 Men's Category winners by Chris Chaplow
The third edition of the Andalucía Desafío Doņana (Andalucia Doņana Challenge) takes place on Saturday 17 September 2011. The triathlon covers 200 km, and crosses two provinces and 20 towns, starting in Sanlucar de Barrameda with a cycle circuit, then a swim in the Guadalquivir estuary. But the highlight of this annual triathlon event is the 30km running section along the endless virgin beach of Doņana National Park. As a protected environment, Doņana is normally accessible only in an organized tour with a park warden. Triathletes finish the event in Matalascaņas.
This year, about 190 amateur, 50 professionals and 50 three-athlete teams are competing. The categories are Individual Professionals, Individual Amateurs, and Relay teams of three athletes in male, women and mixed categories.
The cycle route is a 169km circuit around the countryside and villages of the Sherry Triangle in Cadiz province. Starting at 8.30am from Bajo de Guía beach in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, the cyclists will skirt around the outskirts of Jerez, climbing up to the white village of Arcos de la Frontera where competitors can compete for the Premio de la Montaņa (Prize of the Mountain). Then it's back downhill to El Puerto de Santa Maria and along the coast to Chipiona, finishing off back at Bajo de Guía in Sanlúcar de Barrameda to move onto the swimming section.
Here is an interactive map of the cycle route.
The swimming section is 1km (2.8km for the relay teams) across the mouth of the river Guadalquivir estuary. The exact route will depend on river tides and currents on the day, but consists of a mix of freshwater river and saltwater Atlantic Ocean.
The final section, the 30km beach run, is at Punta de Malandar in the Doņana National Park. Here the athletes are on their own, and have to find a 'hard sand' path above the lapping waves of the beach. Unlike the earlier sections, there will be no spectators to cheer them on. Only on leaving the park, about a kilometre before the finish line at Matalascaņas beach in Huelva province, will the runners hear the sound of spectators cheering them on. The finish has a time limit of 8.30pm, allowing competitors to complete the triathlon in a maximum of 12 hours.
The closing ceremony and prize presentation take place on Sunday 18 September at 1.30pm, and are followed by lunch and a party.
 Inma Pereiro Gonzalez crossing the line in 1st place in the women's category The 2010 event was won by Lino Barruncho of Portugal in 6 hrs 59 min 12 sec, and in the women's the Basque triathlete Inma Pereiro took top spot on the podium, in 7 hrs 46 min 13 sec. Alejandro Santamaría, who completed in 7 hrs 06 min 53 sec, had led the race for most of the day, but the heat, and pressure from Barruncho, forced him into second place. "I have improved my last year third place," said the Madrid athlete. "It tastes like victory to me after a really hard season." The relay team was won by Oliver, Moreno and Lorenzo in 7hrs 8mins 56 sec. Both leading athletes will compete in the Individual Professionals category in 2011.
The total prize money is 50,000 euros, 7,000 euros being for the winning male and female professional. There is also an "Expo Pavilion" (15-17 September), located next to the race start point at Bajo de Guía beach in Sanlucar, which will be the hub of the competition.
Of the 30-odd triathlon events every year in Andalucia, which are held between February and November, including during the hot summer months, this is the largest, longest and toughest. Others take place in locations in western and central Andalucian coastal areas, such as in Punta Umbria, Rota, Malaga, Chiclana and Estepona. Some triathlons are specifically for juniors. Most events are coordinated by the organization Federation Andaluza de Triatlon. (www.triatlonandalucia.org)
Report on the Desafío Doñana 2011 race.
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