Eireman X Race Report

The inaugural “Eireman X off road Triathlon” took place today in Courtown in Co. Wexford, Ireland.

The race was a sprint format with a 750 Meter Sea swim, followed by a 10k (two lap) Mountain biking course (with river crossings) and finally a 5k run that took place on trails and through Rivers. (Yes, that’s right, more rivers!)
We headed to the transition area and joined the other masochists setting up for the morning ahead. Mountain bikes of different types were the main weapon of choice for the day, but several hybrids and even a road bike were spotted on the racks.
For those who are not familiar with Courtown the area is the ideal site for an off-road triathlon. Forest trails littered with gullies, streams and rivers hug the coastline, adjacent to the small town.
The sun was shining and we had no more excuses to avoid the cold water, and it made clear by the organisers to all participants that the water was indeed frigid and they who stood at the start line did so under their own steam!

There was a bit of confusion at the beginning of the swim, as along with the fog-horn signal, swimmers could vaguely made out the screams of people shouting “Go!” (or was it no?). Nevertheless the race began and off we went towards the one and only buoy we needed to reach. After a while the water lost its bite and the swimmers settled into their respective paces.

From the water we race onto the beach and up a large sand dune to transition. Bikes were grabbed and off we went on the first leg of the bike section. We ran with our bikes a short distance through the sand to the first river, where we put the bikes on our shoulders and waded through the waist deep, cold water. Once on the other side we had only a few more meters to struggle before entering the forest section of the course.
The bike section was comprised of a mixture of muddy trails, steep but short climbs, long fast descent and a couple of technical parts (where most had to dismount briefly). At the beginning and end of each lap, racers had to cross the beach river again before tackling that energy sapping sand dune! The constant bursts of speed needed to climb followed immediately by either technical portions or fast descents, made this a challenging but do-able course. There’s no denying that this bike course was fun, but it definitely pushed the envelope and made this a mountain bikers event.