The inaugural Tri the Lough Sprint Triathlon was organised by Omagh Tri Club at the fantastic venue of The Lough at Loughmacrory last Saturday. For an event in its first year it attracted a top quality field including former Irish Ironman record holders Trevor Woods and Liam Dolan. As well as many well established triathletes who are no strangers to podium finishes including Desi Mc Henry, Eamon Hill, Ann Paul, Joanne Bingham, Alistair Bratten, Frankie Dunlop, Tony Mc Nulty and Heather Bamford to name but a few!

After a fairly wet morning the weather suddenly cleared just in time for the 11 O'Clock start. As the athletes took to the water they were cheered on by the large crowd of spectators who had turned out to show their support! As they headed for the first turn buoy a number of athletes had already broken away from the main field and were establishing a fairly healthy lead. First to exit the water was Patrick Mc Kenna in a blistering time of 9.56 but hot on his heels were Trevor Woods and Conor Mc Kenna who kept themselves in contention as they headed through transition and onto the bike leg! Meanwhile in the ladies race a battle was commencing for the podium places Emma Bamford and Fiona Murphy lead the ladies out of the water.

As the bike commenced the athletes had to face a fairly demanding circuit that proved to be quite slippery after all the recent rain meaning that extra care was required on this tight and testing circuit. The huge advantage was that the two lap circuit was completed on fully closed roads much of which had recently been re-surfaced which made for some very fast stretches. Trevor Woods blasted round the course to have the fastest bike split of the day and build for himself an unassailable lead heading into the run. Liam Dolan and Eamon Hill had very fast bike splits also and were moving ominously up through the field. Emma Bamford was working hard on the bike and managed to make it onto the run as leading female. But Ann Paul was having a fast bike and had closed the gap that Emma had built up from the swim.

As the athletes started the run as a contest the mens race was over as Trevor Woods had built up a significant lead and was now enjoying being out in front on the two lap run around the lough. Things were very different in the female race as Ann Paul now entering her stronger discipline was quickly closing the gap on Emma Bamford. As the race reached its conclusion Trevor Woods crossed the line in first a comfortable winner on the day followed by Patrick Mc Kenna in second and Edward Brennan in third. Despite fast runs from Eamon Hill and Liam Dolan they just failed to make it to the podium but both men are better known for their exploits over the longer distances and picked up age group prizes on the day.

In the female race Ann Paul managed to close the gap on Emma and take victory on the day. Joanne Bingham well known for her running strength worked her way though the field to fill the third place on the podium.

Overall the race went very well and all athletes returned safely. They were then treated to some traditional music and fantastic food provided by the ladies of Loughmacrory GAC. Omagh Tri Club would like to take this opportunity to thank all their partners in the organisation of this event including St. Teresa's GAC, Loughmacrory Community Development Association and Loughmacrory and Murrins Fishing Club.

We thank all the athletes for choosing to participate in our race and look forward to welcoming them and their friends back next year!

