Race Report
Mullaghmore Triathlon
Swim750m/300m Cycle20km Run 5km
17th June 2006

My original plan was to travel on the morning of the race as I have done for the past two seasons, but as the day drew closer I decided to travel on the Friday. 7 phone calls later I finally got a B+B. Low and behold within an hour Alison rang me to see if I needed a room, as she had booked one too many, (like buses you can’t get one, then two come together!)
Myself and Kathy left Dublin at about 6.30pm on Friday and after an 1hour stop in a nice Italian in Carrick on Shannon. We got to our B+B at about 11.00pm. We hooked up with Robin and Alison and they filled us in on the race briefing (can’t remember any talk of a sharp right turns on cycle and some sign post!!). We all hit the hay about 12.30am.
Up for breakfast 8.30am, loads of porridge and fruit and wee touch of nerves. We get all our gear together and head down to race registration. Transition is based on a first come best dressed scenario but I am lucky enough to get a good spot. I place my bike on the pole and soon realise I am sharing with Colin and beside me is Brian Heffernan from 3Dtri, believe it or not we all have the same bike, so I remind Colin which one to take as he will be well gone by the time I get into transition.
The race was in four wave starts, split up into W1 300m swim, W2 male under 35, W3 female and W4 male over 35. There was over 330 starting the race so there was a very good atmosphere and a lot of noise being made.
The swim was a beach start and the excitement built up by the run into the sea was second to none. I started in the second wave so after the first had gone we had ten minuets to get ourselves ready, so after a quick dip and a good luck to all the Pulsers the 10 second count began 3-2-1..GO!, it was a big sprint to the water, I knew this was the closest I was going to be to the top swimmers so just got stuck in for the craic. After first 150m things started to settle so I start concentrating on my technique and making sure I spotted at least every 9 strokes. The sea was calm and spotting was handy enough so felt pretty comfortable. Donal was first out of the water followed by Colin in second and Eoin Mc in top ten. When I got out of the water I felt ok and went to check my time, S*%T my watch did not start, this was the second race in a row it happened so lesson definitely learned. Came through T1 ok but still have to work on getting into cycle shoes whilst on bike.
The cycle was a 20km loop going from 3rd roads onto 2nd roads and back again with mostly good surfaces, the condition where good even if it was a bit breezy. Felt strong and near the turn around could see Colin, Eoin and Donal, about 1km past turn caught Donal and I could see he was pushing it hard, so couple of words of encouragement and then put head down to push on, about 5 km later it was time to go back onto the 3rd roads this started with a down hill so kept on my Tri bars and built up some good speed, as I took a small turn I could see a young lad with a red flag but he was just holding it so I thought no more of it, I could see a turn ahead but thought I should be able to take this at nice speed, little did I know this would be the corner to make me famous. I started to take the corner and very quickly realised I was going to go off road, at this stage it was a matter of trying to dodge rocks, holes, poles etc, just then I seen my escape, a nice sign post which I could definitely fit under, but for some reason I came to a sudden stop and then realised it was only about three foot off the ground, quick scan and all seem ok so time to push on, at that stage I had no idea of the R.T.E. camera and also that a triathlete had already went head over heels off his bike at the same bend doing damage to his shoulder and his bike.
As I started again Donal went by me so time to push on, only abut 2 km to go, passed Donal as he took a second glance asking me if I was ok,” No prob, keep going”, was the reply, with about 800m to go I could hear a set of Zipp wheels approach, it was Robin on his pimped up bike flying by me. Entered transition and it went very well, exited just ahead of Robin.
Started the run and it is nice and flat for about 700m, then the hills start, the scenery is lovely with great views of the bay. The run is a good challenging course with ungilating hills, but the thought of my little incident with the signpost making me laugh and thus making the run that bit more fun, it also gives the opportunity for a good sprint finish as Alison and Paula found out. The run went well catching 7-8 people along the way.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the organisers of the race as it was a well supported event which I will be recommending to all Pulsers for next season. By the way if you are doing it keep an eye out for the cameras.

Times and results

300m Swim Time Overall Age Group
Emma Reardon 1:26:23 1st 1st
Kate Levey 1:35:30 15th 7th

750 Swim Time Overall Age Group
Colin Bolger 1:04:20 11th 1st
Eoin Mc Donald 1:04:49 13th 2nd
David Adams 1:08:33 31st 3rd
Declan Byrne 1:10:47 41st 7th
Donal Heart 1:11:00 42nd 8th
Bill Rafferty 1:12:28 54th 12th
Robin Mooney 1:13:00 60th 11th
Mark KELLY 1:15:27 16th 86th
Alison Kane 1:21:30 141st 4th
Paula Mc Feely 1:21:50 148th 5th
Eoin Madden 1:23:20 162nd 31st
Kathy Grassick 1:30:31 224th 12th
Suzanne Murphy 1:34:30 248th 15th


David Adams