Letterkenny 247 Triathlon club notes
Margaret Kelly qualifies for world championships
Race Report
Last weekend saw a return to longer races with two 70.3 races, an Olympic Triathlon, a Quadrathon and the Ballyare Ten K .
Six club members flew out to Germany early on Friday to compete in the 70.3 European championship in Wiesbaden.This was a tough race very hilly and technical. There were two debutants taking part with four more experienced members. Brendan Meenan put his recent injuries behind him and had to contend with a dropped saddle for thirty k but raced well. The other debutant Evelyn Boyle battled well also. John Cannon went out as the Irish champion in his age group and coped well in his first race back after a bike fall. Clara Quigley also did extremely well considering she has missed a lot of training through illness . Club veterans Margaret and Pauric Kelly as always set the standard. Margaret finished sixth in her category and as a result has qualified for the world 70.3 championships in Tennessee USA in 2017.
Closer to home there was another 70.3 race in Dublin. Fergus Callaghan in his first 70.3 race did an exceptional time as did Peter O’Donnell both comfortably breaking five hours .David Harvey just missed out on a sub five hour race followed home by Jonathan Edwards , Killian Nulty , Gavin Harris, Graham Parker and Paul McNulty. Killian has now to set a new target as 5.30 is history.
In the Caroline Kearney Olympic race in Mullingar John Conaghan won his age group and Martin Donnelly showed no side effects from his exertions in Sligo the previous week. Adrian Crawford made his debut at this distance and narrowly failed to beat three hours.
Most people are happy to complete a half marathon but Patrick McNulty completed a Quadrathon which is four Half marathons over four days. He got quicker as the race went on which is a great achievement. He was fifteenth overall
In the Ballyare ten k held in difficult conditions on a tough course Gavin Crawford finished second followed home by Shane Mc Nulty and Padraic Mc Cafferty.
On the cycling front two junior members were in action in the Ulster Championship held in Ballymoney on Saturday. Ciaran Mc Gettigan narrowly missed out on a podium in both races while Aisling Diver raced well.
Elijah Mc Ginley raced well in the community games and Ciaran backed up his performance winning the Ballyare novice race on Sunday.
Club Duathlon
The date of 11th of September has been confirmed for the club Duathlon which will have spaces for non club members . Provisional details are as follows : Venue Saint Eunan’s Gaa ground.
Sign on and parking at Aura
Race start time 9.00
Distance 2:10:2
Presentation 11.00 Aura
This event will have spaces for non Triathlon club members. Contact any committee member for further details.
Open water safety
The club organizes a supervised swim session every Monday evening at six thirty pm for all members.
A swim route is set up with a kayak to cover that swim route only. If anyone wants to use Gartan outside that time, please enter from the heritage centre entrance point and please make sure you have a swim partner and swim buoy for personal safety. There is a club shed for changing and the lock code is available from any committee member.
Training continues as follows
Monday: Gartan – Open Water Swim 6.30 pm (weather permitting)
Tuesday: Aura track – Track session 7.50 pm
Wednesday : Aura Pool – Swim session 8.00 pm
Thursday : Foxhall TT or Brick 6.30pm
Saturday : Aura club cycle 8.00 am
Sunday : Beginners cycle 9.00 am
Results :
European Half Iron man Championships
735th Patrick Kelly 5.53.38 (97th in category)
880th Margaret Kelly 6.06.05 (6th in category)
1083rd Clara Quigley 6.26.56 (25th in category)
1126th Brendan Meenan 6.32.03 (125th in category)
1179th Evelyn Boyle 6.38.40 (27th in category)
1278th John Cannon 6.56.12 9(16th in category)
Dublin Half Iron Championships
70th Fergus Callaghan 4.38.32
107th Peter O’Donnell 4.47.32
193rd David Harvey 5.00.24
432rd Jonathan Edwards
471th Killian Nulty 5.24.38
639th Gavin Harriss 5.35.06
948th Graham Parker 5.58.47
1358th Paul Mc Nulty 6.47.22
Caroline Kearney Olympic
34th John Conaghan 2.17.19 (1st in age catregory)
99th Martin Donnelly 2.27 (13th in age category)
312th Adrian Crawford 3.03.29
Ballyare 10 k
2nd Gavin Crawford 35.11
19th Shane Mc Nulty 39.34
24th Padraic Mc Cafferty 41.38