Howth Triathlon (Sprint and Olympic Plus) - Sun 17th July

Excuseless

Event website Here – www.howthtriathlon.com

Event has two options:- Sprint (~750m swim / 20k bike / 5k run) and Olympic Plus (~1800m swim / 40k bike / 10 k run)

This event is organised by Hariette and moi who have done the Aquathons and Escape Swim events in Howth in 2010/ 2011

Should be a nice day out if the weather plays ball especially.

With each lap of the bike course including the climb to the Summit Pub it is unlikely to be PB material but a great way to get in the scenic views in a nice accessible location

I am not a fan of the “Goody Bag” as such but entry includes a tech tee, swim hat, swim bag and water bottle and these should be more useful than shampoo samples or the likes

Not a TI affiliated Event => No One Day or any other licence requirement

For anyone wanting to check up on organisers' credentials these boards threads might be a good start.

Boards thread on 2010 Escape Swim (Swim leg of Olympic Plus Tri) here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056004061&page=3

Boards threads on 2010 Aquathon Series here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=66052378
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=67481334

Entries over 300 at min (Majority for longer event) so best get entered now if you want to do the Olympic Plus as we are restricted to 200 for that race by ferry capacity to Ireland’s Eye – Swimming to the start may be an option if you miss the ferry but we are not able to provide safety cover for this!

Water craft safety cover ratio is planned to be 1: 20

cantswim

Doing this on Sunday - should be interesting esp if the forecasted weather arrives...

oshow

40Km/h north westerly winds should make the Olympic swim interesting. may bring the kayak .

cantswim

at registration the guy said its likely the olympic swim will be two laps of the sprint course...

smithwicks

cantswim wrote: »

at registration the guy said its likely the olympic swim will be two laps of the sprint course...

Bummer, was looking forward to swimming from the island.

cipo

Decision will be made as late as possible in the morning. IF the swim has to be shortened, it will be two laps of sprint course....
Safety has to be first priority! Let's hope water conditions are good and you get to swim from the Eye!!

smithwicks

Just back on the sofa, beer in hand. That was tough thought I would never get out of the water. First time doing an open water swim of that length.

Felt I was zig zagging rather than going straight, could not see anything and nearly had a stroke when one of the kayakers said I still had a km to go!

Swim took about 1.05, was disappointed because im doing Galway in sept and had hoped to be well in before the hour. Bike was tough with the hill four times then the wind on the way down. The run was a real calf burner going up that hill beside the promenade Wind again was a factor.

Overall happy enough, but at 3.30 ish I have a lot of work to do. I guess that's to be expected after only 3 tri's

Fitzilicious

Did the sprint today!
Great race & v well organised and marshalled!!

Fair play to all who did the plus in serious sea conditions!
Sprint swim was tough enough so can only imagine that!!

Windy enough on the cycle!!

Great race overall

Dowee

Good race today, racing with the cars through the village made for an interesting few minutes of racing. Would have been preferable to have that part of the road closed but no doubt they tried and weren't allowed do it.

Waiting around on the beach for over an hour wasn't exactly a highlight, I know the Olympic took a lot longer than expected but....

It's rarely easy to run two different distance races at the same time.

tceol

results here guys, well done all!
http://www.irishtriathlon.com/index.php/2011/07/howth-triathlon-sprint-olympic-triathlon-dublin-2011/

Excuseless

Dowee wrote: »

Good race today, racing with the cars through the village made for an interesting few minutes of racing. Would have been preferable to have that part of the road closed but no doubt they tried and weren't allowed do it.


Waiting around on the beach for over an hour wasn't exactly a highlight, I know the Olympic took a lot longer than expected but....


It's rarely easy to run two different distance races at the same time.

Aye Surely

Re road closures: We did indeed try and will do so again for 2012 but there are more folk in the world than us that also like to go to Howth on a Sunday morning not to mention local residents and businesses so we have to take all into consideration.

Re Delay to sprint start:
This was to be expected with conditions and was mentioned at the morning briefing and in advance briefing mailed to participants:
Quoting: "Sprint Race will start at 9.30 or whenever last swimmer has left the water" - hence the delay as we needed safety boat cover (We had 12:1 for Olympic plus race incidently).
Sprint actually started 1 hr 25mins after Olympic Plus - It was scheduled to start 1 hour after based on times taken previously for this Swim under admittedly less testing conditions at the Escape From Ireland swim last September.

We think it was a great challenge and the sense of achievement at the finish from those completing is testament to that - Brings a whole new meaning to the "Plus" factor so well done all



Results available from Red Tag since mid afternoon and on also www.howthtriathlon.com

tceol

I think the organisers deserve a lot of credit for the race today. It's certainly a challenging course but was well marshalled and well run. Even the Gardai present were helpful so fair play.

potsy11

initial reaction from athletes appears to be quite positive. I was spectating yesterday and can only comment on what I saw.


I was positioned at transition and how someone didnt smash into a car is a miracle. Most spectators who were positioned in this area had the same feeling.

I know its difficult for the organisers as Howth is a very busy place on a Sunday morning. All aspects of this race were challenging and judging by the times i reckon it could take the title as being the hardest Olympic tri in Ireland.

Would love to see this race again next year but improvements need to be made around transition and that junction. Far too busy for this area.

