Peninsula Sea Sprint 2023
The weather could not have been better on Sunday 27th August, as 37 elite DTC athletes arrived en masse for the annual Sprint distance triathlon organised by the Peninsula Tri Club - although spectators would have been forgiven for mistaking this race as a DTC organised one, given the utter dominance of black and yellow.
More than 250 triathletes from across Ireland lined up to swim in Dee harbour, following a relatively simple out and back course awaiting. With local celebrity journalist Mark Simpson acting as compere, including various unprovoked episodes of dad-dancing, the atmosphere was great and the swim passed without incident.
The bike course involved two loops, with a sprint almost as far as Groomsport, before turning back towards Donaghadee. An unwelcome headwind greeted cyclists as they headed out on a gentle incline, before picking up speed after the turn back towards Donaghadee.
Whether cyclists were on their first or second loop determined the direction of travel at a junction as athletes neared transition, with some confusion and a lack of any signage indicating this enabling Cathy Flinn to enjoy the screams of "first lady home!!", before realising her error. Next year Cathy!
Screams of a different kind were heard as Aoife and Shona collided due to further confusion at that junction, although thankfully no serious injuries were suffered, and Aoife's drinking arm is in full working order again.
The run section took athletes around the lighthouse and commons area, and the "light touch" approach to marshalling led to a variety of routes actually being run, with almost no one running exactly 5k and many confused looks as people other than Conaill approached the finish line in blistering times. Kevin Kelly was almost in contention for the Ireland team for Paris after completing the run in less than 8 minutes! Due to a mysterious combined Garmin/Strava/Apple/Suunto/Polar temporary and localised 'outage', a veil has now been drawn over this run and it will never be mentioned again, except in The Barn every week.
Overall, DTC again had a very successful outing, with Conaill MacNabb making the podium in 3rd place, only one second off 2nd, and everyone (except Aoife) enjoying the event as well as the excellent and varied post-race refreshments in Donaghadee sailing club.
As triathlon season nears the end, the frantic last minute search for one last race continues, and an even greater DTC turnout is expected in Castlewellan for the Mourne Sprint with 43 members currently signed up, a figure than most clubs in Ireland can only dream of!
By John Taylor