Lough Cutra Castle-Olympic- Course Info

rooneyjm

Did anyone do this last year.

Website says the bike course is technical but doesn't elaborate. Hills, sharp turns?
The run route shows a 7k loop in orange on the web but any info on the other 3k. Any other info, flat, cross country?
Any suggestions for accommodation?
Anything else I should know about.

Cheers

pgibbo

Previous years was more XC type run. Not sure if it's the same this year. AKW is planning a run down there soon so he can probably report back after that.

Not sure on the bike routes.

lizanne83

Likewise; I'd love to know the route and suggestions for accommodation for Lough Cultra?

I'm also struggling to decide if doing Tri Athy (Olympic) only 6 days after Lough Cultra is wise.

Normally 6 days wouldn't be enough recovery between 2 Oly's of course but with them both being my first 2 races of the season I'm hoping that a good taper pre -Lough Cultra and taper for 5 days post -Lough Cultra will allow me to get through them both equally and not be race-exhausted so early in the season. Spacing them out better after Athy. Still risky perhaps?!?! :-/

sconhome

The 7k loop is the route for the Gauntlet run. There is a smaller 5 k loop within that which will form the Olympic run course. I'll be taking groups out for some recce run's towards the end of April and early May, I'll post up when this is happening.

Also likely to cycle the bike course at some stage so will feed that back too.

lizanne83

Is it Hilly AKW? Run/Cycle?
Thanks

sconhome

lizanne83 wrote: »

Is it Hilly AKW? Run/Cycle?
Thanks

Not sure yet of the run.

The Gauntlet bike course has 2 Cat 5 hills on it. AFAIK the Oly course rolls around in a nice big loop.

rodneyr1981

AKW wrote: »

Not sure yet of the run.

The Gauntlet bike course has 2 Cat 5 hills on it. AFAIK the Oly course rolls around in a nice big loop.

Any body seen the run course? AKW?
With the rain expected to stay for another few days is the run course going to be a wash out? Think some of route is cross country ish? Stand to be corrected.

sconhome

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

Any body seen the run course? AKW?
With the rain expected to stay for another few days is the run course going to be a wash out? Think some of route is cross country ish? Stand to be corrected.

Route is cross country without a shadow of a doubt.

Leaving transition you cut along the side of the lake, through the woods, across some paddock, through more woods with gravelled pathways, across another paddock, woods, gravel, woods (road for the 7k loop), paddock, the last stretch (~1k) of each loop is on the tarmac road through the courtyard, back through transition.

Finish is in front of the Castle which is all loose pebble.

Personally I'm planning on a trail shoe. There will be soggy bits but the gravelled access roads is a big improvement (I've been told) on previous years routes.

https://www.polarpersonaltrainer.com/shared/exercise.ftl?shareTag=a95906c1d10d53fe8aaf6e03e442e7f0

Green&Red

Any details on the cycle route?
The website is clear as mud

mossym

AKW wrote: »

Personally I'm planning on a trail shoe.]

you told me i didn't need my wellies, now i've no training done in them

sconhome

Green&Red wrote: »

Any details on the cycle route?
The website is clear as mud

Which route?

They are all on Mapmyrun and the Competitors guide for The Gauntlet gives a lot of details on that event:
http://s525775349.websitehome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/LOUGH_CUTRA_GAUNTLET_FINAL20141.pdf

http://s525775349.websitehome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Course-maps-Lough-Cutra-Castle-cycle-route.pdf

I cycled the Olympic / Sprint course recently and it is a nice route with a few challenges in it. Double loop for the Oly.

sconhome

mossym wrote: »

you told me i didn't need my wellies, now i've no training done in them

You won't need wellies with the new trail shoes you'll be buying at the weekend

Green&Red

AKW wrote: »

Which route?



http://s525775349.websitehome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Course-maps-Lough-Cutra-Castle-cycle-route.pdf

It was this map that confused the sh*t out of me. I'm doing the super sprint/prendergast

sconhome

Green&Red wrote: »

I'm doing the super sprint/prendergast

You're doing x2 laps of that starting at the Castle.

The numbers are actually marshal positions which I spent the first 5 mins looking at the map trying to figure out what unit of measure was being used

mossym

AKW wrote: »

You won't need wellies with the new trail shoes you'll be buying at the weekend

ah i'm sure the ones i have already will do...:)

Green&Red

Actually AKW what time do u close saturday?

sconhome

Green&Red wrote: »

Actually AKW what time do u close saturday?

