Powerade Salmon Run 2010

Fears that this year’s Powerade Salmon Run Triathlon would not take place due to the low water levels in the River Moy were put firmly in the realms of history as the race took place on one of the wettest days ever seen in Ballina.

The Powerade Salmon Run Triathlon which is now in its fifth year took place on Saturday the 10^th of July. In previous years the race has basked in glorious sunshine, akin to Hawaii or Lanzarote (two famous Triathlon locations) however the conditions that faced the competitors for this year’s race were as close to monsoon conditions as we can get in this country. As one local competitor summed it up “people were worried that there would not be enough water in the Moy for the swim, we could have swam down Belleek Road at one stage!”

The race was a closely contested affair which was won by Mark Hogan from Pulse Triathlon Club (Dublin) who took the lead on the bike and held on to win in the remarkable time of 1:03:53 closely followed by Shane Scully from Nenagh Triathlon Club just 30 seconds behind with David Richardson from Limerick in third just 1 minute and 13 seconds behind the leader. The first locals home were the close group of Tom O' Dowd, Stephen Donnelly, Paul Reape and James Brady who came in 8^th, 9^th, 10^th and 11^th respectively. First in the female category was local girl Sinead Roche who races for Midland Tri Club in the terrific time of 1:15:03.

There was more local success when Stephen Donnelly, Michele Reynolds, James Brady and Deirdre Lynn won their respective age categories. So in all it was a very successful day for the local club Liquid Motion. ‘The Spirit of Triathlon Award’ which is memory of Mick Lyons one of the founding members of the club and who pioneered the sport of triathlon in Ballina was won by the popular James Geraghty for his achievements in the Ironman race in Germany last year.  

However for all the rain fell it did not damper the spirits of the competitors taken part. Some of whom take part in triathlons every weekend, some who just pull the bike out of the shed  come July to take part in the race and some who were taking part in their first ever triathlon. Most of athletes who took part said after the race that they really enjoyed it, in spite of the rain. As one said “you just have to accept the rain and get over it, sure when your wet your wet. I was roaring laughing at one stage, it got that bad”. This year’s race had a different course due to the revised traffic management system in place on the towns Bridges. Transition where the competitors change over from one sport to the other was located at Ballina Athletic track. The bike section was out the Killala Road with the turnaround located at the old Asahi plant. The run brought the athletes down and back through Belleek woods,    

Liquid Motion Triathlon Club would like to thank all the stewards who had to suffer the torrential rain and all the sponsors who were involved in race, special mention to Ballina Beverages and Molloys Lifestyle Pharmacy.  The club would also like to thank Steven Doyle and legginit.com (a new social networking fitness site) for their photos.

July 19, 2010 14:13

Tom