Suggestion:
Seeing that one of the organisers has her own HealthPro company perhaps she could also promote a car free morning in Howth. Encourage all residents to cycle or walk around the village / piers. The road could be closed from Deer Park to McGuirs Golf (corner) for 3-4 hours. It would allow residents access to the main village and only disrupt the few who live along this road. Just a suggestion

borronstown

Hi

i had a terrible time in the water and feel that the swim should not have gone ahead. I was one of the slower swimmers and i am not making the point because i didnt have a good swim but because i felt the swimmers were all over the place and the markings in the water were terrible. I felt the boats that were out there were always a long distance away and it was so choppy that if you had to wave your hand you may not have been seen properly.
after digesting the race for the last few days i can honestly say i am not looking forward to my next triathlon. I will honestly say that swimming is not my best event but i have been pool training and doing 2k has been no problem, the point here is that this was not safe. Finished the rest of the race but didnt enjoy it.

potsy11

borronstown wrote: »

Hi

i had a terrible time in the water and feel that the swim should not have gone ahead. I was one of the slower swimmers and i am not making the point because i didnt have a good swim but because i felt the swimmers were all over the place and the markings in the water were terrible. I felt the boats that were out there were always a long distance away and it was so choppy that if you had to wave your hand you may not have been seen properly.
after digesting the race for the last few days i can honestly say i am not looking forward to my next triathlon. I will honestly say that swimming is not my best event but i have been pool training and doing 2k has been no problem, the point here is that this was not safe. Finished the rest of the race but didnt enjoy it.

Hi Borronstown

I saw the swim conditions and did sympathise with any newbies out there or triathletes who were not that strong with swimming. The reality is that the swim you encountered is probably the toughest you will come across at this distance in ireland. I have completed most 'open' water sea races on TI over the years and only one or two events would be in such exposed areas. Hell of the west 'can' be bad if there is onshore winds and Valentia Island is a mixed bag.

Dont be put off too much. Congratulations on completing the event and take solice in the fact that its one of the toughtest.

(not taking away from the safety issues you mentioned, this was a concern raised by many at the weekend)

groovyg

Borronstown have you done much swimming in the open water? The swim on Sunday was very tough especially for those doing the
Olympic but don't be put off by it, getting used to different conditions in open water will help with the swimming part of triathlons.

oshow

borronstown wrote: »

Hi

i had a terrible time in the water and feel that the swim should not have gone ahead. I was one of the slower swimmers and i am not making the point because i didnt have a good swim but because i felt the swimmers were all over the place and the markings in the water were terrible. I felt the boats that were out there were always a long distance away and it was so choppy that if you had to wave your hand you may not have been seen properly.
after digesting the race for the last few days i can honestly say i am not looking forward to my next triathlon. I will honestly say that swimming is not my best event but i have been pool training and doing 2k has been no problem, the point here is that this was not safe. Finished the rest of the race but didnt enjoy it.

The choppy conditions were completely underestimated by the race organisers. Sighting was ok to the first "yellow" buoy,never saw another buoy after that as they were "black" in colour. Guy in a kayak told me to aim for the blue building on the coast. I ended up swimming alone as the fellow competitors spread out over a wide area due to the chop and NW wind picking up to 40-45Km/h. Triathlon aint easy and Howth is now confirmed as one of the tough ones, really enjoyed the event and the location. just lacked a bit of common sense for the swim conditions. looking forward to next year.

Excuseless

Think those that struggled in the sea conditions like Barronstown and Oshow may well have underestimated the challenge and overestimated their abilities.

2k in a pool where you have the safety of the wall every 25 or 50 m is no comparison to an open-water swim and particularly in testing conditions.

The severity of the swim was well notified in advance - Quoting from the website:-
"This is a challenging swim and should only be attempted by those experienced and confident in their ability to complete it without assistance - The fastest swimmer is expected to take 30 minutes and you should be confident of completing this section comfortably in under an hour. It is highly recommended that athletes will have completed a swim of this length in similar openwater conditions and temperatures in the month preceeding this event. If in any doubt about your swimming ability please do the sprint event - We will facilitate w/o drama anyone that wants to change to the Sprint event from the Olympic Plus event."

The top swimmers have the same sighting issues to contend with and managed fine (Top swimmer out of the water in less than 30 mins). What is probably true is that many had not practiced in similar openwater conditions and thus struggled.
The swim course was well marked but it appears that some had difficulties sighting the Huge black buoys and some of the smaller yellow and orange ones that were used with the swell.
Our safety cover was far in excess of that normally recommended and anyone that was struggling got assistance and several were taken into the safety boats.

This year we had all entrants agree when entering on-line that:-
"I consent that I am a competent swimmer and am able to swim in tidal conditions."

For next year we intend having as a requirement that entrants give evidence of their experience of openwater swimming when entering.
At the end of the day we as organisers cannot be expected to vet all entrants abilities and the only person that can realistically do that is the entrant themselves so self responsibility is actually the order of the day.

I suspect what happened on Sunday is that we had many that have been lured by the likes of (Half) Ironman in Galway and Kenmare that wanted a challenging race at a lesser distance and did not properly assess their own swim abilities in relation to this challenge, the severity of which we believe was part of the unique challenge of this event and the response to which has been overwhelmingly positive.