5pm but will be down at LC with a Tardis / Van load of stuff. If stuck for anything let me or the shop know.

Green&Red

Looking for new racers, if i'm in Galway on time saturday evening I'll call in

BTH

How did I let AKW talk me into this at the last minute.

What's the, eh, other bike route and run route like?

sconhome

BTH wrote: »

How did I let AKW talk me into this at the last minute.

What's the, eh, other bike route and run route like?

It's lovely

All I did was plant the seed and let triathlete nature take over.

Knew SuperSprint was not in your bag

mossym

showdown in the half distance. i know who my money isn't on (that'll get you all moving..:) )

BTH

For the record, I intend on registering a lovely DNF. I'll be jogging the run until I start to struggle then I'll be ducking out. I don't have the training done to race this all the way and I don't want to jeopardise the next 2 weeks training. Once I struggle to run 4:40-50min/km comfortably and easy (and that will happen) I'll be steppin off course.

Green&Red

AKW wrote: »

You're doing x2 laps of that starting at the Castle.

The numbers are actually marshal positions which I spent the first 5 mins looking at the map trying to figure out what unit of measure was being used

That is literally one of the daftest things I've seen done for a race

BTH

BTH wrote: »

For the record, I intend on registering a lovely DNF. I'll be jogging the run until I start to struggle then I'll be ducking out. I don't have the training done to race this all the way and I don't want to jeopardise the next 2 weeks training. Once I struggle to run 4:40-50min/km comfortably and easy (and that will happen) I'll be steppin off course.

I also want the record to show that I'm doing a 140km cycle on Saturday. It'll be a big training weekend anyway

pgibbo

BTH wrote: »

I also want the record to show that I'm doing a 140km cycle on Saturday. It'll be a big training weekend anyway

You forgot to mention that there's a high tide this weekend and the stars aren't fully aligned, etc....... :pac:

BTH

pgibbo wrote: »

You forgot to mention that there's a high tide this weekend and the stars aren't fully aligned, etc....... :pac:

And the wife is away for the weekend, it's the only reason I can get away with both, but with the chef away it's not going to help fuel all this.

mossym

BTH wrote: »

And the wife is away for the weekend, it's the only reason I can get away with both, but with the chef away it's not going to help fuel all this.

PWEI

AKW wrote: »

Route is cross country without a shadow of a doubt.

Leaving transition you cut along the side of the lake, through the woods, across some paddock, through more woods with gravelled pathways, across another paddock, woods, gravel, woods (road for the 7k loop), paddock, the last stretch (~1k) of each loop is on the tarmac road through the courtyard, back through transition.

Finish is in front of the Castle which is all loose pebble.

Personally I'm planning on a trail shoe. There will be soggy bits but the gravelled access roads is a big improvement (I've been told) on previous years routes.

So race shoes are totally out then?
I'm doing the half & had planned to wear race shoes.

pgibbo

Best of luck this weekend folks :cool:

sconhome

PWEI wrote: »

So race shoes are totally out then?
I'm doing the half & had planned to wear race shoes.

Oh no go with the race shoes, I'll have nice shiny new ones in the Event Village afterwards

Joking aside, I don't think there is any gain in racing shoes down there. It will be mixed surfaces and wet, so I'd favour grip and comfort over lightness but whatever you are used to and bring spares just in case.

jamescantwell

just home from the lough cutra olympic distance..kinda came away with a negative view of it all tbh but thats just my opinion..the lake was lovely in fairness but the mount/dismount line was mental, some girl crashed into me as i dismounted and i lost my shoe! road surface was incredibly bad on the bike leg, potholes, grit etc, far too technical too, quite hard to get any decent speed up (for me anyway!!) maybe i should have done my research but pretty much the entire run was cross country inc running through long grass for a couple of km. i might be on my own here, but i reckon with it being a NS race and a qualifier for european and world tri c'ships, with the v high cost of entry, i thought the run course could have been much nicer too...safe to say i wont be doing it again and i wont be recommending it! (maybe the 4 hr round journey to waterford didnt help!)

Boardcore

Couldn't agree more James, uphill mount line is always a no-no. We're lucky the rain held off because the layout was simply dangerous and poorly planned. Downhill embanked entrance to T2 had injuries written all over it. I wonder how this event passed the TI safety inspection? The setting for the event is fantastic, but you miss the club run feel and common sense.

