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Causeway Coast Triathlon

RUSSELL OUTMUSCLED IN BEACH TUSSLE

Carl Russell from Portrush was agonisingly beaten in a frantic sprint finish on the East Strand in his home town last Sunday in the inaugural Spar Causeway Coast Triathlon, hosted by the Triangle Triathlon Club. The popular 29 year old owner of Troggs Surf Shop which overlooks the beach in the Portrush Watersports Centre, had led the Olympic distance race of a 1.5 kilometre swim, a 40K bike and a 10K run race from the start of the run section and yet was overhauled in the last few strides by the Olympia Club’s Paul Carroll from Belfast. As Paul gained on Carl with the finish line in sight and with the crowd going ballistic, the beach sand probably felt like quicksand as the two athletes went shoulder to shoulder.

This inaugural race is part of the Decathlon Series featuring 6 spectacular triathlons in 6 scenic locations all over Northern Ireland and was filmed by TV and looked sensational.

The event was the brain child of physiotherapist Adam Wilson who has been planning and plotting this race for the last 9 months. “We were really delighted with the turnout from clubs and athletes from all over the country including Galway, Meath, Carlow, Donegal and London and they all enjoyed a very challenging event on a tough day”. The 120 weekend warriors who assembled on a cold blustery windswept East Strand at 9.00 a.m. certainly thought that the first discipline was challenging. Despite the 1.5K swim being marked with the assistance of a GPS system and huge yellow buoys, the current was such that the wetsuit clad swimmers were all pushed over towards the Arcadia and many struggled in the high surf and 13? water. What made it even more pulse raising for the swimmers was the presence of up to 9 basking sharks in the bay! At the pre-race briefing the race director Adam Wilson pleaded with competitors to urge each other on during the race to encourage their competitors if and also to leave no litter on the beach. The competitors took this to heart and a very sporting day followed for all.

The average time for a swim of this length in benign conditions for elite swimmers is about 20 minutes so it was somewhat of a surprise when the first swimmer took 33 minutes to eventually emerge after 2 laps and it was another surprise to learn that it was former Irish International Ian Lyle from the Hi Elbow Club who was very grateful to pop up unscathed from the white capped waves in a race which saw Mayor Norman Hillis drop the flag to start the event. Ian, who was first across the line at the Irish Championship 10 years ago, was making a competitive return to the sport he so obviously loves and amazed the big crowd of spectators - and himself – by still being in the lead after the next discipline which was a 25 mile bike ride on 2 laps of the Royal Court Hotel, Portrush, Ballybogey Road/Dunluce Castle course. By that stage, old stager Ian and young gun Carl, son of the legendary Charles “Chuck” Russell, had a good 2 minute lead over the chasing pack.

In the meantime in the Woman’s race the Olympia’s Emma Crawford also from a Triathlon family background led out of the water but was overhauled by the Triangle’s Kay Hack. Kay, the Irish ladies 100 mile time trial record holder, demonstrated her obvious class on the bike during the second discipline and came into T2 with a big lead which she never looked like surrendering. Kay came home comfortably in 2 hrs. 33 mins. to win the title in what was a very successful race for the host club whose Alison Rankin won her age group title.

Other TTC competitors taking part included Ronnie Kidd who was 5th home overall for the club in 2:18; Peter Hughes 19th in 2:29; Ashley Moore just behind him; Tony McKenna 24th in 2:32; Rodney Young 26th in 2:34; Peter Cole 36th in 2:42; Kevin Murphy 39th in 2:43; Gavin O’Kane in 2.45; Roger Poland 54th; Paul McLaughlin and Mervyn who all fnished together in 2:47;; Julian Grimes 57th in 2:48; Paul McErlain 69th in 2:56; Philip Magill just behind him; Stephen Morrison 73rd in 2:58; Nicky McBride 89th overall in 3 hrs. 15 mins. and Stephen Graham 96th in 3:18; and Clare Egan 97th in 3:22.

Pride of place goes to those athletes who were doing their first ever open water swim Triathlon including the Club’s Clare Egan and Stephen Morrison. Clare who had survived the claustrophobic – but calm – Crooked Lake Triathlon in Camlough in South Armagh the week before, took to the raging North Atlantic waters like a proverbial duck to water and can be immensely proud of her effort.

Some competitors were unable to complete the swim due to both the swell in the sea and their own internal swell with some suffering from sea sickness, but whoever said Triathlon was meant to be easy!

In one of life’s deep and rich ironies by the time the race welcomed last place finisher over the line some 3 ½ hrs. after the start the sea which had earlier resembled a washing machine on the perpetual spin cycle, was now eerily quiet and resembled a mill pond. All of the competitors who took on the challenge of the weather, the elements, Mother Nature, and their fellow competitors, can rightly look back at last week end with genuine pride in their achievements and accomplishments.

The Triangle Triathlon Club wish to thank all of those people and organisations without whom the event would not have been the undoubted success that it was including Coleraine Borough Council for the facilities particularly Christine; The Bann Wheelers for all their help; Causeway Kaya Club for the vital canoe cover, Sean McGarry and the entire water safety team; Glenn Grant of Champion Chip for the invaluable timing system; the PSNI for ensuring road safety; Triathlon Ireland and their legion of draft busters, officials and the race referee. The club are also particularly grateful to the BBC’s Alan Simpson whose wit and love of all things Portrush shone brightly through the entire event – Alan was so impressed with it that he would be tempted to do next year’s event but says that wet suits are for wimps!

The Club wish to mark its deep gratitude to Adam Wilson, the visionary race director, to Gary Kendall for lots of the planning, the heavy lifting, the drawing of water and the hewing of wood; to the TTC Club members for registration and setting up and dismantling the entire transition area and to 55 Degrees North Restaurant for providing the great after event grub.

The TTC has had many stars in the past including Irish Champions Anne Paul, John Madden, Michael McCarron and Commonwealth Games athletes Mark Tosh and Julie Murphy and their very own Irish record holder Kay Hack. All of them would be delighted with the commitment and class of Carl Russell who was magnanimous in praise of his opponent even after his loss by a few vital centimetres in the first ever Causeway Coast Triathlon. Carl will be hoping to go one better at next year’s race which is sure to be even more popular so why not earmark it as one of your major events for 2011? With stunning scenery, a competitive field, a challenging course and an epic finish on the beautiful East Strand of Portrush, this is going to become one of the most popular races in next year’s calendar. Who needs Escape From Alcatraz when we have the Skerries on our door step!

Results are available here. (right click or option-click the link and choose "Save As..." to download this file.)
Some comments from the competitors:

"On behalf of Hi-Elbow Triathlon Club I would like to congratulate all at TRIANGLE for putting on a great event. We all knew that this would be a tough event and we wouldn't of wanted it any other way. All of us to a man (and woman) have nothing but praise for the way this event was run and we will definately be back for more swimming with basking sharks and of course battling with the North Atlantic Sea. Thanks again for a great event

"Many thanks to you, Adam and the whole team for a wonderful event and a memorable day.....".

"Congratulations on a superb event.I loved every minute of it (including the swim!) Can't wait for next year.".
Photos are now available at: Visual Adventure
Our next event is the Big Splash Sprint Triathlon on Saturday, July 24 at 12:00am, entry is now available via Run Ireland.