Hazelwood Tri success
WESTPORT’S AICHLINN O’REILLY FIRST HOME
THE sun shone down on 300 triathletes last Saturday in what turned out a glorious day for the Hazelwood Olympic Distance Triathlon at Half Moon Bay. Beginning with a 1500m swim in Lough Gill followed by a 40km cycle through counties Sligo and Leitrim bringing the triathletes to Dromahair, Calry, Sligo and back to Hazelwood forest for a 10km run on a circuit of 3 loops. Aichlinn O’Reilly came in first after a dominant display of power and speed, taking the lead up in the swim. He was first out of the water covering the swim distance in 20 minutes and 46 seconds. It took him just over an hour to complete the lumpy and not the smoothest 40km bike route and 34 minutes 51 seconds to complete the 10km run, to set a course record of 1 hour 57 minutes and 34 seconds. It was 5 minutes later before Nenagh’s Shane Scully came in to take second, followed a minute later by Dublin’s Kevin Keane for 3rd spot. Sligo’s Ray Byrne was the first local man home in 5th spot with an overall time of 1hour 5minutes and 25 seconds. A few spots back were Sligo Triathlon’s Kevin O’Donnell, with David Gormley quickly in after that and Fergal Henry too keeping all these lads inside the top 25 of this National Series Event. In the Ladies Race, Sligo Triathlon Club’s Heather Foley also lead from start to finish, leading lady out of the water and then went on to distance her nearest challengers further on the bike course and put in a solid 40-minute run for the 10k to take another victory this season in 2 hours 13 minutes and 18 seconds. Jennifer Duffy from Dublin was second and Dympna Kelly of Lough Kee Tri Club rounded out the Ladies Podium. Other Sligo Triathletes in the mix on the day were Kieran McMoreland, Paul Rutherford who suffered two punctures on the bike course, Ray Gillen and Stephen Burns had strong performances on the day along with Jason Mulrooney and James O’Sullivan, Ken Foley, Cecil Whiteside, Rod Toner, Dermot Cunningham, Alan Watters and Barry Cosgrove all put great efforts in on the day. A superb performance from Ruth Walsh saw her as first local lady home with Laura McMunn and Kate Fitzpatrick just behind. James Coulter, Ian O’Sullivan, Paul Carr, James Hardiman, Paul McGrath, Bernie O’Connor, Giada Cananzi, Aonghus Collins, Angela Carr, Gemma Maguire, Shelia Devaney, Paul Hardiman, Orla Kelly, Keith Marron and Darren McGough were all cheered around by the enthusiastic crowd at Hazelwood. Race Directors, Conor Gilligan, Barbara Gorevan and Mark Foley wish to thank all the triathletes who took part, all the club members who helped and to all the marshals, Kayakers, Order of Malta, Civil Defence and Gardai. Special Thanks to Tom Heneghan, Kate Hawney, Daire Mooney and Liz Sheridan. Also, Laura Twomey and Ronan Currid. “Co-operation is greatly appreciated to Hazelwood House, Sligo and Leitrim County Council and Coillte. Finally, a massive thank you to all sponsors – The Sligo Champion, GSK, New Ireland Assurance, Call of the Wild, Lyons Café, Sligo Chiropractic Clinic, Sligo Sports Complex, Chain Driven Cycles, Good 4 U, Cosgrove’s Centra. Till Next year!”.