Club News

The 21st Joey Hannan Triathlon got underway on Sunday morning in beautiful conditions, with ambitious juniors, newbie racers and experienced competitors all in attendance. 714 athletes swam, biked and ran over three distances (try-a-tri, sprint and olympic) under the watchful eyes of five members of the Hannan family.

The try-a-tri race kicked things off at 9am, followed by three sprint and two olympic waves. The UL campus and surrounding area were certainly a sight to behold as over eighty marshals safely guided athletes of all ages and abilities through their respective races. Another great aspect of this year’s event was the huge participation rate within families, with many siblings and parent/child pairs toeing the start line. We were also graced with oversees competitors, namely Matt Molloy (UK), as the race was recently named as a qualifier for the 2014 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

In the junior try-a-tri, Limerick’s Elaine Yelverton successfully defended her title from a year ago, with Aaron Doherty winning for the boys. In the junior sprint, Lulu Keane and Michael Ryan were victorious. The try-a-tri race was incredibly exciting to watch, as so many athletes were participating in a triathlon for the first time. Also, this is the second year that we’ve sold out the try-a-tri event, proving how popular the sport has become. Onwards and upwards, we say! In the women’s event, the top finisher was Linda Fahy. For the men, Patrick Hogan finished first. In the women’s sprint, Cliona Spain, Laura Tigue from J2P Coaching and Rachel Beck were the top three. On the men’s side, Aichlin O’Reilly, Darren Dunne and Limerick’s Brian Campion got onto the podium. Due to a technical error, Barney MacCullagh was disqualified. Lastly, the Olympic race featured a host of top athletes. Carolyn Hayes led from start to finish in the women’s event, with Limerick’s Rachel Clancy and Anne Clafferty rounding out the podium. In the men’s event, Rory Sexton took the win, followed by Limerick’s Aaron O’Brien and Matt Molloy.

On another note, Rubena are sponsoring a prize for the 21st finisher in each distance, in honour of the 21st running of the event.

Race director Michael Deegan said: “What a great day! I just want to thank everyone for helping out and making it the successful event that it was. And to the athletes themselves, who traveled far and wide, a special well done.”

Many thanks to our sponsors who have supported the club and the race tirelessly over the years. Particular mention to Fitzgerald Flowers, Castlecabin and O’Neills Foodstore.

Results are available here  some revisions will be made for accuracy. (Thanks for all the hard work Dean & Ciarán of SportsTiming.ie)