no not during the race....but that story is for another time. A seafood dinner and more drinking in the Strand brought the night to an end around 1am... We went for a head clearing swim the next morning and I nearly got eaten by the biggest jellyfish I have ever seen!! Ok so you might have gathered by now that I am prone to exaggeration but it was really big honestly... So roll on Athlone and hope to see everyone at the Piranha Barbq
Jane
PiranhaTri
http://www.piranhatri.com/article.php/20070710123444675