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On behalf of Dublin City Triathlon Committee, Race Director Paul Mooney and Interim PTC Club Chairperson Steven Moody, I simply ask each of you to take some moments to read the following communication.
This weekend marks a very important weekend in both Triathlon Ireland’s race calendar and more importantly for Piranha Triathlon Club. For Triathlon Ireland the back half of the season enters the final straight and for us, Piranha Triathlon Club, our sole club organised triathlon event for the year is upon us. Yes… its DCT time.
It’s that one time when we, as a club, take a small step back from a weekend block of training and turn to working together as club mates, colleagues, foes and the rest to host Ireland a Triathlon race that can match any international triathlon race these shores have hosted.
This is Dublin City Triathlon 2017 brought to you by Piranha Tri Club.
DCT, well where do you start? In the 7 years that TI have introduced Race of the Year. DCT has won the title 4 times in the last 5 years. Piranha TC, the club behind DCT, can boast of National Club Titles in 2016 for Ladies, Men and Mixed teams. Piranha TC also hold the National Series Mens Title (Tom McEnery, racing S.Series as bib #1 this year). While DCT itself is current holder of Race of the Year from 2016. I could go on – these accolades were only secured last year. The TI Series Rankings are looking just as strong for Piranha TC in 2017 and this weekend we turn our focus to our Club Race.
DCT will open its doors this weekend to over 1100 athletes for registration on Saturday. A lot of the prep work for this years DCT has being going on for months in the background. To give you a flavour we’ve engaged with Dublin City Council, Dublin Bus, the OPW, An Garda Siochana, local residents, business groups & major sponsors. All of which at a cost but all support us significantly because we, Piranha TC, have the resources to hold an event of this scale and do so with pride and true professionalism. A lot of this boils down the members in the club who put their shoulder to the wheel and turn on the event charm for one weekend only. Stand up and be proud, that’s you! We should also acknowledge those too who are non members that equally play an important part in DCT, thank you. We’re the envy of all triathlon clubs in Ireland this weekend every year. I ask that this weekend be no different and that each and every one of you contribute to DCT in which way you can.
DCT is vitally important to Piranha TC funding. For a very reasonable fee each year Piranha TC membership offers 325 hours of top quality coached swimming, 500hrs of cycling hours & 175hrs of quality run sets. We’ve access to high performance coaches, world class running coaches and national title winning cycling coaches. The knowledge base within the club is second to none. Each year we invite speakers to present triathlon specific topics / seminars. We also research and prepare destinations for warm weather training camp each year. All are important to the club and DCT revenues go some way towards some of these events as support.
This weekend, Dublin City Triathlon 2017 will host athletes from 25 different countries. Our youngest registered athlete is 17yrs old and the oldest registered is 81yrs young. DCT17 is the largest we’ve ever put on. We will host Irelands top Age Group and Cat 1 Athletes as well as last year’s national male AG titleholder. Our support for women in sport is also evident with women only swim waves & womens prize presentations ahead of the men’s. We will host a sold out Super Series draft legal race, Sprint distance, national series Olympic race and the national Aquabike championships.
This year sees DCT move towards ‘health’ & mindfulness themed offerings. At the finish arena we will have a tented village set up over the weekend to which we’ve invited all the participating clubs to use this as their focal point. We will host mindfulness sessions, yoga on Saturday and have revamped the athlete pack with a healthy themed offering thanks to vital sponsors.
We’ve also taken on other major projects such as removal of weeds in the river, water quality testing, the purchase of a new swim divide for the swim course and a re-engineered pontoon will be in place for the event. All members will have dedicated vests for marshal duty and we will have a full communications room in operation with Guards & Ambulance crews. On Saturday there will be a full Triathlon Expo at race HQ where we expect a busy transition. DCT17 swim course will be no different from other years but will have improved buoys & a new pontoon exit. Transition will remain in situ as was in years gone. Adding to the atmosphere for the weekend all athletes who are club affiliated will be racked beside each other in transition. Bike entrance to T2 will also change via the GAA Club freeing up the exit area out front. In relation to traffic there are changes in the bus contraflow on Chapelizod road. The bike course stays largely the same as last year and the run course will, in effect, remain as last year with an introduction of recyclable cups for athlete water stations. Finish line will be at the Garda Boat Club (DCT Race HQ) with a new revamped finish layout for clubs and other offerings. If you don’t know the course why not look at the course video on the DCT website! The race brief is also available on this link: http://www.dublincitytriathlon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DCT-Race-Briefing-2017-Only.pdf and maps are also posted on the DCT website.
So with the weekend upon us, it’s time for every Piranha Member to put their hand up and be counted. Show Ireland’s triathlon community that we, Piranha TC, don’t intend on giving back Race of the Year for 2016. We intend to keep it for another year. We WILL host the best triathlon race in the country for 2017 and the best Dublin City Triathlon ever. However, it’s largely the down to the clubs members that dictate the experience that athletes have on the day. Support, cheer and guide all athletes young and old through the event. I’ve no doubt that with your help DCT will be more successful than previous years and at season end DCT will gladly accept its 5th Triathlon Race of the Year! Sadly not all members can be with us this weekend due to other circumstances and one who will be with us in spirit is Karen Fenton. Karens siblings and extended family will race in the Relay event as ‘Pure Rebels’. They’ll also have a charity stand at the Expo on Saturday and if you can, take a few moments to introduce, donate and make them feel welcome to the Piranha experience. It’s also special as it Karen’s birthday on Sunday.
Look your best, why? Such is the popularity of DCT we’ve the Taoiseach Varadkar entered. There’ll be media floating too… so wash the hair! Start #DCT17 tweets trending on social media and other forums. We also have a special return visitor from last year, remember deer gate!? Well one of the infamous ‘deer cyclist’ aggressors from the Khyber Road last year makes a special appearance this weekend at DCT17. His name is ‘Mooney’. Mooney will be present at registration this Saturday and will participate on Sunday.
Please, if you’ve not being assigned a leader or task make it your business to contact resource management. We will be running right through the weekend, many on small hours of sleep. Every hour and every hand is greatly appreciated. Make sure you understand the tasks assigned and that you have sufficient food, snacks and clothing for race day and set up. Check the weather and prepare accordingly.
On behalf of Race Director Paul Mooney, DCT Organisation committee and I, we thank you and wish you the best of luck this weekend.
Stand up and show what we do well, let’s host one hell of a race.
Stephen Cawley
Assistant Race Director
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