Carroll & Wilson Win in Mondello
When Motorsport Meets Multisport
Almost 130 athletes from clubs all over the country enjoyed an afternoon of running and biking for Round Three of the Duathlon National Series in some long awaited sunshine.
The sound of motorsport filled the air for those checking in to race at Saturday’s Galco Naas Duathlon at Mondello Park. With cars racing on one track, the duathletes had a race track of their own to complete the two runs of the sprint distance duathlon at Naas Triathlon’s new venue.
Carroll Bikes to the Lead
Coming into the first transition, just five seconds separated the top six athlete’s in the men’s event; Alex Van Buttingha Wichers, Paul Carroll, Anthony O’Brien, Marc Flavin, Luke McMullan and Ryan Mann.
Onto the fast and flat 20k bike course in the roads around Mondello, and Paul Carroll put in a big effort to pull away from the rest of the field, and head onto the final 2.5km run with a one minute 40 seconds lead.
Holding his lead comfortably on the second run, current Duathlon National Champ Carroll crossed the line to win Galco Naas Duathlon.
Speaking after the race, Carroll said;
“The guys went off pretty quickly on the first run, and it slowed down a wee bit after the first lap. I managed to get back on then on the second lap, and it seemed to slow down a wee bit then.”
“On the bike, I hadn’t done that course before, it’s a change since the last time, it’s a nice course. It’s twisty, a few ups and downs but not too technical, I managed to put some time into the bike and get onto the last run and held on ok.”
Anthony O’Brien finished second, and Eoin Bailey in third.
Wilson’s Second Mondello Win
Ciara Wilson won at Mondello for the second time this year, leading from the off in a competitive women’s field.
Although Wilson had the lead from the get go, those behind her made sure to apply pressure. Natasha Kelly was 26 seconds down coming into T1 and although she lost some ground on the bike, had the quickest second run of the day in 8:32 to hold second place.
It was between Olivia Moore and Jennifer O’Sullivan for the final spot on the podium. Junior athlete Moore put in the quickest bike split of the field in 37:18 for 20k, and this proved to make all the difference in securing her podium place.
The pair were evenly matched on both runs, just one second separated them into T1 and they ran matching 9:40 splits for the second 2.5 km.
Picture Gallery & Results
Over 300 of Michael Buckley’s images from the event are in our web gallery here.
View the full results on ChipIt
