Weekend Round Up
It was an incredibly busy weekend for triathlon at home and abroad with multiple races taking place in all corners of the country, and Ireland’s Age Groupers, paratriathletes and elite triathletes in action at the European championships in Kitzbuehel.
Doherty and Murphy the Best in Westport
Local elite athlete Con Doherty and Belpark’s Ellen Murphy took home the honours from Westport Triathlon in Co. Mayo on Saturday.
Doherty cruised to victory, leading the race from the gun and crossing the line in 55mins 39secs – three and a half minutes ahead of second placed man Kevin Keane, who came home 19secs ahead of teenager Ben Ryan in third.
Things were closer in the women’s event but again the winner – Ellen Murphy – led strongly for most of the race and came home with a time of 1hr 4mins 49secs.
Her Belpark teammate Maeve McMaher Williams finished second 1min 10secs later with Caron Ryan from Predator Triathlon Club coming home in third place 35secs later.
Results and Images
Provisional results from Westport Triathlon are available on the club’s website.
A gallery of more than 250 images from the day, taken by TI Media’s Martin Jancek is available on Triathlon Ireland’s facebook page and on Martin’s Flickr page.
Ireland Represents at Kitzbuehel
In Austria, a large contingent of athletes across all levels competed in at the ETU European Championships in Kitzbuehel.
First up were the paratriathletes who encountered tough conditions on Friday morning with low temperatures and alpine rain accompanying their race.
Torrential rain greeting the para athletes at #ETUKitzbuhel this morning @tri_ireland pic.twitter.com/abdXyaAlZj
— Mark Kelly (@thewateredge) June 16, 2017
Tojo Lazzari finished 9th in the men’s PTS4 race, where Garrett Turbett finished 11th.
In the men’s PTS5 race, Aidan McGlynn finished in 8th place.
Caroline O’Leary finished 7th in the women’s PTS5 race while in the women’s PTHC race, Fiona McCormack came home in 6th place.
Kitzbuehel Age Groupers
Sun sets on another amazing day at #ETUKitzbuhel, well done all @tri_ireland athletes. Tough course, very hot conditions pic.twitter.com/sH2FeOp7fm
— Mark Kelly (@thewateredge) June 18, 2017
The weather improved later in the weekend for the Age Group athletes, where Finbarr McGrady claimed the best result of the weekend by finishing 4th in the 40-44 Male Age Group. June McMinn was the best of the female competitors – she finished 5th in her 55-59 AG.
Other results from Kitzbuehel include:
Dympna Kelly – 11th in the 35-39 Female AG
Emer Sandham – 20th in the 35-39 Female AG
William Desmond – 41st in the 35-39 Male AG
Celine McPhilips – 22nd in the 40-44 Female AG
Sonya Schwaller – 34th in the 40-44 Female AG
Rosemary Gibson – 36th in the 40-44 Female AG
Ger Cronin – 44th in the 45-49 Male AG
Ciaran Campbell – 71st in the 45-49 Male AG
Ian Steele – 58th in the 50-54 Male AG
Anne Morrissey – 7th in the 55-59 Female AG
Owen Barron – 29th in the 55-59 Male AG
Dermot Connolly – 41st in the 55-59 Male AG
Thomas Linton – 51st in the 55-59 Male AG
David Cochrane – 52nd in the 55-59 Male AG
Peter McLaughlin – 22nd in the 60-64 Male AG
Keith Scott – 40th in the 60-64 Male AG
William Rees – 10th in the 65-69 Male AG
There was disappointment however for Russell White who dnf’d in the men’s elite race
Valenta, Dunmore East, Monkstown, Portrush & Blessington
Cillian Tierney marked his return to racing with victory at the Harman Valentia Triathlon in Kerry where he won the men’s race ahead of Patrick Quinn in 2nd and Oran Kane 3rd.
In the women’s race, Denise Casey won ahead of Ciara Tierney in 2nd and Caroline Kilty in 3rd.
Stephen Kelleghan has a gallery of great images on our facebook page from what has to be one of the most spectacular locations for a triathlon anywhere and you can find provisional results from the race here.
In Mullaghmore, Barney McCullagh and Sasha Gannon won the long running MSC Triathlon with Gary Higgins and Kate Fitzpatrick in 2nd; and Gareth Gallagher and Ellie McArdle in 3rd.
Further south, in Dunmore East, Kieran Jackson and Cathy Drinan won the Hook or by Crook sprint distance triathlon over Sebastian Helga and Nuala Carroll in 2nd; and Enda Bagnall and Eimear Matthews in 3rd.
Meanwhile in Co. Cork, local athletes Donnacha Kiely and Joyce Wolfe won Monkstown Sprint Triathlon – full results here
What a super day out at Blessington Tri. Well done all in scorching heat. @BelparkTri looking forward to hosting race in 2018 pic.twitter.com/46AyXCH2qi
— David Power (@dapower) June 18, 2017
In Co. Antrim more than 150 people raced the Causeway Coast Triathlon with Dominic McAllister and Sonia Knox winning – Results are available on Champion Chip Ireland
And finally, in Co. Wicklow, Blessington Triathlon staged standard, sprint distance and Aquabike events in perfect conditions.
