Camlough 2008

Crooked Lake Sprint Triathlon – Saturday 07 June 2008

Saturday 7 June and the sun was still shining after the beautiful spell. We headed off for Camlough diligently following Alistair’s instructions on how to get there. True to his word, we arrived to register in the village before 12.00 noon, which was in plenty of time given the 14.00 kick off.

The event, based at Camlough Lake in South Armagh, is now in its fifth year and has become one of the most popular sprint distance races on the Triathlon Ireland calendar with the race attracting athletes from all over Ireland, embracing those experienced in the sport and those new to it.

The lake was still, the roads congested with triathletes and their families milling about, organising kit, comparing stories, fixing bikes and generally experiencing all the same pre – race tension.

The transition was undoubtedly the worst I have seen in my short racing career. The 400 odd competitors in the two waves were all cramped together on the lakeside, with no space between each bike for one’s bike shoes, racing shoes, towel, helmet, and whatever else we triathletes require, either for superstitions sake or to get us off smoothly.

The first wave started promptly at 14.00 when 205 red hats took to the water. The choice of colour scheme posed its own challenge when trying to sight red buoys amongst all the swimming caps, however this did not curtail Brian Campbell who was first into the first transition in 9.56. Gerry McCabe (U/A) recorded the fastest bike time of the day in 27.25, but Campbell’s ever impressive style saw him take the overall winners prize in a blistering 55.39. Elana Maslova (also U/A) was the first female to dip under the finishers arch in 1.04.04.

The setting for Crooked Lake Triathlon is spectacular. The 20k bike ride is run over an undulating course, which circles the lake, through Meigh village, before looping back into Camlough village. There were plenty of marshals out on the course, although a distinct lack of same at the swim transition, which enabled some unsportsmanlike competitors to jump the transition barriers, which “deneutralises” the equitable devised system!

In all, there were 16 clubs from across the country represented on Saturday.

Triangle had 12 club members decked out in red and black, all putting on a good show for the club. Alistair Bratten was the first club member home in 1.08.07, taking the third prize in the 45-49 category. Perhaps if some other competitors had observed the non-drafting TI rules, Alistair’s position could have been improved upon. Also in the prizes, was Alison Rankin, who took third prize in the female 35-39 category in a time of 1.18.29. The other Triangle times were Anthony McKenna 1.14.38, Gavin O’Kane 1.15.03, Eamon McKenna 1.16.09, Paul Dornan 1.17.09, (an excellent result only one week after having completed the Switzerland Ironman), followed one second later by Kevin Murphy. Conal Heatley finished strong in 1.18.29, and Johnny Graham put in another good performance at 1.19.50. Paul McErlain will be pleased with his performance of 1.23.48, and Nicky McBride fought to the end with another good result at 1.26.09. Finally, after an excellent swim (12.53), the fastest transition in the club, and a determined cycle time of 33.56, Michael McCarron came home in 1.45.27.

Crooked Lake is a challenging little course, and one for the diary for next year.