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16th April
Duathlon Coleraine

7th May
Aquathlon, Ballymoney

14th May
Triathlon
Magherafelt

24th May

Roe Valley Sprint Triathlon


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Calendar:

The Triangle triathlon calendar lists all events going on in the club, plus other events from the Triathlon Ireland  and NIAF calendar.

Swim Smooth
If you missed the DVD presentation By Stewart, then the DVD is available to borrow from the club


55 degrees north
55 Degrees North




Northwest Duathlon

Well what else would you do on a spring Sunday morning when the winds are coming straight out of the arctic at 30mph, the showers are loaded with hail and your ‘man bits’ are lodged somewhere between your navel and their normal resting place in a search for body temperature? I tried to persuade Kay over breakfast – ‘the course will be too dangerous in that wind’, ‘we could get a nice steady ride on the mtbs and find shelter from the wind in the forest’, blah, blah, blah - all in vain. ‘Come on Gary its only 2 mile, 10 mile, 1.5 mile’. Now any of you who know Kay may be able to interpret this statement: it really should read “I’m doing it and so are you, end of story”.

So straight after breakfast there I am taking the pedals off one of the kids bikes and putting them on my bike. We arrived at Templemore in good time but the race start was delayed as the course is unsafe (I choked back the ‘I told you so’) and they re-routed the bike course to make it safer. The net result of the “health and safety” re-route was that we went straight into the wind rather than have sidewinds (now isn’t that better – not).

The good thing about Triangle TC is that you can usually rely in other club members being as foolish as yourself and the other fools (I meant athletes) amongst the 51 starters were Alastair Bratton, ‘fresh’ from a cycling road race the previous day, Colin Loughery, Simpson McGrath, Rodney Young, Gavin O’Kane and Nicky McBride. Eamonn Coulhoun entered as part of a team relay.

The first run comprised of three laps of a small circuit (which, to my delight, seemed short). I ‘decided’ to give the bulk of the field a head start by running as hard as I could (they all seemed to be running on a conveyor belt that helped them get away from me). By the time I got to the first transition some superhero had knocked my helmet off my bike and it had blown across the grass into the fence. I therefore scrambled across the grass (in a very athletic style you will ,of course, appreciate) and started my cycle sporting muddy knees (just like you see on the front cover of the Irish edition of the  220).

The cycle was great. All those triathletes had stuck it in the big ring and many were duly overtaken by yours truly who twiddled in his wee ring (oh eh matron). All was looking up as I mashed a big gear homeward with the road rushing under my front wheel. But calamity Kendall struck yet again as I sped up the slip road they had warned us against during the race briefing – yes I had gone off course. This act only confirmed my feeling that I was a fool to do this event. I pulled my feet out of the kiddy pedals and lifted my bike to make the run back to get onto the race route. Personally I would like to shirk off my mistake by blaming Peter Jack. The run-bike-run-bike-run duathlon format is bound to have been his lunatic idea and he must have been able to plant this seed in my subconscious when I had too much to drink at his 50th birthday (will I get away with this excuse – perhaps not?).

Into transition and the second run. I came into transition with Alastair Bratton and watched as he got on the same conveyor belt that the other competitors had used in the first run. Luckily I found the conveyor on the second lap and I was soon home and finished throwing my hands in the air as I crossed the line (whether this was a victory salute or throwing my hands up in desperation and despair I cannot honestly say).

Whilst I had an eventful event the other Triangle triathletes were busy racing and finished strongly, achieving a good level of success and providing a good showing for the club.

Now – most important first (she made me put this in) – Kay Hack won the Ladies vet age group and was second overall. Colin Loughery was first male vet (finishing 6th individual overall) and Alastair Bratton also was placed as third male vet. Eamonn Coulhoun and his team mate C Sandy came in first team and (first finishers).