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Award-winning Kilkee triathlon may double in size


 Cillian Murphy with the Triathlon Ireland Race of the Year 2010 award, won for the Hell of The West Triathlon, Kilkee and the 2010 European Destination of Excellence in Aquatic Tourism award won by the Loop Head Peninsula.  Photograph by John KellyKILKEE’S Hell of the West Triathlon was awarded the inaugural Race of the Year accolade by Triathlon Ireland last week. However, if the race is accorded closed-road status in 2011, participant numbers could reach 1,500 and attract up to 5,000 weekend visitors to the West Clare resort.

Close to 700 competitors competed in the Limerick Triathlon Club organised event this year, which incorporated a 1,500m swim in Kilkee Bay, a 5km run on the Dunlickey Road and a 44km cycle from Kilkee to Cree and back via Doonbeg.
Up to 70% of the decision regarding the award was voted on by the participating athletes, while the remainder was based on the effectiveness of the race administration.
“I’ve raced a fair standard of races around the country in the last three or four years. I represented Ireland twice this year at the European Championships (Athlone) and at the World Championships in Budapest and to be honest with you, I’ve seen professionally organised races that were not a patch on this one here,” Hell of the West race director, Cillian Murphy told The Clare Champion this week.
Cillian, who was also chairman of the Loop Head Tourism committee, which won the Eden Award for aquatic tourism in 2010, feels the Kilkee triathlon course feeds off its natural hinterland.
“There are tougher courses in the country but they have to go out of their way to be tougher. They are making a point by being tougher. This is a naturally tough course.
“Normally, it’s blowing a south-westerly wind and you’re cycling home the last 15 or 16km into the wind uphill from Doonbeg,” the Kilkee-based businessman explained.
Currently, the Kilkee triathlon can cater for 750 people but Cillian is hoping that figure will be doubled if Clare County Council agrees to close the roads for next summer’s event.
“We’re in the process now of trying to work with Clare County Council and Fáilte Ireland to see can we get a road closure for the race in 2011,” he confirmed.
“If that happens, we’d be hoping to double the participant numbers. It’s very tentative but it would be huge. I reckon most of the people who compete come with one or two others. So you’re looking at up to 5,000 people coming to Kilkee for the weekend.
“I talked to Tom Tiernan (senior engineer at Clare County Council) about how the Etape Hibernia was run this year. I’ve also been in discussion with the company that oversaw the road closure order.
“They’re due to come down very early in the new year to do a site survey and to see how much it’s going to cost,” Cillian added.
Having met with Fáilte Ireland representatives following Loop Head Tourism’s Eden award, Cillian is confident the tourism body will support the expansion of the Hell of the West Triathlon.
“They are very keen on this. It’s right up their alley. I’d be hoping that they would look at covering the cost of the traffic management sponsorshipwise; maybe 100% in year one and down to 50% in year three and it would be up to us to become self-sufficient over a three or four-year period,” he explained.
If the go-ahead is given, Cillian envisages that the cycle leg of the triathlon would change from the Doonbeg–Cree route to incorporate a 43km cycle from Kilkee to Cross, Kilbaha and back to Kilkee by Carrigaholt. However, he acknowledges that possible road closures for the cycle would inconvenience the community who live on the projected route.
“You are probably looking at a road closure there for maybe three hours and it would impact pretty heavily on the community. So we would have to do a lot of work trying to get the community’s backing and say that it would heighten the profile of the peninsula and is going to bring the type of people that we’re looking to bring to the area,” Cillian explained.
Even if the road closure is granted, he says the Limerick Triathlon Club may not be in a position to commit to an expanded triathlon next summer. The club is due to host the European Duathlon Championships in April.
“That’s a huge ask for the club already, so it’s possible that the club may not have the resources within it to take on another big race this year. If that’s the way it works, it’ll be 2012 before it will go. But I would have no hesitation in saying that 2012 will be guaranteed,” Cillian stressed.
He is adamant that while the Hell of the West is a sporting event, it doubles as an economic boon.
“Outside of racing, it’s a great showpiece event for West Clare,” he concluded.

 

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