Craggy Island Triathlon proves to be a big success
‘I think the attraction of the race is the location’
MORE than 550 people took part in the Craggy Island Triathalon at the weekend, raising thousands of pounds for charity.
There were 275 entries on Saturday and 280 on Sunday, with participants travelling from all over the country.
The event is a fundraiser for the Oban Mountain Rescue Team, and allows it to combine fundraising and training, by providing communication, first aid and emergency training at the event.
This year’s event was won by Graeme Neagle of Fusion Triathlon Club, Glasgow, with a time of 1hr 22minutes on Saturday.
Andrew Hood, from East Fife, who represented Great Britain at the Youth Olympic Games in 2010, was first in Sunday’s event, with a time of 1hr 27minutes.
Event organiser, Paul MacGreal, said: ‘ We were pleased at the turnout, yet again the event was sold out.
‘ We also had our kids’ race for the first time, which was great. There was a really good standard, from people who were competing at a high level, to people there to enjoy themselves. All in all, it was a very successful event.’
The route involved a 550m swim from Oban to Kerrera, a 14km off-road cycle and an 8km run.
Paul added: ‘ With 550 entrants, from surveys we’ve done, we think on average people bring 1.2 people with them, which means the event brought around 1200 people to Oban over the weekend.
‘I think the attraction of the race is the location.
‘You have the romance of the island - I think this is the only triathlon in Britain where you swim to an island.
‘And it’s an amazing place to race and the islanders are very supportive of the event - we had three island residents taking part this year.’
Duncan MacEachan, who is co- organiser, said: ‘I’d like to say a huge thank you to all our sponsors for all their help. Without their support the event wouldn’t happen.
‘A big thank you also to the community for putting up with the disruption.
‘In total, we have raised between £4,000 and £ 5,000 for charity.’