The sun came out, and so did all the Wextri superstars. Athy was a sea of purple and gold trisuits, with Sean, Gillian and Marie taking on the Double Oly, and Ger, Karen, Miriam, Andrew, George, Pat, Pol, and the Club crash test dummy (me) taking on Oly.
The river was warmish, which came as a surprise, and some great swim times were set by the club, with lots of 25 to 27 minute swims. Heike really is one hell of a swim coach, all the bullying was worth it! She was there keeping an eye on our form, and making sure we all did seal rolls around the bouys. (That works btw).
The big news of the day was Sean beating Bressie in the Double, with a stunning 4.45 finish time, he really did leave it all out on the course, and hasn’t walked properly since, I hear. Marie dealt with a mechanical on the bike in her usual style, by doing the run anyway, smiling and chatting all the way. Gillian looked relaxed and seemed to have fun, and did a solid sub 6 hour double which bodes well for her Challenge Galway in a few weeks.
Us lesser mortals taking on half the distance also put in solid times, in spite of cooking on the run route. Karen and Miriam battled it out minutes apart on the bike, with Karen making up time on the run, and claiming victory. Andrew is showing some promise with a very good time, if he is this good as a rookie, Bressie will have another Wexfordian to worry about. I didn’t crash, which surprised everyone. Ger won her age group, which surprised no one. Strong as one of her horses! George Pat and Pol looked strong, and very relieved as they finished. More good times set, and all in all a great show for the club.
Chilling out on the grass afterwards in blazing sunshine was total craic, and the reason why we do this tri lark.
A great day, some great racing, well done Wextri!!!
Kate