Blackwater sprint tri

MrCreosote

Have been looking at maybe entering this one, close enough to home.
Anybody do it last year or know much about it?

onimpulse

I did it last year & really enjoyed it. It was well organized and marshaled in particular considering it was the first time they ran it!

The swim was all downstream and quite easy - there was a long way to run though from where you exited the water to transition - you had to cross the bridge there in the middle of the town but in fairness to them - I've seen longer distances, it wasn't that bad. The cycle and run course were fine, it was well marshaled and really nothing to complain about. The finish last year was in the park in the middle of Fermoy which worked really well as it was a great place for supporters to gather & there was a great atmosphere.

I'd recommend it esp if it's near you - I traveled from Dublin & will prob do so again...

MrCreosote

Cool, thanks for that onimpulse.

I read about the plans to change the weir in the paper, so hopefully won't be the last year it's run this year...

ZZJ

Did not do it last year, was too late to get entry, so sign up early!!

Went along to watch, was a great event, well run, you could see a lot of effort went in by the organisers beforehand and on the day (running around making sure everything was ok, and sorting out potential problems). Also helped by being a beautiful day.

The run from the swim to transition area was long across bridge, but you did have a massive (but well marshelled ) crowd cheering people on. You had to dismount bike at top of hill and run down for safety

MrCreosote

Anybody else doing this on Sunday?

I'm looking forward to it now. The weather is supposed to improve as well!

userjohn

I did it last year and the swim was a joke, was all downstream and fastest swim time was ridiculous. They should just make it a duathlon.

Learned from that and am doing this one instead next weekend (http://www.crosshavenchallenge.com/) as i like a proper swim/triathlon. raising money for the local charities ensures a good vibe about the place too and am feeling rather burned after eireman last weeknd and doing these events to line the pockets of individuals or clubs.

That said Blackwater's not a bad event to do especially if you're not fond of the water and starting out.

MrCreosote

Very good event! There was a great atmosphere, lots of people watching- being in the centre of town was great. Downstream swim, good roads for the cycle and a tough enough run.

The weather stayed dry enough, and very safely marshalled.
Thanks to Blackwater tri club and all the volunteers.
I'd gladly recommend to anyone.

harringtonp

Was told the swim was lengthened by 2 fields this year. Looked longer than 750m but with the current the time felt about right for a sprint swim.

On a note (judging by times) the run seemed a bit longer than 5k. Did anybody competing get an exact distance using a GPS ?

Measured the cycle on a previous test run using a GPS and it came in at 19.69 km.

In spite of weather a very enjoyable event.

userjohn wrote: »

I did it last year and the swim was a joke, was all downstream and fastest swim time was ridiculous. They should just make it a duathlon.

MrCreosote

They seemed to have the run marked at 1 and 2km. It looked about right for 5k, but then again last year they had it down as 5.6km.

Either way I found it tough enough myself. Felt like I was running in mud for the first half. The hill at the start was obvious but it was a long drag to the turnaround. I reckon 90s-2mins faster coming back.

Edit- just read the race report and they have it down as 5.8km run.

harringtonp

Actually, I add up my 3 times and 2 transitions and it didn't add up to my overall given time. Look at one or 2 others and they did not seem to add up either.

Having said that I remember glancing at the clock crossing the line and the time I saw seems to agree with the overall given time.

Anybody know what is up ? Was there an extra mat (e.g one leaving the river and one on entry to transition to pick up bike) and therefore some lost transition time ?

MrCreosote

It seems to be the T1 times that are out for some people. I can't remember the mat positioning. My times are ok- T1 of about 3 mins and overall time was same as on my watch, which means I was timed coming out of the river and then again out from T1.
A few have T1 of just over one minute which seems a bit too fast if the bridge crossing is included.