Athy 2008

The Irish National Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships were held in the beautiful town of Athy, Co. Kildare. Embracing the true spirit of triathlon the Olympic and Sprint events attracted 1300 competitors of all standards from Olympic hopefuls to past and current National and International champions including Richard Stannard, Spencer Smith and Fraser Cartmell, as well as novices and age groupers. The men's Olympic distance race was won by Fraser(1:47:35) closely followed by Gavin Noble(1:50:03). Gavin completed the course 4 minutes quicker than last year, an indication of how much he has stepped up this year. It is a disappointment to Gavin and all those who watch Triathlon in Northern Ireland that despite this progress, Gavin just missed out on Olympic selection.
The women's field was strong with last years champion Aileen Morrison, Claire Connor, Elena Maslova and Katrina Bladinger.Ulster junior athlete, Rachel Boyd was also going to be one to watch after she had pushed Claire hard in the Roe Valley Sprint race the previous week.
Rachel exited the water first in 17:28, closely followed by Claire 17:45. Rachel then put in a blistering bike leg, and managed to retain her lead through the run to become Irish champion at the age of 19.
TTC was well represented with Ronnie Kidd (2:06:35) and Paul Fletcher (2:07:07) both putting in strong performances which will no doubt give them confidence as they go on to Ironman Germany. There was a strong Magherafelt contingent, with several club members recording PB's. Kay Hack, also in the throes of long distance training for Ironman UK 70.3, was delighted to come in first female vet ( 2:18:55).
The event was well organised, with a great goody bag, and technical t-shirt. The downstream river swim made for fast swim splits, which, combined with a flattish bike course, made for fast overall times, and justifies the organisers claims that TryAThy is Ireland's fastest Triathlon.