Duathlon tests athletes

More than 100 athletes showed up for the 201y McGrath Tonner Duathlon.

Things to do on a vacation in the Cayman Islands: go to the beach, visit Stingray City, go diving or hang out with friends. What about signing up for a duathlon and winning it? That’s exactly Ben Creasey did on 4 June, 2017.

Creasey was among more than a hundred participants in the McGrath Tonner Duathlon, which involved a two-mile run, followed by a 12-mile ride and another two-mile run. He was the first 81 athletes who completed the course as an individual, finishing in 55 minutes, 17.9 seconds.

However, Team Revolutions with the tandem of teenage runner Tommy Kehoe and Jerome Ameline, one of the top cyclists on island, dominated the field to cross the finish line well ahead of the competition in 53 minutes, 50.4 seconds.

Team Revolutions: Jerome Ameline and Tommy Kehoe.

Ameline produced the quickest cycling leg, which allowed Kehoe a casual saunter to the finish. Adding to Ameline’s pace was his eye on the weather, as rain started approaching as he was nearing the end of his ride.

“It was all under control because I sped up to not get wet and him running in the water is better,” the veteran cyclist told CaymanSportsBuzz.com. There was appreciation on the part of his teammate: “It was nice running in the rain,” Kehoe said.

As for Creasey, he’s been away from Grand Cayman for the past year and the heat was a big issue for most of the race. “I forgot how tough the conditions were. I would have been really struggling if it hadn’t started raining on that last run leg,” he said.

 

He described the rain as a godsend: “I had just gotten off the bike, so I did not have to cope with any wet conditions on the ride and I needed it. It was just so hot but there was a bit of breeze as it started raining.”

Another athlete who fully understands what it’s like to adjust to Cayman’s climate is Nadine Gray, who won the women’s individual event for the second year in a row. Last year, she had only moved here from Ireland a few weeks before the duathlon.

Nearly a year later, the heat was still on her mind. “I thought it was going to be horrendous because it was so warm when I was warming up.”

However, she said although the rain caught her on the bike, it was a reprieve for her when it came to the second running leg, which she was dreading to have to do under the blazing morning sun.

 

The duo of Olivia Shanks and James Smith as “Your Pace or Mine” was the first mixed gender team to finish. The did it in 56 minutes, 36.5 seconds to repeat as winners. Alicia Proud and Molly Kehoe (Tommy’s little sister) were the first all-female team in one hour, eight minutes and 52.5 seconds.

The Kehoe family had a good day on the course, as Tommy and Molly’s mother – Lisa was second along with Cuban cyclist Alejandro Ross among the mixed gender teams.

Ali King was second among the solo male finishers and Jamie Hughes was third.

It runs in the family: L-R: Tommy, Lisa, and Molly Kehoe.

 

See full individual results here.

See full team results here.

The race was organised by the Cayman Islands Triathlon Association and sponsored by law firm McGrath Tonner.

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