Ennis Duathlon a great success

THE annual Ennis Duathlon was held in Lees Road last Sunday in near freezing conditions. One hundred and twenty five brave athletes took on the course which included a 2.7k run, a 17k bike ride and a 2.4k run. Athletes of all abilities competed from the elites to duathlon first timers.

The race started with a quick pace with Colm Turner, Rory Sexton, Paddy Quinn (Ennis Tri) and Martin Grealish leading the way. First back to transition was Turner who jumped on his bike and began to pull away from the field. A group including Dave Richardson, Paddy Quinn and Martin Grealish battled it out on the bike. This game of cat and mouse helped Turner pull away from the following group and set him up with a lead that he would keep throughout the run to bring him home in a time of 44:45. Martin Grealish and Dave Richardson followed him home in times of 46:04 and 46:18 respectively.

Local athlete Paddy Quinn came home in sixth place in a time of 47:52. In the ladies section a total of 31 athletes competed with Andree Walkin of the GoTri team taking the laurels. Andree finished with a time of 53:48.  Andree didn’t have it all her own way though as she had just 20 seconds to spare over Sinead Oakes. Oakes had the faster cycle but Walkin had the legs on the run to hold her off. The final position on the podium was taken by Claire Devitt who came home in 58:29.