Event review - Lough Cutra Castle triathlon

The Castle Triathlon Series has grown this year, adding its inaugural Irish event to the existing line-up. Sportsister’s Louise Hudson joined over 200 competitors at Lough Cutra Castle, near Gort in County Galway, to see if the race would match up to its grand surroundings.As the name suggests, all the races in this triathlon series are held in castles, and the newest addition is Lough Cutra Castle in Ireland which joins Chateau de Chantilly in France as the two international events. Just a half hour drive from Shannon airport, and within close proximity to the beautiful Cliffs of Moher and the city of Galway, this is a great location to enjoy an Irish weekend away.

The history of the Lough Cutra estate can be traced back as far as 866 AD and it is thought the castle itself was built in the early 1800’s. Today it looks over what is the largest privately owned lake in Europe. With all this history and natural beauty surrounding me, I could almost overlook the fact that it had been raining constantly since I stepped off the plane 24 hours before the start.

Organisation

I was staying in one of the cottages in the grounds of the castle, and as my sprint distance wave didn’t start until 9.45am I had a leisurely start to race day. As there were only 200 entrants, registrationwas very quick and straight forward. Another established triathlon (TriAthy) was also taking place on the same day and so entry numbers were perhaps lower than expected, but that didn’t detract from the atmosphere.

As it was wet I kept all my kit inside a waterproof bag and left this with my bike in the small transition area, before heading down to the lake to watch the earlier competitors begin racing and listen to the traditional piper playing in the castle entrance. The organisers made the decision to delay all start times by half an hour, in the hope that the weather might improve as the morning went on. This worked in my favour as by the time my wave set off it had stopped raining.

The Course

Race director Brain Adcock gave us our race briefing on the edge of the 1,000 acre lake. As always, the emphasis was placed on safety which reassured any nervous first timers in the group. The swim started around 50 metres away from the lake edge, and was an out and back 400m route (800m for the mid distance and 1500m for the Olympic) marked with coloured buoys.

Perhaps because of the inclement weather the water was quite choppy which made it more challenging, but I was pleasantly surprised by the water temperature – I had been bracing myself for the worst! It was just a short run up to the transition area, which was largely empty when I got there making it easy to find my bike and get ready for the next stage.

Event Review - Lough Cutra Castle triathlon

The well marshalled and signed bike route – 20km for the sprint event and 40km (two laps) for the mid and Olympic distance – took you out of the castle grounds and on a scenic loop around the lake. Although not on closed roads there was very little traffic so it felt very safe. Unlike the Castle Howard event in the same series, this route didn’t have any severe hills; rather it just undulated its way through the Irish countryside, offering sweeping vistas of the lake at frequent intervals.

Local residents gathered outside their houses to cheer riders on which was a nice boost on an otherwise quiet route. Distance markers counted down the kilometres, and by the time I reached the local town of Gort I knew I was almost finished. Riding back towards the castle, I heard the sound of a bike catching me. Expecting it to whizz by I was a little surprised when it in fact started riding alongside me. It was then I realised it wasn’t a fellow competitor, but in fact a curious local who just wanted to chat about the triathlon. Conversation over, he rode on past leaving me a little shell shocked. That’s the first and probably the last time that I’ll ever have a chat mid-triathlon!

From there a final transition was made and it was off on the final leg - a 4km run (8km for mid distance and 10km for Olympic) through the castle grounds. The hilly, cross country route was certainly pretty but thanks to the wet weather it was also water logged and very muddy. There was no chance of getting bored as it took all your concentration just to remain upright, but I think an alternative route in those conditions may have pleased some of the competitors.

Would I do it again?

Yes, this is the third event in the Castle Triathlon Series that I have taken part in, and I am already signed up to take part at the Castle Howard event later this month as a relay entry. Look out for the race report on Sportsister.com.

More info: www.castletriathlonseries.co.uk

Good points:

Yet another stunning location has been found to host a Castle Triathlon Series event
A small field means small waves, making it good for novices and experienced triathletes alike
Great for families as children’s races take place in the afternoon

Bad points:

It would be nice to see a more even split of male to female competitors than the 70/30 at this event
Obviously the organisers could not do anything about the weather but the run route was very wet and muddy in parts making a PB near impossible

UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE SERIES: