Castlewellan – “Mourne Triathlon”
Olympic Distance
5 August 2006

A possible contender for one of the most scenic locations for a triathlon in Ireland, I think so.  Almost on a par with the Crooked Lake Triathlon (Camlough, Newry), says this unbiased nordie.  Nestled in a forest-park at the foothills of the Mournes, the lake (and run route) sits edged by trees and overlooked by a fine granite castle, mummmwahh, c’est magnifique!

Eight Pulse triathletes managed to make it to Castlewellan, along with sweet weather. Just enough cloud cover to keep the sun away for most of the race. The race was Olympic distance this year, whereas it had previously been ¾ of that distance before.

The swimmers started in three waves with the fastest in the first. Thankfully there was plenty of room for the start so there wasn’t too much elbowing and kickin. The turning point buoys were well posted with the aid of smaller buoys which helped people to keep a good line. I’m not too sure of what the rest of ye think but just about 900 metres I find it tempting to take the foot off the pedal and so it was useful to have the second wave blue domed speed demons catching me at that point, to keep me focused on speed.

The bike ride out of transition starts with a hill and a wall of silence as triathletes try to settle their heart rate and get the legs moving.  The bike route was two laps of 20k and a damned good thing because being able to watch your competitors or mates coming back on the otherside helps to keep your pace up and to keep the slagging going. The first 5k is a gradual climb but after that it undulates (a word unknown to Dave “the Rock” Adams – its all flat to Dave according to the Pulse race briefing on Sunday) with some gradual climbs before the turnaround. A few steep climbs on the return and a nasty one on the way back into the forest-park- put it this way there was enough to keep those gears jumpin all the way.

For the runners, the 2 laps around the lake is a pleasure. Its sheltered and flat for about 8.5 of the 10k. They’ve put a hill in at the back of the lake at the halfway point.  For anyone who does it next year, try to not look at the families sauntering around or lying by the lake eating and drinking, not good for the moral as you sweat out the first five khay – blinkers are well recommended.

With the team home in three hours, we had a bit of time to soak up the decent live jazz and to try the masseurs.  Yep, for anyone anxious about trying this race, you might take comfort in the fact that the masseurs stayed to the bitter end. 

For all those supporters who make it, there’s a great cottage café there too, in case you don’t bring your own.

Having had a look at the Kilkee results, I’d say these times are a lot faster, fairplay:

Eoin Mc Donald:  2.17
Oran Murphy:2.24
Bill Rafferty2.38
Conor Clancy2.39
Ed McEntee2.40
Jacqueline O’Hagan2.51
Shane King2.56
Helen Dixon3.04

(The winner was Brian Campbell with a 2.04 time – yes, someday that time will be ours!, oh yes)

Shane.