Ironman Youghal
The Ironman Organisationdescended on to the picturesque East Cork seaside town of Youghal on theweekend of the 23rd of June for Ireland’s inaugural Official Ironmanrace. A full Ironman consists of a 3.8km swim, a 180km cycle and a fullmarathon of 42km. It is not an event for the faint hearted or the poorlyprepared. Nine members of the Blackwater Triathlon Club had signed up for therace and had spent the previous months in intensive preparation. For some itwas the first attempt at an Ironman, and for others it was an opportunity tocomplete the race on home soil. Adam Blaiklock, Marie MacAree and Joe Scanlanhad already completed Ironman events. For Conor Bartley, Dave Murphy VinnieMcCarthy, Dave McGrath and Bryan Crowley, it was a first attempt at thedistance. It was also a first for Club member Niamh Fleming, who havingrecently qualified as a Triathlon coach, was putting her newly earnedqualifications to the test, training both Vinnie and Dave McGrath for theevent. There was a great buzz around Youghal in the days leading up to the raceas the Ironman Roadshow hit town. There were plenty of things to see and plentyof ways to spend lots of money on triathlon gear. It was also interestingroaming around the town looking for sightings of the professionals gettingready for the big day. It’s always interesting to see one of the famousBrownlee brothers up close. Unfortunately the weather took a serious turn forthe worse over the weekend and as Sunday morning dawned it was cold and windyand very very wet indeed. Already togged out in their wetsuits the athleteswere told that conditions were too dangerous for the swim portion of the event.Obviously they were very disappointed but there was still the cycle and the runto deal with. To tell the truth the triathletes may as well have kept theirwetsuits on because it didn’t stop raining until late on Sunday evening. Thismade the conditions on the road treacherous and there were many crashes. DaveMurphy was involved in a pile up with 6 other cyclists at the 75km mark whichleft him with severe bruising, some very nasty road rash and a busted bicycle.His day was over. Conor Bartley also had a collision with a wall due toexcessively wet brakes, but fortunately he was able to continue. He sufferedbad bruising to his arm and shoulder but that didn’t stop him and he waseventually the first of the BTC crew home in 9:55:27. Despite the conditionsthousands of spectators lined the street and roads around Youghal to cheer theracers on, especially on the infamous Windmill Hill, where the triathltes weregreeted by the sound of cow bells and screams of “Allez Allez Allez!” The Tourde France has nothing on it. Despite therain, the medieval town walls and picturesque beachfront provided an impressivebackdrop for the marathon through the town and the locals were out in force to cheer the athletes on the four lapsof the town.
Joe Scanlan, who wasrecovering from a recent injury, finished the cycle but decided against doingthe run. Bryan Crowley crossed the linein 10:57:09 and Dave McGrath, the first of Niamh’s athletes, finished in a veryimpressive 12:37:12.
Christian Board camedown the finishing chute in13:26:04 and Niamh’s other charge, Vinnie McCarthy,finished in 13:27:36. Adam Blaiklock finished in13:30:00 but unfortunatelyMarie MacAree had a bit of a mishap at the finish line and finished with a notime disqualification on the day. However, she, like all of, is very proud ofher performance given the conditions and is already looking forward to her nextIronman event. She reckoned that it was far harder than the first Ironman shecompleted last year in Barcelona. Adam has writtena first hand account of what it was like to take part on the day.
A little over 12months ago I began to hear rumours about an Ironman event scheduled for the endof June in my adopted home of Cork, Ireland. Naturally I was curious as I completed twoprevious Ironman races; one in Lake Placid, New York State and the other inTenby, Wales. Duly I signed up after the necessary discussions/arguments had takenplace at home! There is a largecommitment required with the training involved in Ironman racing and soensuring the whole family are happy is a major consideration. Needless to sayrace day arrived with a passing of time that can only be described as lightningfast! I felt as readyas possible thanks to the work that my coach Bryan McCrystal had prescribedover the previous 6 months. Rumours had been circulating since the racebriefing on the Saturday that the weather gods were going to play havoc withthe conditions for Sunday morning. Unfortunately the rumours turned out to be true and as the athletesarrived for the swim start they found out there was to be no swim to start therace today. In a race some situations are uncontrollable - this was one ofthose situations! It was announced that the race would begin with a time trial bike startwith two competitors leaving at the same time, this then involved a fairlymajor queue developing as around 1800 of us started to wait in the cold and wet,kitted out in the bike wear packed and racked in transition the day before. As the morning tickedtowards half past eight I rolled out of transition and started the bike sectionof Ironman Cork. The route, which I had managed to get out on once or twice over theprevious few months, would take us out towards the coast through East Cork,rolling through Ballymacoda,Shanagarry,Cloyne and upwards through Midelton,Dungourney, Mount Uniacke before returning to Youghal and the infamous Windmillhill. This would have been a great cycle had you been able to see beyond yournose on the day, such as it was with rain pouring from the sky from the startof the day through to the end. By the time I hit the second loop of the bike sections of the road weresubmerged to ensure that despite not having a swim I had enough of a soaking towarrant a wetsuit! The villages that I have previously mentioned did themselvesproud with lots of race banners and crowd support that always makes a day likethis feel special. This was most evident in Youghal on Windmill hill, which as being abrutal climb hitting over 21% gradient allowed the crowds to gather on bothsides providing a tour de France style atmosphere! I rolled into transition having completed thesecond loop of the bike course fairly saturated but determined to get runningand finish the marathon. Feeling very thankful for the clean dry socks that Ihad placed in my run bag I changed as quickly as possible and headed out to completethe run. The run course for Ironman Cork was set as a four lap course passingthe finishing chute on every lap - this proved to be great inspiration alongwith the crowds of people who had come out in force to support and witness thisrace. Big kudos toBlackwater Triathlon for shouting out to club members as the run progressed. I felt in a good placefor the run, this was my third race at Ironman distance and the legs graduallywarmed up and allowed me to be very consistent over the four loops. Gradually the milespassed and the laps ticked down until I arrived to collect my final armband andhead towards the finish chute located in the middle of Youghal town centre. Atthis stage of the day it was starting to get dark and the lights of the Ironmanarch shone out across the skyline, as I made my way down the finishing chute Iknew that I would cross the line to be called an Ironman by Mr Mike Reilly, whohad also called me across the line in Lake Placid way back in 2014. The daythat had passed will be remembered as a very wet, windy and hilly day and shallensure that the first edition of Ironman Cork will be talked about for years tocome. I was fortunateto take part and experience this day and want to say a huge thank you to mywife Terri who assisted me training and balancing a busy home. My thanks to all the other members of my family, who have also providedsupport during this journey to my third Ironman.
Well done to everyone who took part on the day andto the people of Youghal for putting on a great event. Hopefully the weatherwill be better next year!