Sun Shines on Lough Cutra

Stunning Conditions for Lough Cutra

More than 1,000 people competed across eight separate races at the Castle Triathlon Series race in Lough Cutra near Gort, Co Galway on Sunday.

With hundreds of tri-tourists making the journey from the UK (many of whom camped overnight), the race had a distinctly international feel to it and was soaked in warm sunshine for the afternoon.

Smales Wins Middle Distance Event

Earlier in the morning however, the picture could not have been more different, as a heavy blanket of fog laid over the lake, bringing visibility down to just a few metres.

After initially delaying the race in a bid to see if this fog would clear, race officials were left with no choice but to cancel the swim leg due to safety considerations.

As a result the Gauntlet middle distance race had to be run as a duathlon but before long, competitors soon had their minds directed away from their disappointment as they set out on a technical cross country 7km run – a 96km bike and a 14km second run.

English ITU triathlete Eliot Smales crossed the line first with a winning margin of 2mins 22secs over Alan Kenny of 3D Triathlon Club. Aidan Callaghan made up the men’s podium, coming in a further four minutes back.

The women’s middle distance race was won by Jenna Henning of Lisburn Triathlon Club. Barbara Dunne finished in 2nd place with Cork Tri’s Aoife Mahony taking third.

Jackson and Jameson Win Olympic Distance Race

A very competitive olympic distance race saw TI high performance development athletes Kieran Jackson and Aichlinn O’Reilly battle it out over the swim and bike legs, only for Jackson to pull away on the run and win in a course record time of 1:59:44. O’Reilly came home 2mins 53secs later with Barney McCullagh taking third place on the podium.

The women’s Olympic distance race was won by UK professional Catherine Jameson, with Marie Boyle of Team Hurt Locker / Trísport in second and Jessica Bruton from Cobh Triathlon Club in third.  

Provisional results of all events including the sprint distance races and the kids events can be found here.