from Comans Swimming Club It was time for the runners to show there stuff in the Athleague Triathlon which took place on Saturday at the angling centre. The water level in the River Suck was unusually high for this time of year and as a result was flowing faster than even the strongest swimmers were comfortable with so most of the athletes were forced to walk for the upstream leg of the swim.
This unusual occurrence meant that the majority of the athletes emerged from the water en masse so it was inevitable that the winner would be either a runner or a strong cyclist.
This was true for both the senior and the junior events and Martin Murray who finished 3rd for the boys in Ballinasloe took the victory in the mini Tri with a time of 14 minutes 29 seconds, 2nd was Justin Cooney with 14 minutes 37 seconds and 3rd went to local boy Darragh Bailey from Comans Swimming club with a time of 15 minutes flat.
This was Darraghs 2nd triathlon and his inexperience showed in the transition area as he was second in from the swim but was in 10th place at the start of the cycle so 3rd place is a welcome conciliation prize.
Darragh was joined by two other swimmers from Comans, Sarah Kelly who was the overall winner in Ballinasloe and first timer Clare Geoghegan.
Sarah also had to make do with 3rd place with a time of 16 minutes 3 seconds finishing behind winner Maedhbh Hurst 15:06 and 2nd place Clare Burke 15:45.
Clare Geoghegan finished in 5th place with a very respectable 18:12, a time that would have given her the win in Ballinasloe.
The senior event was equally as testing for the swimmers and first to emerge from the water was Brendan Doyle, Brendan was almost immediately followed into the transition area by 30 more athletes but managed to maintain his lead and took the victory with a time of 1 hour 11 minutes 58 seconds.
Second place for the men went to Brian Harte with 1:12:26 and 3rd was Fran Hanlon with 1:12:57.
First lady back was Amanda Carthy 1:22:47, 2nd was Niamh Barrett with 1:27:05 and 3rd went to Mary Barrett with 1:27:28.
The next event on the calendar is Portumna Triathlon on 27th September for more information and application forms log on to www.runireland.com
check www.irishtriathlon.com where you can found pictures and results of this fantastic series based on promoting the sport and fundraise money for local clubs
