Elite Irish athletes Melaine Nocher, Philip Lavery, Lorraine Manning, Scott Evans and David Gillick are all signed up to do the Croí Team event of this year’s IRONMAN 70.3 IRELAND in Galway on the 2 nd of September this year. Attached to Body Byrne Fitness these athletes are also raising money for Keith Duffy’s charity Irish Autism Action.
For those who are not strong in all three disciplines of a Triathlon (Swim, Cycle and Run) the team event is the ideal solution as each discipline is allocated to three team members. But teams beware, this Olympic standard team will see current Irish Olympian Melanie Nocher, Irish swim record holder and veteran of the Beijing Olympics hand over to Philip Lavery current Irish under 23 National Cycle Champion, who in turn will see Garda and elite runner Elaine Manning, run for home.
Irish number 1 Badminton Player and current Olympian Scott Evans, will join Roseanna Davidson and Sean O’Donoghue in another very competitive team, while Olympian and two time European Indoor 400 m Champion David Gillick, who had to pull out of his London Olympic bid due to injury, will be joined by Brad Corbally and Angela Scanlon.
IRONMAN 70.3 Ireland will be over the weekend of the 31st of August to the 2nd of September with the race itself taking place on Sunday the 2nd of September. The iconic race, which will be carried by 25 International T.V. networks, begins with a 1.9km swim in Galway Bay before being followed by a scenic 90km bike course on the gateway route of Connemara. The 21.1km run follows through Galway and Salthill, passing a number of local landmarks along the way, enabling the athletes to take in some of the beautiful surrounding scenery of the Irish countryside.
Ruaidhrí Geraghty from local orgainsers E&R Events “It is great to have Olympians come to our event and mixed it with the professional and elite Triathletes from around Ireland the world, but our race is based on the average person deciding that they are going to change their lives and fulfil a life long ambition, this is what gives us the most satisfaction. There are very few sports in the world where the average Joe can line up with the best athletes in the world in their chosen sport, this is exactly what happens in an IRONMAN Triathlon.”
For more information on volunteering or taking part in this year’s Ironman, visit their website www.ironmanireland.com or visit Facebook search IRONMAN IRELAND.