Dublin City Triathlon 8th September 2018

[muiriosaryan]

6th Sept 2018

Dear Piranhas,

On behalf of the Dublin City Triathlon committee, Race Director Paul Mooney and Chairman Steven Moody, please take a few moments to read the following communication.

This weekend Piranha Triathlon Club will host the second last round of the Super Series race and Age Group National Series – both of which are part of the National Championships. The winners will claim the National Sprint Championship titles for 2018.

We, as PTC members, take a step back from a full weekend of training and turn to working together as club mates, colleagues, foes and the rest to host a triathlon race that rivals any international triathlon event.

Nine years ago Triathlon Ireland introduced its Race of the Year award. DCT has won this five times in the last six years and is the current holder of the title.

DCT has already started the registration process for almost 1,000 athletes, kicking off on Wednesday at Vodafone and adding to the excitement with a very successful event at Frank Keane BMW on Thursday.

Serious preparation has gone into DCT18. Preparation started before DCT17, largely due to the Papal visit. We engaged very early with Dublin City Council, Dublin Bus, local residents, business groups and major sponsors. We also held discussions with An Garda Siochana, the OPW and Triathlon Ireland because of the potential change of date. There are large overheads associated with all these stakeholders. The significant support of these stakeholders is due to the efforts and planning put in by the race director and also the back up of the DCT race committee and Piranha TC on the day itself.

Piranha TC host the race with pride and true professionalism. This is a pure reflection of our members in the club who put their shoulder to the wheel turning on the event charm for the weekend. Stand up and be proud – be proud to be a member of Piranha, be proud that your club not only races well, but we excel as hosting races too! We’re the envy of all triathlon clubs in Ireland this weekend. We, DCT committee, ask this weekend be no different and that each and every one of you contribute to DCT .

DCT is vitally important to Piranha TC funding. For a very reasonable membership fee each year Piranha TC membership offers 325 hours of top quality coached swimming, 500 hours of cycling coaching and 175 hours of quality run sets. We’ve access to high performance swimming coaches, world class running coaches and national title winning cycling coaches. The knowledge base within the club is second to none and building. Each year we invite speakers to present triathlon-specific seminars. The training committee also researches and prepares destinations for warm weather and winter training camps each year. All of this is of paramount importance to the success of the club and DCT revenues contribute to funding.

This weekend, Dublin City Triathlon 2018 will host athletes from 22 different countries. Our youngest registered athlete is 15 years old and the oldest registered is 76 years young. We have a number of athletes in from the UK, some aspiring for Olympic glory. DCT18 is by far the most logistically challenging race we’ll ever host. The recent Papal visit meant most of our key stakeholders could not meet the race director until just two weeks ago. Our plan for a lapped bike course past transition was declined, meaning an immediate overhaul of the event and the proposed course just 14 days out.

We’ve also taken on other major projects such as removal of weeds in the river, water quality testing, last year’s purchase of a new boom and a re-engineered pontoon will be in place for the event. We are introducing rolling starts for the age group race which should make things easier for the swim team. We will have a full communications room in operation with gardai and ambulance crews. Transition will remain as it was in previous years. Adding to the party atmosphere, 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, this will stay as a bus contraflow on Chapelizod Road. The bike course stays largely the same with new surfacing in the park. The run course will, in effect, will be a reverse of last year with the introduction of recyclable cups for athlete water stations. The finish line will be at the Garda Boat Club (DCT race HQ).

So with Saturday nearly 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 its Race of the Year title. We WILL host the best triathlon race in the country for 2018 and the best Dublin City Triathlon ever. However, it’s largely the down to the club’s 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 sixth Race of the Year award! We should remember members that are no longer with us on the day – they will surely be there with us in spirit.

On behalf of Race Director Paul Mooney, we would like to thank those who make up the race committee and all the work they’ve put in. From early in this year the team put in serious efforts, only now we get to see it all unfold. Muiriosa Ryan, Claire Gorman, Marie (The Brand) Moran, Sweeter Peeney and Patrick Loughnane, thank you each and every one of you for all the hard work put in. Lastly to Paul Mooney – the last few weeks Paul has dedicated his life to DCT, moving house, planning a wedding, reffing foreign games plus training for an Ironman. Serious kudos to Paul and I wish him well on the day with the whole event.

Stand up and show what we do well – let’s host one hell of a race and enjoy the after party!

Stephen Cawley
Assistant Race Director

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