A record 11 club members travelled to Denmark to take on the KMD Ironman Copenhagen on Sunday as Letterkenny Triathlon took part in a frantic week of events.
Club notes
KMD Ironman Copenhagen
Dubbed the ultimate sightseeing triathlon, Ironman Copenhagen began at the lagoon at Amager Beach Park where competitors took on a 3.8km one lap course.
The 180km bike course brought athletes through Central Copenhagen before heading north to take on two loops in the rolling hills of the island’s north countryside, taking in some of the same routes that the World Road Race Cycling Championships did when Copenhagen was the host back in 2011.
The marathon course consisted of 4-loop run sightseeing tour of some of Copenhagen’s most famous sights; not forgetting the huge Donegal contingent that travelled to cheer on and support those racing!
Peter O’Donnell was the first 24/7 member to cross the finish line in a hugely impressive time of 9:19:38.
Exiting the water in 01:11:13 Peter was 138th in his category but his scintillating bike split of 4:51:08 meant Peter made up 100 places in his age category alone and left T2 to head off on the marathon 138th position in the M30-34 category.
Peter went onto run an astonishing marathon time of 3:07:47, averaging 4.27/km and crossed the finish line to those infamous words, in 9:19:38. Peter placed 20th in the very competitive M30-34 age category.
What is even more impressive about Peter’s performance is he now is the 2nd fastest Donegal Ironman. Paul Rutherford, a native of Convoy and now living in Sligo currently holds the record at 9:12.
Nick Fowell was next for 24/7. Nick had a fantastic swim, exiting the water in a brilliant time of 59:55. Like Peter, Nick had a very impressive bike split, holding an average of 36.89km/hr over the 180km course to return to T2 in 4:52:44.
Nick has had some issues with his running prior to this event but he will be delighted to have held on and persevered to run a 3:51:49 marathon. Nick finished in a superb overall time of 9:51:07.
Shane McNulty crossed the finish line less than 40minutes later. A strong swim of 1:10:05 set Shane up well and he had a brilliant 5:16:19 bike split before concluding his race, with his strongest discipline, and a brilliant marathon time of 3:46:55 to cross the finish line in a fantastic 10:30:43.
Margaret Kelly- the club’s only female representative in Copenhagen possibly had the most impressive race of all. Margaret has made an admirable comeback and return to racing in 2019 and coming into Sunday’s Ironman has been in superb form. A strong swim time of 1:05:36 to start, Margaret went onto perform very well on the bike course, finishing the 180km in a brilliant 5:37:47.
Margaret finished strongly with a marathon time of 3:52:44, crossing the finish line in a superb 10:46:20- 4th in her F45-49 age category and an amazing 45th female overall out of the 407 females who took part.
Colin Dean had a fantastic debut Ironman. Colin swam 1:14:01, before going onto bike a brilliant 5:34:17. A 4:05:20 marathon time meant Colin crossed the finish line in a super total time of 11:06:36.
Alaistair Hetherington took on his first Ironman in Tallinn in 2018 and immediately set his sight on completing another. He had a brilliant 1:15:04 swim to start and pushed hard on the bike course to bike an impressive 5:15:56 split. Finishing off with a 4:29:45 marathon, despite having not run in a few weeks due to injury, Alaistair crossed the finish line in an excellent 11:12:50.
Less than 10minutes later clubmate and triathlon newbie Eamonn Patton completed his debut Ironman in an impressive 11:22:39. Back in April Eamonn took on the club’s Try a Tri and set his sights on Ironman Copenhagen. Eamonn swam 1:33:51 for the 3.8km swim before clocking 5:36:17 on his bike split. He finished very strongly with a sub-4-hour marathon in 3:50:50.
Philip Browne was next for 24/7. Philip exited the swim in 1:28:50 and had a brilliant 5:51:06 bike split and a solid 4:11:59 marathon to cross the finish line in a fantastic time of 11:48:03.
Tom Murray took on his 2nd Ironman and performed brilliantly over all three disciplines swimming 1:21:31, biking 5:56:48 and concluding his race with a 4:53:03 marathon to finish in a brilliant 12:26:51.
