Hazelwood Olmpic Triathlon

68 lost souls

Has any one done this race before, I'll be there his weekend and got the briefing last night, trying to decide on footwear for the run, it mentioned that there is a compacted trail for the run. Should I be looking at trail runners (mizuno Mujin), racing shoes (musha 4), or my cushioned training runners (Wave Rider 19)?

Begs

68 lost souls wrote: »

Has any one done this race before, I'll be there his weekend and got the briefing last night, trying to decide on footwear for the run, it mentioned that there is a compacted trail for the run. Should I be looking at trail runners (mizuno Mujin), racing shoes (musha 4), or my cushioned training runners (Wave Rider 19)?

I've not done it before so I'm bringing both trail and normal running shoes-not that it'll make much odds to my time! I'll decide once I've checked it out on the morning of the race. It's been dryish so I can't imagine the mud being too bad.

joey100

I'm doing it too, never done it before but I'll be wearing my flats for it. It's a flat loop, might be a bit mucky but don't think trail shoes will save you much time. I raced DCT in the lashing rain on the old course and don't think I gave up much, if any, time because I wore the flats. Meant to be compacted muck and gravel so I reckon it be ok.

Scarlet42

I ran the loop twice on Sunday .. its well sheltered and not mucky at all .. but bike is a bit of a killer and it doesn't help that Sligo CoCo just put a new hard core topping on some of the roads.

joey100

How much of the roads have the new surface on it? Do you know where on the course it is?

Scarlet42

not sure hows much has been done .. but there is two places ... both on the last 5-10k .. first place is on the way from Calry to Sligo town - (the R278) and its on a fairly fast place .. wee bit scary coming into it at speed..its just before you turn left to head back towards (r286) Hazelwood ... then maybe about 100 meters from there it starts again right up until the right turn into Hazelwood.

https://www.google.ie/maps/@54.2766623,-8.4366344,16z

boysinblack

Did it last year. Punctured on the bike but did a warmup on the run route, Defo advise trail runners it's very stony in places. I was very worried about racing in flats on it on the day. Thought the surface on the bike was grand.

Boardcore

Hi all,
you'll easily get away with flats on the run.
It's compact under foot, it is the forest floor so you need to keep an eye for the odd tree root.

The bike course will be road sweeped tomorrow, so any loose chips should be removed.
Recommend driving the decent between 34-37km to give yourself an idea of what's coming up.

68 lost souls

Thanks for the feedback all. Heading up tomorrow after work so will see if there is much light by the time I get there to check it out. Looking forward to the race.

Joey I'm sure I can have a selection of shoes in transition and sure you'll be finished when I'm coming into T2 so you can let me know :P

joey100

Hoping to get to drive that section boardcore but is there anything in particular about it that makes it stand out? Have done the course on google maps, hard to get an idea of gradient but doesn't look too steep and is a pretty straight run in, one or two bends but doesn't look too bad. Cheers for the info.

P2C

I helped with the design of the course and its some of my regular training roads. Its a bikers course and if your weak on the bike you be found out. Its a rolling course with some short sharp climbs and short descents. The hardest part of the course is about mid way. You do a 180 degree turn at Drumahair and its a 4k draggy hill. Then you descend pretty much back into Sligo. I think the top bikers were about 1:03 last year so overall its fast enough. Sligo Co Co have just swept the newly laid chip so there at least are no loose chippings. Although they use a heavy chip and it can be shaky. Its all laid in the last 7k. There are a good few technical sweeping turns that could be taken in the TT position if your familiar with the route but if not sure your defo sitting up. One of the turns is famous for a world rally driver hitting the wall.

The run paths last year were freshly laid. This year they spread a really fine chip on the trails and we do lots of long runs, bricks and training on the trail. I dont use trail shoes even through the winder. Its not compacted mud its all chipping. Some of the bigger stones from last year have come through the fine chip but in general its in excellent condition.

68 lost souls

Thanks P2C very imformative. Is this the course?

http://www.mapmyride.com/ie/sligo-c/hazelwood-olympic-distance-bike-route-26040260
EDIT: Wrong route

P2C

Yes same course. We ran a few training races on the same course years ago and that is the one.

Begs

P2C wrote: »

Yes same course. We ran a few training races on the same course years ago and that is the one.

That doesn't look like the course on the briefing. When I open the link it shows the route going through Sligo town?

joey100

I got the same thing Begs, doesn't look like the course at all on the site or briefing. Course on the site seems to stay north of the lake and come back to T2 through Calry.

68 lost souls

Begs wrote: »

That doesn't look like the course on the briefing. When I open the link it shows the route going through Sligo town?

Begs I think your right, its a similar route. Been trying to track down a file from someone that may have done it last year but no luck yet. Should be manageable any way, just like to check it out on Garmin or Strava normally before hand.

