Kenmare Triathlon

Phil01

Hey,

I'm racing the kenmare triathlon this year. Anyone got any tips on it? Swim, Cycle route, hard run?

Philip.

hunnymonster

Phil01 wrote:

Hey,

I'm racing the kenmare triathlon this year. Anyone got any tips on it? Swim, Cycle route, hard run?

Philip.

Hi Philip. I'm also doing it although it doens't look like I'll be able to race it. I've had a bad tummy bug for the last two weeks and have had problems keeping any food down and I feel really ill.:(

Anyway, The cork tri people tell me details of the course are on their website
www.corktri.com
They also have some video clips from last years race that give you some idea of the terrain.

The swim is 1.9 km in the harbour. Last year the tides pushed people a good bit off course so I would err on the side of too much sighting rather than too little. Coming out of the water the rocks are quite slippy which is another thing to watch.

The new bike course is a little short (52 miles compared to standard 56). It wil quite hilly with two main climbs over the Healy pass and the Cahir (sp?) pass. They're not insane though but the descents are very technical (read twisty and dangerous).

The run is pretty straightforward out and back and fairly flat.

If these answers throw up any more specific questions, just let me know.

tunney

The last time I did this race the run was far from straightforward and flat! It was extremely hilly and rather nasty. Thankfully it has changed to what hunnymonster described.

The swim is nice, the water is rather warm and clean. Its a great course for getting on feet and saving alot of time.

The race is billed as a hilly course but being honest its not. I did a few years ago and I had got to the top of the Healy pass and was beginning the descent wondering "Where the f*ck is this Healy pass? I'm not looking forward to that climb". At that stage I was a fairly poor cyclist. The descent off the Healy pass is very technical though. Expect to see a fair few people in the ditch. The descent from the Caha pass is fast fast fast and you can easily spank the last 15 miles home on the bike.

Come self-sufficient with all the drinks and food that you need for the bike and run as the aid stations on this course have not always been reliable.

hunnymonster

tunney wrote:

Come self-sufficient with all the drinks and food that you need for the bike and run as the aid stations on this course have not always been reliable.

ahem, what tunney means is that, one year they decided to be organised early and droped the drinks at their aid station the night before the race. Somebody came accross the stash and nicked them before the race. It's one of those things that have made it to triathlon folklore and I'm sure there will be a joke about it at the race briefing.

But as he said, better to be prepared than sorry. Depending on the temperature and your speed, two 750 ml bottles might see you through? The last half ironman I did was Ireman and that's what I did and it was fine for me.

tunney

That was what was talking about. Wasn't funny at the time.

Regardless I know I'll have everything I need for the bike on my bike.

Phil01

lol...
The cycle sounds good... i like a few climbs... it makes it less boring... i'm more worried about hills in the run but if its fairly flat that will do me nicely...!!
I'll have a couple gels on the bike and that should sort me out for the run too. I wont be carrying water on the run though... i'll put my faith in the aid stations...

hunnymonster

Two of the races I did this year (Kilkee and Mourne) ran out of water on the run. In fairness to the organisers they did what they could to improve the situation. In Kilkee the drove up the head with bottles of water and in mourne the draftbusters were econded to bring it to the hill on that course. What I sometimes do it leave a spare bottle of water in T2. I grab it when I'm running out, take a good swig and that does me for the 10 km.