Sun Shines for Hardman Waterville Half
A scorching hot day in Kerry saw 200 athletes tackle the scenic swim, bike and run courses at the middle distance Hardman Waterville Half.
Flat calm waters and blue skies greeted the triathletes as they entered the water off Waterville beach at 10am, signalling the start of a great day of triathlon.
Waterville is an incredibly scenic, and spectator friendly, event. The crowds cheering runners on the promenade throughout the afternoon is testament to this.
Let’s have a look at how the action unfolded…
Heather O’Brien takes First Triathlon National Series Win
With a swim of 32:11, Ciara Greene led the women’s event out of the water. Rolling start or no rolling start, Greene’s swim was the fastest of the field by a long way. Kate Brooks was second into the first transition, and Piranha Tri Club’s Marta Drozdz third.
The challenging bike course was always going to play a big part in how today’s events unfolded, and this rang true for the women’s race.
Putting in 3:19:56 on the bike, Mallow’s Heather O’Brien overtook all those ahead of her to move into a comfortable lead, completing half of her first lap before the next athlete entered the run course. That athlete was Wexford Triathlon Club’s Shelley Atkins. The pair had a similar battle just a few weeks ago at Metalman Tri, both finishing inside the top ten for eighth and ninth.
While Atkins was moving faster on the run, Heather O’Brien managed to do enough in the tough conditions to hang on to her lead, taking her first ever triathlon win in 6:04:28. Shelley Atkins was second in 6:10:50.
Tralee Tri Club’s Ailis Brosnan showed her strength on the run, moving further up the field on each lap and reaching third in the closing stages of the race, finishing in 6:30:26.
Higgins Handles the Heat
Despite loosing his hydration bottles on the early part of the bike course, David Higgins led from the rolling start to the finish line to win the 2022 Hardman Watervile Half.
Higgins had a blistering 27:33 swim for the fastest in the field, followed by Conor Mullany who was fresh from his Hell of the West podium finish last weekend. Donncha Kiely was third out of the water 23 seconds back.
The single loop 94km bike lay ahead. A bike course where there are no free kilometres, over 1500 metres of elevation, and two mountain passes to deal with. It really is epic!
On the bike Higgins solidified his lead, bettering the rest of the field by over five minutes. Paul Ogle from Waterford was the next into T2, followed by Donncha Kiely and Michael Keogh just 10 seconds apart. Kiely didn’t continue onto the run, meaning Keogh took over the third spot at this point.
The four lap run course in Waterville means athletes can see exactly where those ahead of, and behind, them are on the road. Michael Keogh figured out the gap to those ahead, and got to work. Keogh overtook Ogle in the early stages and looked to be running comfortably throughout despite the hot conditions. Closing in on Higgins in first, Michael closed a 12 minute gap all the way to two and a half minutes by the time he crossed the finish line. Keogh finished second today at his sixth time racing the event.
David Higgins wins in 4:55:09, Michael Keogh second in 4:57:38, Paul Ogle third in 5:00:49.
Galleries & Results
Full results are available from Sports Timing here.
We will have galleries from today’s event on our website shortly.
