Schull Triathlon

Here is Liz's report of her podium finish on Saturday....
Anyone who was talking to me after Athy will know how disappointed I was after my bike fell apart (literally) in transition after my swim….so no better place for redemption and to really start off my season than the town where I spent my childhood summers; Schull in West Cork



It was an absolutely stunning day and we were surrounded by beautiful scenery with almost no wind, always good! The Cork tri contingent were out in force, with Bridget, Mary Horgan, Loretta and Laura all smiling and happy and looking forward to a great race, not to mention Anne and Nick who were actually early!! Paul Hickey was relaxed and ready to try and prevent Mark Dempsey winning for the third year in a row, with Joyce Wolfe also from Cork Tri back to defend her title. I was racked beside Mark Dempsey’s fiancée, Ailbhe Healy who was lovely and chatted away to me but clearly meant business with her very impressive bike (I was feeling a little inadequate with my fairly rubbish bike beside hers, although thanks to my dad’s hard work after Athy my bike was in tip top shape now).



It was a mass start in flat calm cold water. I was going well in the first 400m but on the final turn I went a bit off course due to the number of boats in between each buoy. I looked up and realized I was going in the wrong direction (blonde), panicking slightly I sprinted for a hundred metres until I was back on course and swimming beside Anne O’ Leary. This clamed me down and we exited the water side by side, laughing as we ran over the mat practically holding hands. My sister who had come down with my nieces and brother in law roared at me “you’re well up there” as I struggled with my Velcro and wiped the snot away from my face.



After a couple of minutes on the bike it became apparent that the Cork ladies swimming lane from Italy had all finished the swim very close to each other as Bridget, Mary, Anne and myself were all together (well as close as you can be without drafting). The four of us basically played a game of cat and mouse throughout the bike until the last 5 km. We were shouting encouragement as we passed each other and I’ll have to admit that I really enjoyed the bike even though it was more like 22km instead of 20km, and quite hilly. I’d seen Paul Hickey with a convincing lead on his way back and then I saw Joyce cycle towards us with another girl I didn’t recognize behind her and Ailbhe in third. With 5km to go I decided I had more in the tank and went a bit harder, catching up with Mary who had broken away from us. I came into transition just behind Mary (never a bad thing) and as I exited I looked up to see my brother-in law right beside the exit mat very calmly and quietly saying to me “There are four girls ahead of you. You need to make up 2 minutes”. – I later found out it was more like 5 minutes but he didn’t think I needed to know that, and he was right!!!



I passed Mary and as I did she said “you’re going strong, catch them”. Well with this kind of encouragement there was only one thing for me to do – so I floored it. I ran faster off the bike than I ever have before. I felt really strong and I was picking off the men quite quickly. I had an advantage on the run given that my best friend has a house at the end of Colla road and I knew every hill (and there were plenty) and every turn like the back of my hand. While concentrating on unclasping my heart rate monitor which was annoying me, I missed the girls coming towards me so I still had no idea where they were and as the road was full of twists and turns it was impossible to see more than 100 metres ahead at any given time. With about 2k left I caught the third girl. This gave me a boost as I knew I had a podium place secured so I upped the pace a bit, to turn the corner and see Joyce ahead with about 1km to go (clearly Ailbhe was now in the lead). At this stage the heat was starting to get to me and I had to have a little chat with myself, which went something like this “you didn’t bust yourself on the bike all Winter to give up on the run, now catch her, you only have four minutes of this hell left to go”. So I passed her and rounded the last corner to see my brother in law again; “25 seconds – 1 girl – 400metres” he said. I sprinted but couldn’t catch her. Ailbhe finished about 15 seconds ahead of me, but I honestly didn’t care because I had my first ever podium in a triathlon, in West Cork in the sunshine in front of my friends and family and a teary sister! I think I might retire from triathlon – because I can’t see how it gets any better than that.



Corkman Paul Hickey who is going very well this season, won the men’s (leaving Mark Dempsey in third). Mary Horgan had a strong run (despite not being on top form due to a very recent injury) to come in fourth and win her age group and Anne O’Leary was fifth overall and won her age group convincingly. I would highly recommend this race to anyone for next year. It’s long, hilly and the times weren’t great as a result, but seriously enjoyable, and the t-shirt is actually a nice colour and isn’t a nightie!!! Oh yeah, and of course it’s best attribute…it’s in Cork like…. J!