Race Reports
The Gods were smiling down on Nenagh this week as glorious sunshine and light winds greeted the 210 triathletes who competed in this years North Tipp. Sprint triathlon. After last years’ freezing conditions and gale force winds the great weather made this year’s event a far more enjoyable task. A great triathlon experience was had by both competitors and spectators.
The Nenagh leisure centre was the scene for this year’s event and it wasn’t long before the place was buzzing with excitement. The event kicked off at 9:30 on Saturday morning with the first wave of swimmers entering the pool for their 500m swim. Following this, the triathletes embarked on a 20km cycle out to Toomevara and back. The triathlon was completed with a 5km run which finished in the CBS school grounds.
The senior men’s category was very competitive with a field of 156 competitors competing for first man home. In the end, David Tunney claimed first place with a very impressive time of 1:01:09. Second place was awarded to Michael O’Brien with a time of 1:03:35 and third was Eamon Horgan 1:03:44.
The senior women’s category was won comfortably by Lynne Algar in a great time of 1:09:49, followed by the second place competitor Sinead Roche with a time of 1:14:45. Third place was given to Amy O’Donovan with a time of 1:15:54.
The relay team event was won by a Tony Hassett’s Nenagh team in a time of 1:14:41. Racing on this relay team were Brian Geraghty, Noel Cleary and Pat Grace.
The club also award a perpetual cup for the first Nenagh person to cross the finish line. After winning the cup last year Darren Nevin was back again to defend his title. With a good performance and a solid time of 1:08:48, Darren Nevin took this prize home again. There was only a margin of 15 seconds between himself and Mike Browne, who was second Nenagh man home in his first triathlon. Coming home in third place was William Murphy who was also making his triathlon debut. Well done to all the Nenagh triathletes who took part.
>> Photos of the Nenagh participants
The club would like to thank our race sponsors – Tipperary Water, a Sportsman’s Dream, Moynan’s bike shop, Nenagh Fruit and Veg, Healthyme.ie. We would also like to thank the Abbey Court Hotel, Nenagh CBS and Nenagh leisure centre for the use of their facilities. Lastly we would like to thank all the volunteers, Gardai and Order of Malta personnel who helped us to run this event so well.
Final positions of the Nenagh triathletes were
- Darren Nevin -15th
- Mike Brown - 17th
- William Murphy - 28th
- Graham O'Keefe - 29th
- Patrick Rohan - 33rd
- Darren Scully - 39th
- Edward O'Meara - 46th
- Paddy Keneally - 50th
- Paul Nevin - 57th
- Justin Cottrell - 88th
- Gillian Quinlan - 149th