Successful day in Galway Today The third COPE Galway Triathlon was held today on a lovely Irish summer’s day with lots of wind and rain. Thomas O’Dowd (Liquid Motion), Ruaidhrí Geraghty (Galway Tri Club) and Michael Gaffey (Activ Multisport) were 1st, 2nd and 3rd home while Miriam Wall took the 2011 female title followed by Tara Whyte and Joanne Murphy.
All three ladies were proud representatives of local Galway Triathlon Club, while the men also kept the titles west of the Shannon, with Thomas from Liquid Motion, Mayo, Ruaidhrí again Galway Tri Club and Michael a recent recruit to new club Activ Multisport. Although Activ Multisport is a Dublin based club, Michael is still a Galwayman originally from Ballymoe Co. Galway.
Cope Galway offered a great sporting event, with a great atmosphere despite the bad weather.
The third edition of the COPE Galway Triathlon started with a 750m swim which was a held along the promenade with a new design. Athletes walked along the promenade on the rythm of the music played from the loud speakers after Race Director Sebastien Locteau briefed the athletes about the course and health and safety measures in place along with the rules and regulation of a triathlon event.
The bike course of 20km was a up and down from Salthill to the Furbo Beach after Barna village. Pamela O’Hanlon with her volunteers had a massive challenge to ensure the safety of the participants on the wet road of the cycle. Her team laid out the turning point and the 20km cycle extremly well without any incident.
The run course was a lap from Salthill car park, toward South Park close to the Galway City centre. in windy conditions on the Galway sea side, it was a true running challenge with some strong wind along the beautiful scenery of the Galway Bay with a view of the Burren in the background.
Full provisional results attached and photos available here courtesy of Sean Bailey.
Here is a link to some photographs taken by Pat O’Connor of the race today
https://www.patoconnor.org/gallery/cope/
