Last weekend saw the opening of the 2010 race season, with the first race of the Naas Duathlon series taking place. Despite the foggy conditions, 149 competitors turned up to take part in the now traditional ‘season opener’ run by Naas Triathlon Club at Punchestown racecourse in Kildare.

Please read on for full race report......

Naas Duathlon Race Series
(sponsored by Wheelworx Bike and Tri Shop)
3.5km run/20km bike/3.5km run

Despite the foggy conditions, 149 competitors turned up to take part in the now traditional ‘season opener’ run by Naas Triathlon Club at Punchestown racecourse in Kildare. This was a very competitive field as it was a qualifier for the World Duathlon Championships in Edinburgh later in the year. At the end of the first run a time of 10.01 gave Michael Black of the ‘24/7 club’ a ten second advantage over Adam Speer also from 24/7, with pre-race favourite Mark Doyle of Belpark only 2 seconds behind him. The bike section is quite challenging with two decent drags each side of Eadestown but this didn’t phase Mark Doyle who put in a 32.30 min bike leg to lead out of T2 with a 32 sec advantage over the hard chasing pair of Speer and Black. In the end it was Adam Speer who was the strongest and managed to hold off Michael Black’s determined challenge to take the win in a time of 56:01, with Mark Doyle finishing close behind in third..

The ladies section was just as competitive with Eilis Connery of Belpark leading the group into T1 in a time of 10:43, followed closely by Donna Mahon Wheelworx, Eimear O’Brien and Bronagh Ni Bhrian from Pirhanna. Unfortunately Eilis and Donna weren’t able to maintain their advantage on the bike and it was Eimear who led into the final run by less than 5 secs from Bronagh. In the end Eimear had judged her race to perfection and was able to stretch her lead to almost a minute from Bronagh with Eilish putting in another good run to stay in contact and take third place. Home competitor, Marie Keane of Naas Tri Club, in her first full season in Triathlon came in a very creditable fifth in the Ladies section and could be a real contender in the future.

This race is not all about the elite performers however and the rest of the field were able to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and facilities of Punchestown racecourse. A great days racing for all with plenty more to look forward to as the series continues on 21st Feb and 14th Mar next.. Well done to all who took part.

Ed Byrne
Race Director

Results:
Men
1) Adam Speer 00:56:01
2) Michael Black 00:56:15
3) Mark Doyle 00:56:40

Women 1) Eimear O’Brien 01:01:21
2) Bronagh Ni Bhrian 01:02:32
3) Eilis Connery 01:04:44