from The Harlequin Adventure Duathlon on March 26th is set to attract a bumper field of over 300 competitors with some of the best Adventure/Duathlon racers in the Country taking part in the RUN/BIKE/RUN event.
Organiser Seb Locteau who is one of the organisers is extremely happy with the entry to date he said " after last year’s successful event its great to see that the 2011 event will be even bigger an better, the course is not too severe and its easy to navigate around, this year we have made it a bit more challenging with longer runs and an off road bike section, the last few months I have seen this route been used allot by fitness enthustics".
Next Saturday morning at 9am Castlebar’s Lannagh road will be closed of to traffic and instead of been full of cars it will be full of eager athletes looking to lay claim to be the fastest over the 36k route which makes up the Adventure Duathlon.
The course takes in the Lough Lannagh walk, the Rathbawn road to the Glenisland booster at 1450 feet, returning via Glenisland to Castlebar and a repeat of the Lannagh walk to finish outside the Harlequin hotel, It is expected to see the fastest competitors completing the course in under 2hours, with the leading competitors crossing the finish banner at around 11am outside the Harlequin Hotel.
This event is a bit like Gael Force but without the kayaking, it has its own unique style with a blend of running and cycling that will test the competitor, the main attraction to events like this is to beat the course regardless if you are an elite or novice. .
Rory Geraghty Galway won last year’s event, this year he will have to cope with the form of Colm Staunton who won the Sea2 Summit adventure race last November, young Con Doherty who recently won the Junior All Ireland’s Duathlon champs will also be up there, In the ladies race last year’s winner Derval Devaney will have competition from 2009 and 2008 Gael force winner Mary Mulchrone and Rachel Maloney from Foxford who has had a string of good results in the last few weeks.
With so many entries a dark horse might upset the favorites as there have been many locals who know the course and have trained hard in the past few weeks and they may up stage the odds.
The run up to the Glenisland booster at half way mark will more than lightly decide the race as the final 2k steep ascent will test the competitors steel, for spectators this is probably the best place to watch and cheer on the participants. Marrey bikes and Exposure outdoor sports shop are sponsring the event.
This Duathlon race is suitable to all abilities, with only a handful of places left sign up quickly @ www.runireland.com
This event is been supported by Mayo county council, Castlebar Town council, the Civil defence and the Gardai
A few entries are still available here : www.runireland.com/forms/adventure-duathlon-entry
Padraig Marrey
Email: [email protected]
Ph: 00353 877992857
Web: www.marreytrainingsystems.com
