Blue sky, sunshine, no wind: one more Schiniathlon under perfect conditions!

212 athletes turned up early on Sunday morning for the first event of the 2011 Schiniathlon Series. The medium distance saw 93 athletes compete over 10k run – 40k bike – 5k run. The sprint distance saw 119 athletes competing over 5k run – 20k bike – 5k run.

Medium distance:

Leonidas Athanasopoulos, closely followed by Dimitris Pappas and Nikolaos Mais, set up a very fast pace for the opening 10km. Athanasopoulos concluded the run in 36:10 and headed first to the bike course with Pappas 15 seconds behind him. The chase did not last long as Pappas passed Athanasopoulos on the 1st loop of the bike. Pappas powered to the finish, beating the previous course record (held by Markos Pachos) in 59:20. As he headed out of T2 for his last 5km run, Pappas had nearly 4mn of lead to the next man, the win was surely secured at this stage! Athanasopoulos posted again a sub 20mn run but it was not enough to close the gap.

Dimitris Pappas wins in 1:57:15 followed by Leonidas Athanasopoulos in 2:00:28 and Kostas Papanikolaou in 2:00:54. The 4th athlete to cross the line was more than 4mn behind the leading trio!

On the women side there was not much suspense as to will take the lead. Loukia took off with a fast run, performed outstandingly on the bike, posting 09th time overall, concluded with a strong final run, and finishes in 2:11:16, eleventh place overall, with more than 23mn lead over the 2nd woman. Mina Silaiou did her debuts in the duathlon scene on Sunday and came 2nd in a time of 2:34:55. Eirini Christaki completes the women's podium in 2:39:41

Sprint distance:
The race was dominated throughout by Xaralambos Paraskevopoulos, who took a clear lead from the start and kept building it throughout, posting best run and bike times of the events. Charalambos finishes the event in 1:10:45 with a lead of 2mn30 over his pursuant. Apostolos Zorbas and Spyros Nikolouzos fought for the second place, but Zorbas strong runs won over Nikolouzos better bike performance. Apostolos came 2nd in 1:13:22, followed by Spyros in 1:14:37.

The women's race was once again won by Maria Kamizaki, but she was, for once, given a hard time by fellow competitor Christine Reightweiser. Christine took the lead at the 1st run, consolidated it at the bike, but could not resist Kamizaki's final surge of speed at the final 5k run. Maria closes the race in 1:31:36, followed by Christine in 1:33:26. The podium was completed by Haroula Lentzos in 1:42:01.

Organization:

Schiniathlon opens the 2011 season with an improved infrastructure and increased capacity. 20 volunteers joined us on race day to make the race as smooth and friendly as could be. Thanks to all of you who took on your free time to lend a hand to the event! The Red Cross Samaritans once again provided 1st aid and medical support at the event. The Traffic Police of Agia Paraskevi was also there to supervise the bike route.
The events' bike service providers, World of Bike and Cyclist ensure that all athletes could be given technical support, on the race course as well as at the transition area.

Energy was provided to all the athletes, courtesy of GU Gel and Bonk Breakers. Thanks to all, the race was safe and all the athletes could enjoy a smooth and friendly race.

Expo:

After the race, Pulse100 – Lestos Bikes – Hot Yoga – TRX – To Podilato, as well as World of Bike and Cyclist held the fullest EXPO seen so far at Schiniathlon. It provided a great display of triathlon related products and athletes could hang around until the ceremony started.
Sponsors:
Schiniathlon thanks PHARMSHOP and MULTIRAMA for supporting the Series in 2011, as the two major sponsors. Their help is absolutely crucial for us, allowing us to effectively improve our service at each and every event, welcome more athletes and under better conditions.

We also thank Moraitis Sports Centre, who is giving us the green light for our events for the 5th year in a row, not only giving us the space to set up the event, but also improving the signalization on all routes of the events.

Next event is the 3rd April Sprint Triathlon – do not miss the registration deadline, secure your place and see you all again soon for more sports and fun!