Lawrence Maguire also had a brilliant race. He swam 1:25:05 for the 3.8km swim before a strong bike split of 5:52:58. He concluded his race with a 4:57:02 marathon.
Paul Kelly was determined to take on Ironman Copenhagen, despite being advised he should not run due to a serious injury. Paul exited the swim after 1:42:28.
He biked the 180km course in 7:28:19. Paul had 3 punctures and ran out of tubes, he had to wait on the broom wagon for 45mins before he could got on with his race but eventually made it around then on that final tube.
At one point he wasn’t even sure he was going to make the cut off for the bike.
But like a true Ironman, he rallied and pulled it back as the bike went on and showed true grit and determination to complete the marathon in 6:02:37. Paul crossed the finish line in a total time of 15:33:34.
A huge shout out must also go to the support crew of Pauric, Sheryl, Damian, Julie, Elaine, Andrea, Kathleen, Carol, Annie, Amy, John, Hazel, Sandra and Cathal who spent the day cheering on and supporting all the 24/7 and Donegal crew as well as updating everyone at home.
Dublin City Triathlon- Triathlon Ireland Sprint Championships
Closer to home 2 club members travelled to the Phoenix Park in Dublin to compete in the Triathlon Ireland Sprint Championships at Dublin City Triathlon. Natasha Kelly had a superb race. Exiting the swim in 15:03, Natasha had a very strong bike split completing it in 36:41.
A 15:49 run to finish meant Natasha crossed the finish line in 1:10:12, 3rd in her F25-29 age category, 11th female overall.
Donagh O’Sullivan was also in action and he too had an impressive race. A 15:26 swim set Donagh up well and he went onto put in great performances in the other disciplines, a 35:15 bike and 19:10 to finish. Donagh crossed the finish line in a total time of 1:13:47.
Donegal Half Marathon
A total of 408 competitors completed Sunday’s Donegal Half Marathon. Now in its 4th year, the event has gone from strength to strength and on Sunday the streets of the town were lined with supporters cheering on the huge number of competitors. Aidan Callaghan was the first 24/7 competitor to cross the finish line at the Aura Leisure Centre.
Aidan clocked a brilliant 1:21:03, a good result ahead of the World Championships in Nice in just a few weeks’ time.
Just a week after his superb performance at the Northern Velocity half Ironman in Buncrana, Paul Dillon had another brilliant race to finish in an impressive 1:26:41. Gavin Crawford raced well and clocked 1:28:29 for the 13.1 mile event.
Terence Diver is in superb form and backed up his recent impressive 10k at Ballyare with a fantastic 1:28:41 on Sunday, winning 3rd place in the M50 category. Chairman Liam Tinney’s preparation ahead of Dublin Marathon in just 10 weeks’ time is going very well and he had a strong run to finish in 1:31:55.
Paul Cullen used Sunday as a long run and finished comfortably in 1:36:34. Ciaran O’Donnell ran very well clocking 1:36:44.
Unfortunately, Paul Doherty suffered an injury towards the end of the race but he hung in to the end and still finished in 1:36:50. John McFadden had another strong run clocking 1:37:26. Fionnuala Larkin had a fantastic run, looking very comfortable and strong throughout. She crossed the finish line with a new PB time of 1:39:20. Stephen Sweeney had a brilliant run of 1:41:14.
Joe Doherty also ran very well finishing in a time of 1:42:37. Five seconds later Paul O’Donnell crossed the finish line with a super run of 1:42:42. The ever consistent Seamus Nallen ran well to clock a time of 1:43:50.
Conor McGlinchey was just one second behind him with a fantastic time of 1:43:51.
Anne Robinson and Desiree Casburn are in fine form ahead of their marathons later in this year, running 1:46:02 and 1:46:41 respectively.
