Fatigued McCrystal still too strong

IT was back to the Rosewood Country Club on Sunday for the second of Setanta Triathlon Club’s duathlons.

Conditions were cold and testing for all participants, with a torrential downpour late on ensuring athletes had to work hard right to the end.

Bryan McCrystal recorded his second win of the series, coming home with more than 90 seconds to spare over the runner-up Michael Reilly. McCrystal’s superiority on the bike leg was again displayed, with a time of 24:57 posted for the 17km journey. That time was over two minutes quicker than the second fastest time recorded in the race.

Setanta Tri’s Owen Martin finished in third place, while Newry Tri Club’s Finbar McGrady finished fourth. McGrady was second in the first race of the series, but his overall time on Sunday was over one minute faster than that recorded when second last month.

Speaking after the race, McCrystal said: ‘I was racing yesterday at the Walace Caldwell Memorial Race, so my legs were a bit tired. I applied the usual strategy of not getting sucked in and following the leaders on the first run. The An Post Rás begins nine weeks from today and I have more work to do on my road racing, so that’s where my attention will focus for the next while.’

Heather Foley repeated her win of last month in the women’s race, having the luxury of more than two minutes to spare over Siobhan Gallagher.

Foley stated after the race that she found conditions tough. This race followed on from a superb performance the previous weekend where she claimed her third Duathlon National Championship in Galway.

The full list of results can be found by clicking on the following link > http://bit.ly/2mFDxHJ

Setanta would like to thank all the marshals, Rosemount Country Club for use of their facilities, Ruairi Gogarty from Chipit and the Order of Malta.

The third and final race of the series is scheduled for Sunday 23rd April. Details of upcoming events can be found on facebook. com/SetantaTriathlonClub or following @Setantatriclub1