Sarah Kennedy - Tri-Athy 2024 Sprint Race Report

Say what you will about a sprint race but they absolutely take it out of a new triathlete. This year’s race was held on June 1st, hard to follow the scorching weather of last year, this year a grey enough day, but warm.

Athy was my first race last year, and I was thrilled to finish it, but after a full year of club training, a weekend training camp in Portugal and a few more races under my belt, I set out this year with something to prove.

Club support was amazing this year as always, great turnout from 3D represented across Sprint, Olympic and Double Olympic. A shoutout to Kevin Kennedy, every single 3D member was dressed in gear, which was the ultimate boost going into the race.

Into the water and it was FREEZING this year, rolling start 2 at a time it was in and GO. Small buoys meant it hard to see but in fairness to Athy canoeing club on the safety they kept us well on track. 250m against the current while warming up and adjusting to the weather is a tall ask, but once you’re around that buoy as coach Sean would say it’s “balls to the wall” for 500m with the current, this felt like a breeze after a year of tough sessions with Danny and Sean.

Onto the bike I spent most of the cycle watching out for 3D colours, getting such a boost when I heard “go 3D” from all sides heading out!! The cycle in Athy is “flat” but there were a few hairy moments. By 5k in I knew I had my time beaten from last year if I kept my pace, which gave me such a boost, and a lot of it down to me actually knowing gearing and having toe pedals- thanks again Coach Sean!!

Crowd support is like nowhere else in Athy, and T2 and the run started better than I’ve ever felt, moving easily after the cycle. I settled into a rhythm at my 10k pace for a kilometre, and after 2k started to speed up, passing Cathal on the run in the longer race reminding me I had it easy with only 2.5 to go. I started to go for speed with 750m to go, but the legs felt good and I was raging I didn’t go harder sooner- that’s the learning you get from races! As someone who couldn’t run 5k 14 months ago, I was thrilled to finish on a sprint, and the support was unreal coming into the square in Athy, with all my teammates waiting at the finish, a sight I won’t easily forget. I finished with 1:43, a 19:51 minute improvement on last year, and let’s just say that for a slow cyclist/runner, I was thrilled. Ellen won AG 2nd and came overall 3rd in the race, Calais completed her first ever triathlon, Caitriona posted 2nd AG in the Olympic, and we had over 10 3Ders (almost 20% of the club!!) turnout on the day for what was an inspiring weekend for 3D! #3Dabú