Results from today’s Fingal Duathlon at the Ring Common Sports Center in Balbriggan, where Cian Delaney added another victory to a successful first duathlon season.  Irish Triathlon junior squad member Laura Casey was close to being run down by fast finishing vet  Helen White (Sportsworld Running Club), but held on to the lead she created on the hilly cycle course.

Race Report by Fingal Tri’s Dave Russell.

“It was a case of “catch me if you can” as both the men and ladies race were led from start to finish. Over 100 athletes were again graced with the splendid weather as the second Fingal Tri Club Duathlon. Some were still nursing hangovers from St Patrick’s day while others were looking forward to seeing Ireland beat England in rugby, the pre-race talk was about the hill that the athletes had to conquer twice en route to finishing the race.

The men’s race was dominated by local club member, Cian Delaney. In only his first full year, Cian is beginning to become accustomed to a number of top 5 and top ten finishes in the Naas Duathlons while also winning race one of the Sportman’s Duathlon in Dundalk. He will be one to watch at the Irish National Duathlon Champs in Burnfoot, Co. Donegal in a couple of weeks while also taking on the Europeans in Limerick on April 16th.

After the first 2.5km run, Cian had already opened up a gap of 27 seconds over the next 5 competitiors as Ciaran Steed, Jude McEntee, Craig Longmore, Dave Barry and Dinny Collins gave chase. A further 10 seconds back came Barry Hughes and Damian Kelly with Peter Murtagh and Neil Kelly rounding out the top ten.

After lap one of the cycle, the gap stayed the same as the top two, Delaney and Steed battled it out. Further down the top ten, Longmore, both Kellys, Hughes & Murtagh were fighting it out for the last podium place. Upon entering T2, the gap still hadn’t changed and it was now Delaney’s race to lose and Steed pushed to make up the advantage lost after the first run. Longmore followed closely only a further 10 secs back, whilst the two Kellys were a further 40 secs down waiting for any mistake from the leaders.

There was to be no miracle for Steed as Cian Delaney increased his lead by a further 10 secs and cue first pumping as he crossed the line in 50:36. Ciaran Steed followed in 2nd place in 51:10 while Craig Longmore held on for 3rd place a further 30secs back in 51:40. The top 5 was rounded out by Damian Kelly and Neil Kelly whilst Barry Hughes, Peter Murtagh, Dave Barry, Jude McEntee & another Fingal tri Club member, Dinny Collins, tidied up the top 10.

The ladies races was a lot closer after the 1st run. Youth Olympian and Irish Development squad member Laura Casey held a 2 sec lead over Helen White who is almost 30 years older than Casey. Over a minute down in 3rd and 4th were Breda Dawe and Fingal Tri Club member, Paula Fitzsimons, while Ciara Kerrigan and another two Fingal Tri Club ladies, Mary Crosbie and Caroline Boardman rounded out the top seven between 30 and 90 secs back.

After lap one of the cycle, Casey had increased her lead to 10 secs but White was still in the hunt. Dawe had increased her lead over Fitzsimons for 3rd whilst the others were fighting for the minor places. Entering T2, the gap for the lead had increased to 20 secs as Casey sprinted back out onto the run course. White closely tracked her and the crowd wondered if the experienced athlete could catch Casey down the final stretch. Dawe had made 3rd place her own a minute down on the top two but over 3 mins ahead of the chasing Fingal Tri Club trio who were only 2 secs apart. Kerrigan followed a further 2 mins back after losing a lot of time on the cycle.

Whilst White managed to claw back 6 secs, it was not enough to beat Laura Casey who finished 15th overall in a time of 58:34. Helen White managed 16th overall in 58:52 while Breda Dawe took her place on the podium with a time of 1:02:26. Club bragging rights were to 4th place finisher Paula Fitzsimons while Ciara Kerrigan put in a great 2nd run to leap frog the fading duo of Caroline Boardman and Mary Crosbie.

Fingal Triathlon Club would like to thank all athletes for making the day so enjoyable and a big thanks goes out to our race sponsors, Amphibian King, TMG Cycles, Zone 3 & Power Bar. Our next race is the Balbriggan Summer Fest Triathlon on Saturday May 28th. For more info please check out www.fingaltri.ie”

Women's podium (L to R): 2nd Helen White (Sportsworld Running Club), 1st Laura Casey, 3rd Breda Dawe (Setanta Tri)

Photos and videos.

A few photos and videos from the Fingal Duathlon are on 2Wheels facebook page.

More Photos on the Reflex action photogaphy Facebook page.

Results

Fingal Duathlon results in excel format.