Beast of the East

milligank

I check today... 152 days till the event.

AND ITS FULL !!!!

GoHardOrGoHome

milligank wrote: »

I check today... 152 days till the event.

AND ITS FULL !!!!

I think that's just the website from last year. Don't think it's open for registration yet (I hope!).

911sc

DEFO last year web site...the 18th July is a Saturday this year, while it is marked as Friday on their web.

911sc

I would like to hear from those who did it last year.
Looks like i will not get into Athlone Olympic, hence this one could be my backup.

Any of you doing it?
Is it a well organised events?
Do they use chip timing?

interested

911sc wrote: »

I would like to hear from those who did it last year.
Looks like i will not get into Athlone Olympic, hence this one could be my backup.

Any of you doing it?
Is it a well organised events?
Do they use chip timing?

Im doing it.
From what I heard it was one of the best organised races in the calendar last year. Ive previously done the Bray sprint distance that was organised by WTC and was well impressed with the organisation and marshalling.
Yep - timing chips are employed.

I was away last year and missed this race. Its in a fantastic location. From what I heard its not a course where you'll be doing your best splits since its challenging in terms of hills but it was widely reported as one of the most fun races of the year.

Hopefully someone who's actually done it will reply and offer a more informed opinion

Theres also an Olympic distance event on the 23rd of August down in Courttown under the Eireman umbrella thats gonna be on closed roads that might suit.

snack_ie

I did it last year, and yeah it was a brilliant race and really well organised.
I have never seen as many marshals for one race as last year.

Swim: The swim was a bit longer than 1500m last year - fastest split was 26min I think. Its was rectangular anticlockwise course in Lough Dan, open water mass start.

Bike The bike has one short sharp hill at about 1km out towards Roundwood, swing right, then follows the main road out through Laragh, do a U turn, and then back through Laragh, then swing a left up another very short and sharp hill and then there is a bit of a hairy decent back into transition.

Run The run has got the same very steep hill as in the bike and some other long drags in it too. Its tough but fair.

Its a quality race, would recommend it to anyone. The location at Lough Dan is second to non and there was a post race barbaquee included too which went down a treat.

Abhainn

I was away last year and missed this race. Its in a fantastic location. From what I heard its not a course where you'll be doing your best splits since its challenging in terms of hills but it was widely reported as one of the most fun races of the year.

Entry is full for non T1 members and only a few places left for TI members.
I did it last year, "fun" it is not. Its a bit of a brut, one of the toughest tri's on the island. So if its tough you want this is it.
Its well organised, in a great setting.
And if any of your female friends like Craig Doyle this is the place to oogle over him as he hosted the event last year. (He's a member of Wickow tri club I think).

I'm back this year for my sins again;)

Poncherello

It was my first Olympic last year and found it very tough. I hadnt done much cycling hills and paid for it on the cycle. That hill out of transition on the run is very tough too. I would highly recommend doing a brick session on the course beforehand.

I would echo the sentements above about the quality of organisation, best race I have done by far. And it was their first year doing it so I would expect even better this year. Everything from the Goody bag to the barbeque after was top notch.
Lovely finishing area by the lake ideal for family to hang around waiting for you.
Really looking forward to it not a bit surprised it has sold out.

Izoard

I think the distance was OK for the swim last year, the slower times were more a factor of the wind out on the lough.

I know a few who've done both BotE and HotW/Kilkee and reckoned BotE was significantly harder.

The last climb on the bike and the first 2km on the run...killer!

However, it is a great tri and it was top of my tri-list (well, Eireman full distance was, but I quickly downgraded to the half:-) for 2009.

trinewbie

I did BOTE last year aswell, and echo the sentiments of it being a quality race. Marshalling was top class, and I was seriously impressed by the professionalism of the whole event. It was also a nice change to get a race t shirt that fits properly and looks well.

The first hill that you go up out of T1 and T2 is a pincher alright, really steep but short, its no fun at the start of the bike when your legs are still frozen. the first 2k on the bike is a little dodgy due to road surface and ramps, as is the last 1k descent back to lough dan...the stretch from Lynams in Laragh down towards the turnaround near Rathdrum is a great section in both directions, slight,y undulating in places but a great surface...the last climb over brockagh lower is not too bad so long as you have not overcooked it on the bike..

The run as Snack says is tough but fair, and the grass finish chute back towards the lake is great....

Probably my favorite race of last year,

GoHardOrGoHome

I got the seventh last place. Just six remaining now.

Looked back at my diet this week and discovered that I had 3 McDonalds breakfasts there. Not good. Time for some penance.

This is a tough tri!

911sc

GoHardOrGoHome wrote: »

Just six remaining now.

At most 5 remaining now... I am in.

GoHardOrGoHome

911sc wrote: »

Is it a well organised event?

It's really well organised. They had well spaced and individually numbered bike slots in transition and we all had the use of a crate for all our stuff. I was very impressed with the whole organisation. Also, the food at the end is fantastic.

It's a great finish area and I was not alone in finishing the run and going pretty much straight into Lough Dan to sit down in the lovely cold water. Starting the muscle recovery straight away. Nice.

savaloy

911sc wrote: »

At most 5 remaining now... I am in.

