Weekend Wrap
It was a busy weekend both at home and abroad with three high performance athletes racing across two continents while at home Rounds 7 and 8 of the Duathlon National Series were held – we’ve got the full wrap plus all the results…
Edgar Pulls Out, White Returns to Racing
On the international front, Ireland’s elite athletes had mixed fortunes. First up was James Edgar who was aiming for two podiums in two weeks as he lined out in Namibia for the Swakopmund African Cup. Edgar has showed brilliant form so far this season and heading on to the run was looking good for another strong result, placed as he was in 3rd.
However a deep and painful wound he sustained the week before in South Africa opened up and caused him to have to pull up. He’s now focusing on allowing his foot to heal in time to race his final African Cup race in Zimbabwe next weekend.
White, Manthey race Quarteria
In Portugal, Russell White was making his season debut alongside Ian Manthey and against a world class field in the Quarteria European Cup.
White had an average swim according to Triathlon Ireland’s head coach Mark Buckingham and was working well in a chase group on the bike until a crash right in front of him halted his progress.
White stayed upright but the chase was hampered.
“He went on to the run and showed good strength,” Buckingham said. “He struggled with his stomach for the first 5km of the run and served a 15sec penalty for an equipment violation but that 15secs helped him reset.”
White finished 41st. ” You have to start somewhere and he’s on a journey for Paris and just getting a race under his belt is good,” said Buckingham.
Ian Manthey took his opoortiunuty in a world class field according to Buckingham, especially considering some setbacks – illness in the weeks leading up to the race and a crash last week that broke his bike and saw him riding a borrowed machine.
“Ian showed great resilience, the key bit is the performance.”
“He kept his foot firmly on the gas which takes a lot of doing so I think he fully took the opportunity and did really well,” Buckingham said.
Metalman Shines in Perfect Conditions
Back home, in a month where the weather has been changeable to say the least, the sunny south east lived up to its reputation for Metalman Tri’s Dungarvan Duathlon – Round 7 of the Duathlon National Series.
At the start line were 200 or so athletes tackling a sprint or standard distance run-bike-run.
In the men’s race, Enda Bagnall led in to T1 but he knew he’d need every bit of advantage to stay ahead of Michael Scully on the 40km bike. Scully made inroads in to Bagnall’s lead with the result that both men were separated by just seconds heading on to the final run leg. Here, Bagnall upped the pace and went on to win with a time of 01:56:13, 55secs ahead of Scully who claimed second place. Aidan Connell came home in third just over two minutes later.
In the women’s race Becky Woods made it all seem easy as she posted the quickest splits across all three legs and finished out in 02:03:54 – almost 15minutes ahead of the next nearest female. But behind her however, the race was on with Ellen Murphy and Aine Kinsella trading places throughout the first run leg and the bike. Murphy led out of T2 but Kinsella was to eventually come out on top, passing Murphy on the run and ending up 22secs clear by the finish line.
Sere Lisburn Duathlon
In Co. Down meanwhile Anthony O’Brien won in a tight battle with James Graham (2nd) and Craig Harrison (3rd) – less than 90secs separated the trio at the finish line.
Leonie Dolan won the women’s race in a another close battle, this time against local legend and Triathlon Ireland hall of famer Anne Paul with Shauna Hogan in 3rd.
