A beginners perspective! 

 

Being only my second sprint tri I don't have much to compare it to but I'll give it a bash!

 

The first thing that hits you when you arrive in Tighnabruaich is the beauty of the scenery.  At this point forget any mobile phone coverage unless you are with Vodafone and are prepared to stand in a certain place with your phone pointing  to the sky! 

 

 

 

On to the course.  The swim was off the slip at Kames.  At  low tide we walked straight in to a sandy  shoreline which was nice.The race officials had been in ahead of us to sweep away the jelly fish and apparently only one person got stung so that turned out to be one less thing to worry about.  The water was a 'mild' 12degrees and with 5 minutes exactly to warm up there was no time for hesitation before the mass start which crept up quick and caught a few people off guard.   The sea was flat calm, the sun was beaming and the swim was a delightful square course close to the shore.  The salt water really does give you extra buoyancy so the swim was easy despite the cold.  Helping hands were on offer to get you out of the slip and a quick dash across the road to a busy transition based in a gritty car park with an old rusty boat in the way however it was easy enough to get in and out. 

 

The cycle course had been quoted as undulating so when you travel over to Tighnabruaich there is an element of horror that kicks in when you are met with the extreme undulation of the road in, however the course is much flatter and the hills are small and easy with only ~300ft elevation.  The road is single track so we were greeted with a couple of older people desperate to get to wherever urgently at 8:15am attempting to pass you within an inch of your life but thankfully the local farmers had agreed not to be out on the combines until after the race was over so we pretty much had the roads to ourselves.  The road is well tarmac so pot holes were few and far between however there was a fair bit of gravel to watch out for so erring on the side of caution was always good.  Thankfully the worse affected areas were marshalled so they managed to keep us all (but one) upright.  There were also a couple of pretty lethal bends but again they were all marshalled so you knew what to expect.  A course reckie was essential.   If you got a chance to look around you whilst cycling you also got a glimpse of more stunning scenery, a perfect view of Rothesay and Arran on the way round which was nice!  And what Graham and Crawford missed was how friendly the other athletes were when they went passed you on a hill climb or such like, so nice! 

 

The last 5k of the course takes you from Millhouse right in to the heart of Tighnabruaich (to the surprise of the locals I think! and yes that was it, there's not much more to the village) along the shore front turning just before the main pier (where the Waverley docks) then back on itself up the hill at the shinty pitch then down in to Kames to transition. 

 

You then exit Transition and head back on to the bike course.  The run route is 2.5km out and back on itself so you already know the route which is nice although it felt like about 7km to me!  This section of the course is nice and flat, very picturesque and gives you the chance to cheer everyone else on as you meet them on their way  out or back.  

 

Feedback from everyone was - more portaloos required closer to the site! 

Not sure what it would have been like had it been wet and windy

All in all a very enjoyable Triathlon, 3 Fusionelites on the podium, everyone else did really well, very well organised event and a great turn out for it's first one. 

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