And then there were 4 entered this last night - sounds like a great race

clopd

Just wondering if anyone is planning a training session on the course in the next few weeks - it might be an idea to post it here on this thread.

I will deffo get out on the bike course - not sure dates or times yet - but will be back in touch.

Feeling a bit daunted by the prospect - but have set this race as a major build up for Gaelforce so no backing out.

911sc

Got an email from the Race Committee of Wicklow Triathlon Club. Great.:)

Also got the personal email address of the other 200 or so competitors. Not so great.
So had to scroll down few screens to get to the start of the email content.

Then add to download a 3.9Mbytes attachment that contains the following 399words/1938characters which should be 3k Bytes of data! :mad:

Wicklow Triathlon Club look forward to welcoming you to the garden county for our second annual Olympic distance Triathlon.
Following the enormous success of last years’ event, we have decided to keep our routes the same this year. I know that any of you returning for a second time were particularly fond of the small hills that we were able to include!!!

A full race briefing will be sent out closer to the race date, in the meantime please take note of the following:

Important safety notice
The bike route will end with a steep descent of approx 150m to Lough Dan. Riders must slow down on this stretch and there will be NO passing allowed. Please keep this in mind and be prepared to follow the instructions of our marshals on the day.

Important Social notice
We’re anticipating fantastic weather, so please bring along plenty of family and friends to support. Lough Dan is in a spectacularly scenic setting. We will have a bouncy castle for the kids, drinks and snacks will be available throughout and once again, we have organised a scrumptious post race BBQ. This is provided to all competitors with compliments from Wicklow Triathlon Club and is available at very reasonable rates to spectators.
Please stay around after the race for our prize giving – we have a range of prizes for overall winners, age group winners and for fastest split times. It may be YOU…
Registration this year will take place in the Glenview Hotel. Full directions on our race website.
Hope the training is going well, you may find the following race day check list
helpful to ensure you don’t leave home without anything essential.

Looking forward to seeing you on the day,
Race Committee, Wicklow Triathlon Club

Race day Check List:
TI membership card
Directions to race
Wallet
Energy bars/sweets
Energy drinks
Heart rate monitor
Inhaler
Suncream
Vaseline
Wetsuit
Tri-suit
Sports bra (ladies only!)
Goggles
Spare Goggles
Ear Plugs
Nose Clip
Body Glide
Anti-fog Solution
Flip flops
Swim Suit
Swim cap(normally provided, you may want to wear 2)
Race Belt
Basin
Towel
Bike
Cycling Shoes
Socks
Helmet
Sunglasses
Spare tube
Co2 Cartridges
Pump
Tire levers
Water bottles – filled
Sun Hat or Visor
Runners with quick laces
Rain gear

911sc

Had a go at mapping the cycle and run course on mapmyrun.com, based on route description on BOTE website.
Not sure this is 100% accurate, but here you go

Cycle

Run

Poncherello

I did a dry run a couple of weeks ago and was eaten alive my flies/midgets. Bring some repellant with you !
Pretty sure the bike is short approx 38.8K and it essentially finishes at 33K. After that road quality very poor and you wont really be making up much time/places IMO.

Abhainn

Poncherello wrote: »

Pretty sure the bike is short approx 38.8K and it essentially finishes at 33K. After that road quality very poor and you wont really be making up much time/places IMO.

Bike last year was just short of 39k.
IMO the bike starts right at 33k. That 2k section will test all and places can be gained / lost there. Average KM/h will definately go down from there to T2

Poncherello

yeah what I meant was after that climb it finishes around 33-34K give or take

savaloy

911sc wrote: »

Had a go at mapping the cycle and run course on mapmyrun.com, based on route description on BOTE website.
Not sure this is 100% accurate, but here you go

Cycle

Run

Thanks for that - the elevation for the last section of the bike looks pretty tasty. Nothing like a quad sapping finish to the bike section to set you for an uphill start for a run LOL ;-)

cantswim

Having done this route yesterday I think the hill right at the start is worse. At least with the hill at 32/33k the legs are warmed up etc.

Poncherello

Race Briefing has been sent out
Couple of changes from last year

1. Transition is right beside the lake which means you have a 300m jog with your bike before mount/dismount line. Last year this surface was grass.
If its wet and people intend running in their cycling shoes it could cause problems with mud getting inside your cleats. I am assumming they are not going to put down 300m of carpet !

2. There are 2 wave starts 5 mins apart. No indication how they are splitting the waves. Not sure I like the sound of this. Is 5 mins not a bit close to first wave especially if there will be stronger swimmers in 2nd wave ?

After last years race I would have confidence in these guys addressing these issues tho.

Abhainn

Ya interesting stuff Poncherello. I don't fancy running 300m out of T1 and back into T2 in my bike shoes.

They must think last years transition area will not be large enough for this years numbers which is approx doubled. I think there is more space there than what we had in Tri Athy this year, which had to cater for 900 more.

1. I wonder will the swim be the 1500m? Some say last year it was long.
2.Will they have brought forward the turnaround point in the run too?
3. They may split the swim waves into
a) male
b) female incl older age group both sexes?