Clare Glens Race 2012

The race yesterday ran off perfectly. Even though there was rain forecast I was terrified the night before and even that morning that we wouldnt get enough water to run the race or that it would drop off to nothing before we could get everyones timed runs finished. In the end tho I needn't have worried. The level was just runnable at .4 when we got there and pretty miraculously stayed at that level for the whole day, meaning that although a few sections of the river were pretty slow and rocky, nothing was that difficult and everyone got through sections like Little Ass no bother. That definitly wouldnt have been the case if we had got high levels for the race. The week before when we were running the river at .85 I was having visions of 90% of the racers dissappearing into the hole under Little Ass and not coming out again! Since we had a massive turn-out at the event, nearly 35 competitors, this would not have been a good thing! As it was we had a few swimmers on Big Ass and that was it, pretty good going for a race on the Glens and better than the 'elitist' invitational event that was run two years ago. As an experiment the open format couldnt have gone any better so I think thats the one we'll be sticking to over the next few years.

My own timed run went pretty well. At the last race on the Flesk I sprinted through all the flat parts, leaving me with no strength to hit the lines on the more technical sections and that meant that I hit what seemed like every rock on the river, slowing down my time loads and leaving me well down the field at the end. This time I took it handier on the flat sections, concentrating on my stroke and breathing to try to go as fast as possible without tiring out my arms or going out of breath. This meant that I was in good shape when I got to the harder sections and hit all the lines I was aiming for. It nearly worked. I finished in 3rd place behind Paddy and Wongy, just 6 seconds behind the winner so happy out! The prize money paid for the party afterwards with a decent bit left over to pay for petrol for the next paddling mission, cant complain! I'm starting to like these events where as well as bragging rights the winners get to split the entry fees. Hopefully with a bit of work I'll be able to make up those last two places in the future and earn even more pocket money!


Here are the results from the race. Hopefully the formatting comes out right, it wouldnt over on the Irishfreestyle site...

1	Colin Wong			17.56
2	Paddy (Senile) Mc Govern			18
3	Eoin Keyes			18.02
4	Barry L			18.07
5	Neil (Flesk God) Slevin			18.15
6	Eoin Farell			18.32
7	Seán (Adonis) Mc Ternan			18.34
8	Joe Ryan			18.35
9	Blackout Dave			18.43
10	Paul B			18.43
11	André			19.09
12	Dave H			19.09
13	Dave Pearse			19.1
14	Francis			19.13
15	Simon H			19.18
16	Gearóid K			19.25
17	CJ			19.27
18	Ken Heinz			19.29
19	Conor Mc Comb			19.58
20	Barry			20.12
21	Kevin C			20.3
22	John J			21.03
23	Tilly			22.44
24	Stephan Quinn			22.57
1	Billy B			18.34
2	Dave Mc			18.37
3	Dozy R			19.3
4	Oisín M			27.23
1	Nuala			20.23
2	Caoimhe F			21.15
3	Eimear F			21.53
4	Niamh			22.07

I have to mention all the people who helped out and did rescue and other jobs for us on the day, without them it wouldnt have been possible to run the race. They were a mixture of people from ULKC, Limerick Canoe Club and a few individuals who were press-ganged into helping on the day, they all did their work perfectly so theres a huge thanks owed to everyone involved!

There are a few videos and pics from the day starting to filter onto the web, I'll put up a few myself in the next few days when I get time. It wont be tomorrow anyway since the wind at the coast has eventually swung around to offshore. Delighted, I havnt been out kayak surfing in way too long!