Kilkee 'Hell of the West' 2010
The 'Hell of the West' is proving to be a little tamer than its nickname suggests if recent Nenagh triathlete results are to be believed. With a strong contingent from the club taking on the challenge it was great to see so many breaking their PBs for the tough course. Many of us had target times in our heads for the race and it was great to be able to live up to our aspirations.
The atmosphere was electric on the morning of the race and the Limerick club were once again showing the rest of Ireland how to properly organise a race. The swim was first up and it consisted of a 1,500m swim, although judging by the swim times it might of been slightly short of that distance. The sea itself was pretty calm and before we knew it we were out on the bike. The bike was roughly 45km long and it brought us over a few tough climbs, especially on the way back when we were cycling into the wind. The strong headwind continued all the way out on the run, making it a tough challenge on tired legs. The large crowd cheering everyone home made it all worth while.
Brian O'Rourke was the star performer on the day beating his PB for last year by nearly 20 minutes. Also, greatly improving on his PB for the course was Joe Cantwell, who had the swim of his life to come home in 2:31. This is an improvement of 8 minutes on his PB.
They were not the only stars of the show as Keith Butler recovered from a quick puking session in the sea to set a new PB of 2:23:58. This was an 8 minute improvement on last year and it was good enough to bring Keith home in 36th place. Shane Scully improved on his PB by seven minutes. A strong swim, cycle and run helped him secure a fine 6th place in the overall standings.
Kevin Sherlock recovered from a poor swim, by his standards, to clock a very good finish time of 2:34:06. Not far behind Kevin was Denis O'Meara who had a fine swim and bike but struggled slightly on the hilly run section.
A special mention must go to the lads who were competing in their first 'Hell of the West' triathlon, they were Michael Browne, Paddy Kenneally, Noel O'Meara, and Paul Moore. Each of them battled through the tough hilly course and windy conditions to finish in very respectable times.