Loughrea Triathlon 12/9/10 Now Open for Business

catweazle

This years 2010 Loughrea Sprint Triathlon is now accepting entries, 500 entries for the sprint this year. The club is also hosting a Junior Triathlon and a Womens only Try a tri on the same day.

http://www.predatortriclub.ie/

The Triathlon sold out very quickly last year and we hope it will again soon, so register early to avoid disappointment. The cost for entering the Sprint is €50 euros and this includes a goody bag and a full meal in the Loughrea Hotel after the race.

For those nervous about the swim this is an ideal Triathlon to sign up for. The lake is one of the only lakes to achieve European Blue Flag status. Its sheltered, not very deep (for large parts you can stand in the water) with a sandy base and the water is crystal clear.

We hope to see you there!

Woddle

Really thinking about this but I always think lakes would be cold, I've never swam in one but what would your thoughts be on the lake temp, thanks

griffin100

Really thinking about this but I always think lakes would be cold, I've never swam in one but what would your thoughts be on the lake temp, thanks

By september after a long summer lakes are reasonable warm, besides, you'll be wearing a wetsuit. Its a lovely swim, its like swimming in Ballygowan the water is that clean.

catweazle

4 stars (good)

Ah woddle man up , the water this year is warmer than ever and around then it will reach the max warmth that it is going to get in the year, you wont even notice the water after a few seconds with the wet suit on.

As an aside I swam the Galway Cope this year in the sea and I thought the lake was slightly warmer, very little difference if any in my opinion.

Woddle

Just signed up as of a minute ago
Then the wife reminded me that its her birthday then, so I told her we'll make a nice weekend out of it

catweazle

4 stars (good)

Ha good man, I did the same for our wedding aniversary with Swinford 1/2

I will see you there

pgibbo

I'm in! :cool:

I find the lake much warmer than the sea at the moment.

Woddle

Can anyone suggest a hotel for my wife and I, sth at a reasonable price but at the same time offering a bit of class.
I was looking at Lough rea hotel and its nice but a little on the expensive side €110 a night per person.
Thanks

searay

Woddle wrote: »

Really thinking about this but I always think lakes would be cold, I've never swam in one but what would your thoughts be on the lake temp, thanks

With the good weather so far this year, the temperature of the Shannon for Triathlone today was 18degrees making wet suits non-compulsary. That's a good omen for Loughrea. I really enjoyed the swim there last year, the description above is fair. Pity they can't flatten some of the hills on the bike course!

catweazle

4 stars (good)

I would stay in the city Woddle, you will get out to Loughrea quick enough on a sunday and its not too early a start. You can register the night before as you are coming down its not to far off the motorway

big mce

Pity its on the same weekend as the lost sheep.

jjbsligo

Signed up for this today. A few friends done it last year and rated it highly. Looking forward to it!

pc11

Any chance ye might make the date of the event even slightly obvious both here and on the website????!!!

catweazle

4 stars (good)

Hi all,

A quick heads up to let you know that any fence sitters will need to enter this soon, its looking like entry will be full before the weekend.

NB: This warning is for sprint race only, Junior and Womens Try a Tri will still take entries

connundrum

catweazle wrote: »

Hi all,

A quick heads up to let you know that any fence sitters will need to enter this soon, its looking like entry will be full before the weekend.

NB: This warning is for sprint race only, Junior and Womens Try a Tri will still take entries

Cant see a price anywhere on general info?

I'm presuming €50pp?

catweazle

4 stars (good)

Yeah 50 euros for the sprint

Race is at 1.30 to answer an earlier question too

PWEI

3 stars (average)

Sprint Triathlon entry is now closed, I didnt think this would sell out.
Am I glad that I got my entry in the other day.

ronanmac

3 stars (average)

I've signed up for this as my first triathlon, more for the experience than anything else, as I've done zero swimming. Here's hoping for quality lifeguards!

_pure_mule_

pc11 wrote: »

Any chance ye might make the date of the event even slightly obvious both here and on the website????!!!

It will be on the 12th of september at 1:30.

Was lucky to get in, i regestered and an hour later it was closed. This is my first tri,only 16, hope it all goes well. Not looking forward to this bike ride though, i hear its very hilly and i have practically no experience on the bike, Ah well cant wait anyway.

PWEI

3 stars (average)

Does anybody know if they plan to split the waves this year? I enjoyed this event last year but my only complaint was that everybody started at the same time. Having over 350 people in the water at the beginning is crazy,everybody was getting kicked all over the place last year.

_pure_mule_

PWEI wrote: »

Does anybody know if they plan to split the waves this year? I enjoyed this event last year but my only complaint was that everybody started at the same time. Having over 350 people in the water at the beginning is crazy,everybody was getting kicked all over the place last year.

yes there will be two waves. Wave one will be all male participants under 40 and wave 2 will be males over 40 and all female participants. I would imagine the water will still be very crowded though.

PWEI

3 stars (average)

Three waves would have been better but at least it will be a bit better than the chaos in the water last year.

searay

PWEI wrote: »

Three waves would have been better but at least it will be a bit better than the chaos in the water last year.

There was a two wave start last year on the same basis Under 40s in White, Over 40s and ladies in Blue. Picking where you start from is the key to avoiding getting kicked etc. If you're not a strong swimmer start at the back and give the field a 15 second headstart. If you do that and start at the right pace for you, you'll have a much better swim.

kala85

Hello all, I am looking for a place for the loughrea triathlon. if anybody has registered for loughrea and now cant do it , please send me a pm..

groovyg

Woddle I checked their race briefing sheet but didn't see anything about transfers so sent them an e-mail asking if transfers were allowed and got a reply back saying transfers were allowed until this Friday.

