Club News

On Sunday July 2nd Liam Butler is competing in his 12th successive Ironman Austria. Starting out with triathlons in 2000, he completed his first Ironman Austria event in 2005. With eleven Ironman events completed todate, totaling 2489.41 kilometers – or the equivalent of travelling from Limerick to Warsaw – Liam has a best time in Austria of 11 hours 9 minutes, and is looking to come close to that again this year.

Ironman Austria 2017 will truly be a family occasion for the Butler’s: three of Liam’s children are also taking on the Ironman challenge. His two sons, Craig and Graham, and his eldest daughter Lorraine have all signed up for Austria. Graham, Liam’s youngest son, has competed in every Ironman Austria since 2011, in which he became one of the youngest people in Ireland to complete a full Ironman challenge. Craig and Lorraine both started competing this year, with Craig completing the Joey Hannon and Lough Cultra events as a warm up. The Butler triathletes will be joined in Austria by wife, mother and chief supporter Tracey – July 2nd is going to be a competitive day in the Butler household.

This year also sees a number of established Ironman regulars return to Austria to challenge themselves in the beautiful countryside around Klagenfurt. Niall O’Donovan, Conor O’Dea and Pat McEnery have put in the hours over the last number of months under Coach Lenny and are in super condition approaching the start line.

Limerick Triathlon Club wish Liam and his family, Niall, Conor and Pat viel Glück in Ironman Austria!