by Mark Mckeigue Current World & European Champion, Catriona Morrison from Scotland has signed up for the Dooley Group Tri-Athy. This is the first time that a current world champion has raced in an Irish Triathlon and given that this is Olympic year, all eyes will be focused on Athy this summer. Other international interest will come from France. Cityjet are flying over the 2007 champion and current Irish All-comers record holder Cyrille Mazure as well as members Beauvais, the number one triathlon club in France.
The Dooley Group Tri-Athy is held in Athy, Co Kildare, on 31st May; the June Bank Holiday weekend. The initial idea was to create a course that was easy and accessible to new comers to Triathlon. Swimming in the calm waters of the Barrow, cycling along the flat closed roads of Kildare and running along the picturesque riverbank in Athy, all combine to make this not only the easiest Irish triathlon, but also the fastest. The Irish Record was broken by Olympic hopeful Gavin Noble, on this course last year. This year places on the Triathlon Ireland development squad are conditional on finishing in the top ten, so expect competition to be fierce. Both men’s and women’s records will be under pressure again this year.
Both a sprint distance (750m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run) and an Olympic distance (1,500m swim, 40km cycle, 10km run) event will be held on Saturday, 31st May.
Entries have been streaming in, with the 850 entries mark already reached. “Back when we launched on New Years Day, 850 entries would have been a great target, but now the capacity limit of 1,400 is beginning to look like a target!!!”, said event director Brian Crinion. Entries can be made online at the event website www.triathy.com
