McLaughlin pips Maguire to first spot

LOUGHMACRORY was the setting for the Omagh Triathlon Club’s annual Sprint and Try-A-Tri Triathlons when there was very nearly a home victory.

Conor Maguire put in a massive shift throughout but was pipped at the post by North West Triathlon Club’s Sean McLaughlin in the end by less than ten seconds.

The event, now into its 11th year and thankfully back to full capacity since the pandemic, turned out to be a fantastic day for all who attended, especially as the weather held good which is always a massive help.

There was a sell out of 250 entries for the Sprint and fifty entries for the Try-A-Tri.

Out of those numbers there were 51 Omagh club members who made it to the start line.

The race started in the beautiful Lough with a 750m swim around the four buoys in an anti clockwise direction.

After weeks and months of training for most of the Omagh club under the excellent eye of Michael Holland, everyone had some great swim splits
showing that the hard work is paying off.

First out of the water in a savage time of 12.02 minutess was Maguire, very closely followed by Holland in 12.03 and in third place was newcomer to the sport of triathlon, Kelly McCartan in 12.58.

In and out of transition, it was the turn of the 20km road cycle which consisted of two 10km laps around the roads of Loughmacrory.

Keeping the pressure on, Conor was setting a fierce pace of 38.1km/h around the course to arrive back in T2 with a split time of 31.25, but Mick was staying close only six seconds behind in 31.31.

Rounding out the top three was Jason Kelly in 34.47.

Bikes racked and running shoes on, the 5km run remained, which took the competitors around the football pitch, a lap of the trail around the Lough and finishing off with some road before coming back in to finish the race in front of the lough.

Conor always excels at the run and he threw everything into the 5km to cross the line with the third fastest run of the day in 18.02, followed by Vinnie McAtee in 21.00 and Grainne O’Hagan in 21.30.

With everyone back in base after the sprint and their times totalled there was jubilation for Conor as he had secured secpnd place overall, only eight seconds from victory, which was secured by McLaughlin. Conor’s total race time was 1:02:59.

Omagh club members results: Sinead Donnelly 1:20:03 – 2nd Place A/G; Jennifer Morrow 1:20:56 – 1st Place A/G; Grainne O’Hagan 1:21:13 – 2nd Place A/G; Kelly McCartan 1:28:49 – 1st Place A/G; Marie Cowgill 1:30:02 – 3rd Place A/G; Anne Logue – 1:35:18; Laura Colhoun – 1:41:34; Dervla Heaney 1:41:55 – 2nd Place A/G; Jacqueline Gillespie – 1:42:12; Michaela Gillespie – 1:43:26; Majella McCullagh 2:02:18 – 1st Place A/G; Sharon Hurson 2:05:05; Conor Maguire 1:02:59 – 2nd Overall; Michael Holland 1:07:55; Oran McAleer 1:13:44 – 2nd PlaceA/G; Jude Harkin 1:14:25 – 2nd Place A/G; Cain McGuigan 1:15:09 – 3rd Place A/G; Shane McGale 1:16:11 – 3rd A/G; Vinnie McAtee 1:16:17; Sean Gillespie 1:17:12 – 3rd Place A/G; Denis Borimskij 1:17:41; Gareth Fegan 1:18:01; Seamus Arkinson 1:18:36 – 3rd A/G; Eoin Bradley 1:18:53; John Morris 1:19:22; Adrian McKinney 1:19:52 – 1st A/G; Jason Kelly 1:20:16; Eugene McCarroll 1:20:37 – 3rd A/G; Declan Campbell 1:20:42; Pauric Quinn 1:21:25; Gerard Meehan 1:21:38; Sean Curran 1:22:09; Paul Coyle 1:22:14; Chris Gallagher 1:23:06; Liam Curran 1:26:25; Mark McGuigan 1:28:04; Adam Ross 1:29:13; Colin Harkness 1:29:49; Oliver Murphy 1:36:19; Kieran McHugh 1:37:21; Adrian McMenamin 1:44:55; Albert Law 1:52:07 – 2nd A/G.

The club was also well represented in the Try-A-Tri Triathlon which is a fantastic starting race for new triathlete’s starting out to experience the event at a shorter distance.

The distance may be shorter but it’s still highly competitive.

The swim was a 300m lough swim and first to appear out of the water for OTC was Padraig Og McDermott in 6.13, followed by Aodhan Curran in 7.12 and Mairead Corrigan in 7.15.

The cycle was the same route as the sprint except it was one lap instead of two and again the fastest OTC member was Padraig Og in 20.26, Conal McAleer took 2nd OTC place in 21.26 and rounding out the top
three was Nichola K Fitzgerald in 22.35.

The Try-A-Tri run was 3km on the same course as the sprint. On the run the tables were turned as Conal managed to put in a split time of 11.16. Padraig Og was hot on his heels with a 11.22 split followed by Nichola in 11.35.

After the final check Padraig Og had done enough to secure third place overall in the Try-A-Tri and 1st OTC place with a total time of 40.19 with Conal taking second OTC place in 43.18 and rounded of with Nichola in
46.30.

Omagh club members results: Padraig Og McDermott 40:19 – 3rd Overall; Conal McAleer 43:18; Duncan Hydman 46:17; Nichola K Fitzgerald 46:30; Aodhan Curran 49:27; Aimee Sweeney 51:22; Meave Heaney 52:29; Mairead Corrigan 52:37; Dymphna Healy 56:08.

All the final results can be found at my.raceresult.com.