Lough Neagh Triathlon

Race Report

The night before did not auger well for the race, the first challenge being to make it Ballyronan for reg. by 9:00pm in the deluge.
Fortunately the next morning was dry and overcast and due to the 10:00am start it appeared to be a fluid sequence from entering the car park to standing by the marina in wetsuits listening to the race briefing. Was surprised to find myself racked next to my cousin, who had come over from Liverpool for the race, have agreed to keep each other informed about interesting races next season.

The swim start was interesting, down a slipway into the marina, the first 100m winding round the marina to the exit to Lough Neagh proper, we had been warned about the potential for bedlam in this section, so I stuck to the outside of the group and veered right, luckily there was someone veering left by my side so we kept each other in the central channel, unfortunately the real trouble started about 15 mins later when the following wave (MFs) caught up with us and started actively swimming over us (pity you cant run over people in the third leg, this would be a useful lesson in karma).
Out of the water into transition, wetsuit unusually compliant, probably had been so battered about it was unable to put up a fight.
Onto the bike, four laps of a technical route, climbs, drags and a fast section back into the  village, enjoyed the course (well the fourth lap anyway), it was good to be able to measure progress against the others on the course. Plenty of draft marshals about, particularly on the fast stretch of main road, at some points there was actually a risk of drafting off the motorbikes. The hill back down into transition was fun, plenty of speed made unfastening the shoes and getting off the bike at the line a precision exercise.
Four laps again on the run route, the benefit of this is you can pace yourself off the back of the fast guys, regardless of which lap they are on, plus you get water four times, water snatch technique showed marked improvement over the four laps (much to the relief of the water station marshals), have dropped the whole hand grab method and adopted the finger hook, sip and pour (can demonstrate at next training day if required).
Onto the end, finish line was at the bottom of a nice fast slope, and race over.
All in all a fast and enjoyable event.

Congratulations to all the Pulsers, will not try to mention them all, but special mention to Eoin McDonald and Colin Bolger on their great results, (and Eoin again, for doing the loaves and fishes immediately post race with his food store). 

The Elites race started shortly after, this was a great spectacle, plenty of speed on display (the transitions were amazing) and a great way to wind down after the race.

Pictures tell a thousand words, so have kept the race report short, as you can see there were a number of post race rituals on display (ties into Rob’s suggestion of an on-line poll/competition, not only the legs but also plenty of bare torsos on display too). One of the advantages of wielding the camera, is you have no photos taken of yourself/editorial control, which is fortunate as I had the camera in one hand and a bag of sweets and chocolates in the other, I felt like Augustus Gloop wandering about, but didn’t care.

 
Ed