P2C

joey100 wrote: »

I got the same thing Begs, doesn't look like the course at all on the site or briefing. Course on the site seems to stay north of the lake and come back to T2 through Calry.

Apologies lads your right its a completely different course on map my ride. I just glanced at the link as was in the middle of something else. I will and search a file from my own accounts

P2C

Here is a link to the course on my garmin connect account. It starts and finishes at my house. The route starts closer to town where you will see the line going down into the forest. The start point on the file is six miles into the course

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1153361535

68 lost souls

Think I have it https://www.strava.com/activities/666943593


Apparently there is a Strava Segment for it https://www.strava.com/segments/14887636

Begs

This looks like it.

https://www.strava.com/segments/14887636

68 lost souls

Thanks to all the marshalls, TOs and race organizers. Was a great race, road surface wasnt as bad as I thought it could have been with the resurfacing and the sweeping must have helped there a bit.

Swim was well supported by kayakers and an amazing venue for it.

I ran with my flats in the end which for the most part worked out ok, my foot would have appreciated a bit more supported. Plenty of aid on the run with 3 water and gel stations that were well manned. Perhaps one suggestion for improvement on that would be more smaller bottles. By the time some athletes were on the second and third lap there was no water bottles left but there were plenty of bottles more than half full strewn across the track and I saw a few people picking these up and drinking out of them and I passed my bottle on m second lap to a few people that looked like they needed. Not meant to sound like I'm giving out more constructive criticism for next year.

Transition could have done with a bit more space between bikes as they were very bunched up. Perhaps taking a bit of extra space fro mthe bag drop and a few other spots like that could help open it up. Was nice having the finish, food, support etc in such close proximity so you still had people around the finish for the later finished as people were getting food and chilling out, Ive been at races where the atmosphere around the finish dies down towards the end of the race but it was still going strong.

I'd definitely be recommending the race to people , well done!

The Scullster

Have to agree with 68 lost souls. This was a very good race. Well organised and scenic location. I struggled on the course but really enjoyed it. Well done Sligo triathlon club!

joey100

For a man who said he struggled on the course it was a great performance Scullster! Do you think you could have caught Aichlinn on a good day?

Another big plus from me for the race. Very well organised, a bit of confusion at the swim briefing but was cleared up and made sense. Lovely open swim, testing bike course and a good run course. Great atmosphere around the race, no doubt the good weather helped but it was one of the better races I've done. Even with the chippings on the course (completely outside the control of Sligo Tri club) it was still a good bike course. It will be one I'm hopefully putting into my race plan for next year. The only negative for me was the space in transition, I think it's the tightest one I've ever been in, but that's as much down to the size of the car park it's held in than anything else. Well done Sligo, a great race and a great price for it too.

Begs

I also have to say a very well done to Sligo TC on a great event. Great location, course, and price. I'll definitely be back to do it again next time, not least because I had a disaster of a race! My goggles repeatedly fogged up which drove me continually off course - lesson learned for next time.

The Scullster

joey100 wrote: »

For a man who said he struggled on the course it was a great performance Scullster! Do you think you could have caught Aichlinn on a good day?

Aichlinn is in a different class, so no, it would have to be a day where he blows up. I can certainly close the gap a little, as the body wasn't right after a France trip. Twas a bit embarrassing so just need to stop with the excuses and start working harder.

joey100

2nd Overall and a low 2hour Olympic, wouldn't call that embarrassing at all. Fair play. Did your bro have a puncture of something on the bike? Normally he would be in a good bit ahead of me, was surprised to see him cross after me.

The Scullster

joey100 wrote: »

Did your bro have a puncture of something on the bike? Normally he would be in a good bit ahead of me, was surprised to see him cross after me.

Nope, just a poor performance. Can't put my finger on what is going wrong for him on the bike. He should be close to my bike time but was 12 minutes down. He did the rás 3 years ago and finished well up in that. A1 class cyclist, but feels like his legs are going to sleep on the tt bike so can't generate power. Add to that dead-ish legs from his recent Marmotte France trip and you get a slow time. Think he is hanging up the boots for good after that performance!

Well done with your own performance.

joey100

Cheers, not a bad performance alright, but you were closer to Aichlinn than I was to you

I thought something must have happened your bro, he well beat me in Laois earlier this year so was surprised with his time. Hopefully it's just one of them things and he gets back to it soon, even if it does move me one place down!

Julidoherty

Hi 5 years later!!

Just wondering about doing this course as a first time Olympic course... I have done a few Sprints but I am very very slow. Normally in the last 5 names on the results table.. But i'd like to push myself to do a longer distance. Would this be a good one to Tri?

I had hoped to do the Belfast Titanic Triathlon but it doesn't look like it is running this year.

woody1

Hazelwood is supposed to be a very well ran race, i havent done it but clubmates have and i have heard good reports back about it