223 Adults, 30 Children and a perfect day!

The sun rose on Sunday morning over a perfectly calm sea. No wind, blue sky, once again the perfect weather conditions for the last Schiniathlon of the season.

THE RACE:
At 08:30am the whistle blew and all 90 medium distance athletes wearing the flashy green caps started while the Sprint distance athletes waited their turn. Then at 08:35 the 133 athletes with the orange caps took to the water. The big day for those 223 eager athletes had finally started!

The sprint distance was all his for Stelios Andreadis, on his own at the front for the entire race. He posted the best swim & best bike times. He crosses the finish line 1:05:38 and 25sc ahead of his chasing fellow Aimilios Tsepetis, himself followed 25sc later byGiannis Psarelis. Maria Kamizaki won the women field in 1h22 well ahead of her category, with the best woman’s swim, bike and run times!

The medium distance was won by Turkish athlete Boni Salis, concluding a 2hr10mn chase with runner-up Markos Pachos. Markos exited the water 20 seconds after Boni, and took his bike on a ride to hell, hammering the pedals above 40k/h to post the best ever speedon the course (including sprint distance best speed!). Less than 1 hour to clock the 40km and Markos was on to the run course with more than 3mn lead over Boni. At the end of the first loop the lead was dropping but there was still uncertainty on the two lead men.

Finally Boni passed Markos in the final stretch of tarmac leading to the finish, clocking the best run time of the day in 40 minutes. Markos hoped up to the finish with a 25sc deficit. Those two athletes did a fantastic race and were followed 3 minutes later by Kostas Papanikolaou and Marios Kokolakis, hand-in-hand for the 3rd place. Selina Pagonakis won the women field in 2h46 well ahead of her category, with the best woman’s swim, bike and run times!

CHILDREN:
After the race, a little “splash & dash” was organized on the beach and 30 children took on the challenge. 100m swim in the sea under parents’ supervision, followed by another 100m run on the beach. The spectators were loudly cheering as all these little athletes threw themselves in the water. Always a joy to see how much fun the kids are having…

AFTERMATHS:
This Schiniathlon breaks again the record of participation at a single triathlon event in Greece. Never before have we seen a mass start of over 220 athletes in the water in this country! Our improved infrastructure and time-keeping system proved well-suited to accommodate all the athletes. Results were available immediately after the race. Once again infrastructure, research & development and technology has improved thanks to our series sponsor, Multirama,who has supported Schiniathlon throughout the 2010 season. The crew of volunteers has worked 6 hours in the hot sun to serve everyone, cheer the athletes, guide them, help them, they have done a fantastic job.

SPONSORS: 
Thanks go first and foremost to Multirama for their consistent and strong support. Moraitis Sports Centre who has supported us since the very beginning – the event could not exist without Dimitris Moraitis support and involvement. Thanks to Coca-Cola HBC for their supplies of drinks, to GU Gels & Bonk Breaker for bringing energy to each athlete. Thanks to Pharmshop for their discreet but much appreciated support. Thanks to World of bike for their bike service in the morning to all the athletes.

Thanks to the support we received: from the Samaritans of the Red Cross and from the Traffic Police.

Keep up your training.

Sportively yours, 

The Schiniathlon Organisation Team