Valentia 2010
4 Nenagh triathletes packed their gear bags and made the long trek down to Valentia island for the Valentia triathlon last weekend. The weekend was a scorcher and all memories of last year's wash out were quickly forgotten.
The race kicked off at 12:30 with the sun beating down strongly. The wind had also picked up making the decision to go with a disc wheel and Zipp 1080 wheels a big mistake on behalf of 2 of our triathletes. Despite 1 false start everyone got through the swim without too much trouble. The bike section was very hilly and the strong crosswinds, on the exposed parts of the island, played havoc with our bikes. The run was an out and back course up and back down a hill. This made it even harder to get your legs flowing, but that is the joy of doing triathlons.
Shane Scully was first Nenagh man home in a time of 1:01:02. This time secured 3rd place overall, although he was made work very hard for the podium finish fighting off Shane Scadding in a very tight sprint finish.
Ailbhe Carroll was sixth home in the women's event and she also won her age group. Ailbhe also won the club sun burn competition with a lovely red / purple farmers tan clinching her the coveted first prize. Ailbhe knocked 3 min off her time from last year as she crossed the line in a time of 1:12:19.
Kevin Sherlock and Brian O'Rourke also raced. Kevin got delayed looking at the fishies in the ocean and was ragin to see Brian out in front of him on the bike. Brian had a great swim but suffered badly from cramps for the rest of the race. He still came home in a hughly impressive time of 1:13:11 in his first triathlon of the season. Kevin powered through the bike course and gave it everything on the run and came home in a time of 1:10:12