RacoonQueen

Maybe good thing I missed it then...

Results up anywhere? Not on TI etc yet.

mossym

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Maybe good thing I missed it then...

Results up anywhere? Not on TI etc yet.

the two irish favorites got beaten by the english raiders anyway. no results i've seen yet

Boardcore

Clarify - Poorly planned in relation to the bike transition and coned single file first and last 600m of bike. The overall event was well run. Don't know if I'll be back though.

ructions

The ground was so slippy coming down to the dismount line I'm surprised there wasn't a serious injury. Not pleasant coming in sideways to a line you have to get off the bike before u reach it.

RacoonQueen

They've results up now but they're brutal. No splits. Results not ihttp://www.stuweb.co.uk/events/2014/05/25/1574/nteresting without splits...

edit: Found splits. Messy though.

http://www.stuweb.co.uk/events/2014/05/25/1574/

rodneyr1981

RacoonQueen wrote: »

They've results up now but they're brutal. No splits. Results not interesting without splits...

Hi,
Where did u find them? Cheers

Green&Red

I can off the bike coming into T2. Nice crack in the frame of my BMC

RacoonQueen

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

Hi,
Where did u find them? Cheers

Edited post above.
Results here http://www.stuweb.co.uk/events/2014/05/25/1574/

rodneyr1981

Green&Red wrote: »

I can off the bike coming into T2. Nice crack in the frame of my BMC

Fu@k. That's ****. There was a few protruding stones. Your luck was def out if it happens to hit one.
Not ideal run down into trans. Very narrow section at mount/dismount too. Didn't mind the bike route too much but though the run route was very rough. Couldn't easily do an ankle.

Bambaata

Green&Red wrote: »

I can off the bike coming into T2. Nice crack in the frame of my BMC

Shootballs!! Sorry to hear that!

catweazle

They are up on tri ireland with a show spits view at the top of each race - nice few bob for Geraghty for what ended up as an easy romp - he picked the right race

Bitterly disappointed to see no sign of Akw - no show or still swimming

Sorry to hear that Alan about the bike - that's a disaster for you

jamescantwell

sorry to hear that too, what a crazy transition area!

rooneyjm

I thought the event was well run but one of the worst bike sections i've encountered. The run was very dodgy.

Green&Red

I thought Martin Grealish was on a relay, must have false info from the OH

That would leave u with a prize then Rodney?

rodneyr1981

Green&Red wrote: »

I thought Martin Grealish was on a relay, must have false info from the OH

That would leave u with a prize then Rodney?

Not sure just a little annoying. Was talking to MG after he did it himself. Good to be able to bench mark off his times.

Kurt Godel

All valid points above, but I thought it was one of the best organised Tri's I've yet done, totally professional in starting all the different waves on time, and well marshalled throughout. What a great place for a swim! The back roads were rough all right, hard to get going (I'm used to similar back roads though), and the run was a real X-country slog. Really tough getting into and out of trans, with the steep bank, I almost went over running down with the bike. There was a good party atmosphere at the finish, which kept going long into the afternoon for the kids races. Thumbs up from me.

(Sorry to hear about the bike Green&Red)

Green&Red

I'd agree with u Kurt on the route, loved the roads, although the downhill was exceptionally steep, great climbs.
Though the transition and registration were excellent, shows that u don't need to be there hours in advance and that transition can be open while the race goes on and not be the end of the world. Although the fact that it wasn't neutralised was disappointing

Kurt Godel

One huge positive to the day, was the effort put in to organising and encouraging the kids races. They had water marshals in the lake with the kids, encouraging them, and offering support to those who might be frightened of their first OW race. They treated the kids races as seriously as the adult ones, and you could tell that most of the kids really appreciated getting to run a "big race" like this. Hats of to the Castle Series people for this effort.

As a side note to this- I helped my son rack his stuff beside another kid, who had the most overbearing triathlete father imaginable. He ripped off the tags from the new wetsuit (and tossed them nonchalantly onto my sons towel and kit), and spent 5 mins barking orders into the poor kid. His son didn't look like he wanted to be there at all, and actually said to his Dad "you said this was meant to be fun". Spot on kid, it's meant to be fun, especially at your age.

jamescantwell

there are some really messed up parents out there in tri and athletics!!iv seen some crazy stuff at juvenile athletics meets too