2022 Duathlon National Series begins at Galco Naas Duathlon
Thanks to Naas Triathlon Club for the race report from the season opener at Galco Naas Duathlon.
The Galco Naas Duathlon has long been the traditional opener to the duathlon season. This year the event has moved to a new home in Mondello Park where excited duathletes arrived on Sunday morning to take on the new course, compete in the Duathlon National Series, and start the 2022 season!
Ryan Mann Wins the Men’s Event
Ryan Mann led the men’s field right from the off and finished the first 5k run leg over half a minute clear of a chasing pack including, Aubrey Storey, John Jackson, Conor Mullany, Cornelius Marshall and Daire Nulty.
They then headed out onto what is quite a technical 20k bike route, over Digby Bridge to Millicent Cross and back where Eoin Bailey showed his strength to pass this group and lead into T2.
The second run leg was just 2.5k and with less than a minute separating them, it was Ryan Mann who used his run speed to regain the lead and come home the clear winner. Conor Mullany also put in a fantastic second run to pass Eoin Bailey and they finished second and third on the day.
Wilson Leads from the Start in Women’s Event
In the women’s field, it was Ciara Wilson who led from start to finish with a blistering first run leg. This gave her over a minute on Jennifer O’Sullivan and more than two minutes on Aoife Reilly and Áine Kelly heading out on the bike section.
Reilly and Kelly overtook Jennifer O’Sullivan on the bike leg. Despite her best efforts and a fantastic second run, Jennifer was unable to close the gap and it was Aoife Reilly who held on for second and Áine Kelly who came in third.
For many other participants this was their first time taking on a duathlon, many congratulations to all those who took part and completed the course.
Full results can be found on ChipIt here.
Some images from the day are below but head to the Triathlon Ireland Facebook page to see the full gallery from Damien Jackson.
Up Next
The next round of the Duathlon National Series takes place on the 12th of February at the WTC Advantage Engineering Tramore Duathlon. Racing then returns to Mondello on the 20th of February for Round 3 hosted by Naas Triathlon Club.
