On Sunday March 31st, Antiguan athlete, Rory Butler trekked to Grenada and competed in the 2013 Digicel 26th Annual Grenada Tri de Spice Triathlon. The Olympic distance event consisted of the Swim: 1.5k, Bike: 40k, Run: 10k, which began at 8:30am.

365antigua.com managed to get a moment of Rory's busy schedule to ask him some questions about his experience in Grenada. Here's our interview with Antigua's triathlete, Rory Butler:

Q1: Was the event well organized? This was the 26th year. Did they take good care of the athletes?

RORY BUTLER: The Grenada International Triathlon was a great race. 26 years is amazing and it means they have to be one of the oldest races in the Caribbean apart from St. Croix of course,and the experience they have built up over those years really shows in the race.

Q2: Did you get calm seas? How did your race start?

RORY BUTLER: The swim was in the marina in Port Louis so it was very flat although the water of course wasn't clear as it was a marina. I was happy with my swim. I started speed work on my swim just two weeks prior and I knew it wouldn't be my strength in this race but I still came out of the water in third place.

Q3: Grenada has some hills. Did the route give you many hills for either the cycling or the run?

RORY BUTLER: Grenada is incredibly mountainous but the course is actually very flat with just one small hill in it for the run and the bike. It was 10 laps on the ride which meant close to 20 sharp u turns and there was a lot of corners otherwise so it really tested your handling skills on the bike.

Q4: What was the toughest part of the race for you?

After exiting the swim in third my intention was to chase down second place on the bike as that was my strongest leg at the time. However I quickly ran into problems on the bike.

Q5: Odessey timing has you down as 5th with a time of 2:27:10.0. It's an excellent time. Were you happy with it?

RORY BUTLER: On the first lap an elbow pad from the time trial bars snapped off making it very difficult to get down in tt position. At the same time the handle bars (which I had borrowed from a friend) evidently weren't fitting the bike very well and they would drop down almost into the bike every time I placed too much pressure on them. My failure to properly ensure my bike was up to scratch really hurt me as I was forced to ride very cautiously. It meant I finished the ride in fourth and was out of contention by the run which of course hurt my time. I was frustrated and disappointed. But on the positive side lessons were learn't and the pain of finishing just outside the podium place has motivated me to work much harder.

Q6: How was the competition? Good guys? Were they fierce and OR friendly?

RORY BUTLER: The competition was great and I was happy to meet and race with the guys there from the UK, Trinidad, Grenada and elsewhere.

Q7: Did you meet anyone you will stay in touch with?

RORY BUTLER: I met some great people, which of course you always do when you travel for triathlons, we will certainly stay in touch and hope to be racing each other in the near future.

Q8: Would you compete in the Tri de Spice Triathlon again?

RORY BUTLER: I would love to compete in the Tri De Spice again and give it a real go. I feel like I have unfinished business there after having a bad race this time round.

Q9: Was it your first time in Grenada?

RORY BUTLER: Yes it was my first time in Grenada and the Grenadians were very friendly. I stayed at the Tropicana Inn in Port Louis and the people there were amazing. At one point I was worried about where I would get my morning coffee before the race as there was no kettle in the room so I spoke a staff member who volunteered to drive home and bring me back her electric kettle to use.

Q10: Were Grenadians friendly?

RORY BUTLER: Throughout my stay they [the volunteers] went over and beyond to make me comfortable and I was very happily surprised by their friendliness. Also their jerk pork was great!

Q11: Any advice for people visiting Grenada? A place to check out?

RORY BUTLER: Being there for a triathlon I got to see very little of the country but even from the little I saw I was very impressed. The students of the St. George's University must be some of the luckiest in the world to study in such a scenic place and the university is definitely worth checking out.

Q12: What's your next race?

RORY BUTLER: My next race is looking like either Curacao on May 26 or St. Maarten on June 2 and then Tobago on June 22. For now its back to training to ensure a better finish at my next race. I've got Benjamin Sanson now as my coach and I'm pretty confident if I can follow his instructions there is more success on the horizon.

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A mighty congratulations to Rory Butler for his hard work, results and his representation of Antigua & Barbuda. All the best for your upcoming race and thank you for your time.

Full stats and athlete's results of the Triathlon are here and the Tri de Spice website is www.tridespice.com.