P_Raider

Hi,

If anyone has any places in the Loughrea Tri and isn't using them, please contact me as the race is now sold out.

Cheers,

Paul

Chips Lovell

Moved to A/R/T Events, since this is a triathlon.

_pure_mule_

I have being doing all my swim training in a pool and I live close enough to Loughrea so I was just wondering would it be a good idea to go for a swim around the swim route a few days before the race just to get used to the lake temp. and the open water swimming?

Fitzilicious

Hi there,

Anyone from Dublin doing this?
Are people planning on going that day?

tinydave

Fitzilicious wrote: »

Hi there,

Anyone from Dublin doing this?
Are people planning on going that day?

Im going up on the Monring of it as reg closes at 12.30:D and im staying the night (club Piss-up)

groovyg

Geri, are transfers still allowed?

catweazle

4 stars (good)

Yes but only until tomorrow so be quick my friend

Fitzilicious

Hi there,

Anyone know of a lift going for me and my bike who would be going up and down on Sunday!
Going from Dublin and would split any fuel costs!
Lift fell through!

PWEI

3 stars (average)

Cannot believe there is 530 taking part in this tomorrow. It's going to be absolute mayhem in the water. With so many competitors,they should really have broken it up in to three waves.

Murraythree

2 stars (poor)

PWEI wrote: »

Cannot believe there is 530 taking part in this tomorrow. It's going to be absolute mayhem in the water. With so many competitors,they should really have broken it up in to three waves.

Well predicted PWEI. Ladies swim was mayhem anyway. Tough swim as water was very choppy. Road surface poor and lots of people punctured. Must say was really disappointed with the XL t-shirt I received - not by choice mind!!! What is the point in asking participants for their t-shirt size pre-race if you cannot accommodate such a request? Charge less and forget the sheet. Wouldn't mind but registered early. Will be elsewhere engaged next year!!

mjth2004

+1

Good tri - lots of helpful marshalls over the course! Swim was tricky but hey we all had to do it!

pain in the ar$e with the constant t-shirt mix up, not the first race this year! My options were large or extra large, I asked for the sheet to sign my details & they could post a small to me - my reply was a shrug of the shoulders! Could be wrong on this but I think entry for this race was 50ish notes!

Be good for next years season if clubs give a reduced entry fee, with an option to sign up for a t-shirt at an additional cost!

My 2c....

jjbsligo

Any sign of the results yet ?
Agree re the size of tshirt, size of wave and road surface however overall great feeling and excellent local surport.

PWEI

3 stars (average)

Just completed the online survey of the event and one of the questions was
"would you prefer a cheaper registration fee without getting a goodie bag and a post race meal". I'd say most of the competitors will answer yes to that,I did.
The only negative I gave on the survey was the swim. It was mayhem as I thought it would be. Having over 250 people in such a small start area is crazy. The condition of the roads was very bad this year with a lot more pot holes than last year. I went in to a few and narrowly missed a huge one near the end which definitely would have punctured my bike. Very well organised race though with great signage to the registration and transition and excellent Marshall's .

searay

I enjoyed today's triathlon. Despite the very tough swim, and hilly cycle. My two comments would be:

I was in the first wave and I think that if they hadn't forced everyone back to the wall, the start would have worked out much better. Instead there was no way to hang back and get space. If everyone just had to stay behind the line between the 2 jetties it would have worked out.

I thought there was an awful lot of cars on the course while we were on it. Most of the drivers gave plenty of space but there were a couple who were flying and seemed to think we'd see or hear them. Given how big the race has gotten, I think closing the roads for 2 hours for the bike section would be a reasonable ask.

Overall though, I thought it was well organised and I'd do it again next year.

dochara

2 stars (poor)

Photos from yesterday's Loughrea Triathlon here ~ http://eirefoto.com/10_loughrea_triathlon_home.htm

pgibbo

I agree that it would have been better had they allowed the swim to start at the top of the jetty instead of at the wall. It was a tough swim and quite crowded, especially at the first buoy. I think unless you were a very good swimmer you were always going to have some traffic in that swim. It was the same in Lough Key the week before.

The roads were very rough alright. I thought the last downhill piece coming in to Loughrea was deadly with some crazy potholes. I don't think the roads out there were resurfaced properly after the witner when they were severley damaged.

A great event all the same and one I'll be going back to. The marshalls and volunteers were excellent. There was great support around transition. It was also nice to be in transition beside your clubmates.

Shame the results aren't up yet. Guess it was a smart call to register on Saturday for me. In and out of registration in 2 minutes and had my choice of t-shirt sizes. Even got to try before you buy!

greenasgrass

3 stars (average)

searay wrote: »

I was in the first wave and I think that if they hadn't forced everyone back to the wall, the start would have worked out much better. Instead there was no way to hang back and get space. If everyone just had to stay behind the line between the 2 jetties it would have worked out.

Spot on Searay,

I got a decent kick in the face over the first 100m. I'm a relative novice but a strong swimmer but took until after the first buoy to find any sort of rythm. I imagine the weaker swimmers were seriously nervous with the chaos at the start. They should put a rope between the piers about 10m out and lift it up from both sides at the start. Give the weaker ones a bit of room to hang back.

Other than that and the roads being a bit pot-holey I enjoyed the event and made a P.B. so pretty happy overall (despite gear problems in the second 10k of the cycle). The water in the lake is really nice and the run felt very short and manageable. Also very good support and instructions from the marshalls. Looking forward to getting my official times. I will do it next year and hope they make a few small changes to make it more comfortable.

g

jcunniffe

Results are up at www.redtagtiming.com

catweazle

4 stars (good)

Results are on the website lads, www.predatortriclub.ie