Keith Fletcher looked comfortable throughout to finish in a time of 1:47:36. Aidan McFadden crossed the finish line in 1:49:40. Following on from his PB at the recent Ballyare 10k Karol Harvey continued his fine form with a new half marathon PB time of 1:51:15. Terence Quinn had a brilliant run crossing the finish line in 1:54:05 with Fin Begley hot on his heels in 1:54:46.
Rory Grant raced well to finish in 1:57:08 with Martina McDaid finishing exactly a minute later in 1:58:08. Georgina Dill also had a good race and crossed the line in 2:23:34.
Well done also to Ciaran Callaghan who raced as part of the Kernan group in the Donegal Half Marathon Relay Team Challenge Cup. Ciaran ran 7k of the event and his team finished in 4th place overall in a time of 1:48:50.
National Masters Track & Field Championships
In athletics action Kathyrn McDevitt travelled to the National Masters Track & Field Championships where she showed her track dominance winning Gold in both the 100m and 200m events. Kathyrn finished in 13.35 and 27.50 seconds in the events.
Manor 5k
Well done to Keith Gordon, 23:08, and Gavin McMenamin, 23:33, who raced in last week’s Manor 5k.
Training Update
TT and Brick sessions have now concluded for the Summer season. Long run Thursdays commence this Thursday, leaving from Aura at 6.30pm.
Club Notes
All members are encouraged to contact club PRO Fiona McDaid if they are competing in events and want to be included in club notes. It is great to see so many members take part in events each week so please submit your results. Results can be sent to 0879044287.
Club Training
Club training continues as follows:
Monday: Gartan Open water sessions. In the water for 6.30 SHARP. Please see email for more information on the rules of Open water sessions at Gartan.
Tuesday: Run sessions will take place predominantly in Letterkenny Town Park. Warm up at Town Park at 6.30pm; session starts at 6.50pm SHARP. Meeting point is the chapel at St. Conal’s.
Wednesday: Swim session- Novice 7-8pm, Intermediate/Advanced 8-9pm.
Thursday: TT and Brick sessions have now concluded for the Summer season.
Long run Thursdays commence this Thursday; leaving from Aura 6.30pm.
Saturday: Club cycle from Aura at 8am- All members must have front and rear lights to take part in the club session.
Full Results
KMD Ironman Copenhagen
Peter O’Donnell 9:19:38
Nick Fowell 9:51:07
Shane McNulty 10:30:43
Margaret Kelly 10:46:20
Colin Dean 11:06:36
Alaistair Hetherington 11:12:50
Eamonn Patton 11:22:39
Philip Browne 11:48:03
Tom Murray 12:26:51
Lawrence Maguire 12:29:51
Paul Kelly 15:33:34
Dublin City Triathlon- Triathlon Ireland Sprint Championships
Natasha Kelly 1:10:12 3rd F25-29 11th overall
Donagh O’Sullivan 1:13:47
Donegal Half Marathon
Aidan Callaghan 1:21:03
Paul Dillon 1:26:41
Gavin Crawford 1:28:29
Terence Diver 1:28:41
Liam Tinney 1:31:55
Paul Cullen 1:36:34
Ciaran O’Donnell 1:36:44
Paul Doherty 1:36:50
John McFadden 1:37:26
Fionnuala Larkin 1:39:20 PB
Stephen Sweeney 1:41:14
Joe Doherty 1:42:37
Paul O’Donnell 1:42:42
Seamus Nallen 1:43:50
Conor McGlinchey 1:43:51
Anne Robinson 1:46:02
Desiree Casburn 1:46:41
Keith Fletcher 1:47:36
Aidan McFadden 1:49:40
Karol Harvey 1:51:15 PB
Terence Quinn 1:54:05
Fin Begley 1:54:46
Rory Grant 1:57:08
Martina McDaid 1:58:08
Georgina Dill 2:23:34
Donegal Half Marathon Relay Team
Ciaran Callaghan 1:48:50
National Masters Track & Field Championships
Kathyrn McDevitt 100m 13.35seconds
Kathyrn McDevitt 200m 27.59seconds
Manor 5k
Keith Gordon 23:08
Gavin McMenamin 23:33