_____________________________________________________________________

By Chris Caldwell
THE first ever ‘Tri the Lough’ sprint distance triathlon to be held in Loughmacrory proved to be an emphatic success on Saturday as over 150 competitors took part in a superbly organised event.
And the outcome of the race could not have worked out any better for the organisers as Omagh native, Trevor Woods, took the overall victory, with Mountfield’s Noel Collins the first local athlete home.
The weather may not have played ball all day, with several showers of rain, but that failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the large crowd of spectators and competitors who all thoroughly enjoyed the day.
There were several well-known names among the large field of competitors, who came from all over Ireland to take part, with former Armagh GAA captain and BBC GAA Football pundit, Jarlath Burns, Conor Muprhy MLA, and Irish triathlon legend, 64-year-old Desmond McHenry, all taking part.
Councillor Declan McAleer, who is the chairman of the Loughmacrory Community Development Association, was thrilled with the way the day went: “This is a wonderful event,” he beamed.
“It’s the culmination of a lot of work between a number of organisations, particularly the local [Loughmacrory] GAA club, the Omagh Triathlon Club and the Loughmacrory Community Development Association.
“So this is wonderful, it’s a first for a gaelic football club anywhere in the country to help arrange a triathlon and the people of Loughmacrory can feel proud because it’s brought a lot of people out, getting people in good spirits.
“There’s been a massive interest in this event, and there are athletes from all over the country, as far away as Cork, who have come to participate.
“They exceeded the number of entries and had to turn people away, so I’m confident that the roaring success of today should make this a permanent fixture in the sporting calendar.”
The overall race winner, Cork’s Trevor Woods, who was born in the Omagh area, spoke of his pride in being the first ever winner of the Tri the Lough triathlon upon crossing the finish line almost two minutes ahead of second placed Patrick McKenna.
“It’s an honour and a privilege to be the first winner of this event,” he beamed. “This is my home town, I was born in Omagh, I haven’t been here for 15 years, so it’s great to come back and I will savour my victory here.
“It’s a good event, it’s a big bonus having closed roads, it makes it so much safer, so it’s a good course, it’s great. I think this should be a National Series race ultimately because of that safety aspect and as you can see by the numbers today it’s obviously popular already and will certainly grow.”
Mountfield’s Noel Collins, who was the first local athlete to complete the course in just over one hour and eight minutes to finish in seventh overall, was also delighted with his achievement, while Desmond McHenry, who has completed over 300 triathlons in 29 years, was full or praise for the organisers.
“It’s a very well organised event, to have closed roads is a luxury. The way it’s been organised today there is no reason why it shouldn’t grow,” he commented.
One of the main organisers of the event, Omagh Triathlon Club’s Peter Skeffington, who was in charge of the bike course on the day, was thrilled with the positive feedback from those taking part.
“I’m delighted to hear that the competitors have been positive in their feedback because there has been a lot of hard work put in to this,” he said.
“The weather wasn’t good, but there’s nothing you can do about that. Everything went about 95 per cent right, but there are always little things you can improve on, you can’t get it 100 per cent in your first year.
“The facilities here in Loughmacrory are second to none and to have everything on one site is superb. It’s been brilliant and I’m very pleased with how everything’s gone.”
The race got off to a spectacular start with all of the competitors plunging into the lake to start their 750 metre swim. Patrick McKenna was the first to emerge in a time of nine minutes and 56 seconds, closely followed by Woods and Connor McKenna.
However, following the bike race section, Woods had built up a sizeable lead of over two minutes over P McKenna, and he completed the 5K run in 18 minutes and 57 seconds to complete the race in one hour, two minutes and five seconds, to finish one minute and 55 seconds ahead of P McKenna, who was one minute and 31 seconds ahead of third-placed Edward Brennan.
The ladies race was won by Anne Paul, who finished in one hour, 14 minutes and 45 seconds, almost four minutes ahead of Emma Banford, in second, and third-placed Joanne Bingham.
Collins, in seventh overall, was the first local athlete home, in one hour, eight minutes and 48 seconds, just 13 seconds ahead of Pete Neill, with Shane McGale the third Omagh athlete across the finish line in one hour, 11 minutes and 37 seconds.
Top 40 results
1, Trevor Woods, 1.02.05; 2, Patrick McKenna, 1.04.00; 3, Edward Brennan, 1.05.31; 4, Liam Dolan, 1.06.55; 5, Eamon Hill, 1.07.36; 6, Adam Speer, 1.08.15; 7, Noel Collins, 1.08.48; 8, Pete Neill, 1.09.01; 9, Mark Daffy, 1.10.55; 10, Gary O’Donnell, 1.10.59; 11, Daniel Quigley, 1.11.19; 12, Tony McNulty, 1.11.21; 13, Shane McGale, 1.11.37; 14, Conor McKenna, 1.11.57; 15, Anthony McDonald, 1.12.03; 16, Philip McDonald, 1.12.51; 17, Peter Jones, 1.12.53; 18, Alistair Bratten, 1.13.18; 19, Chris McGuigan, 1.13.23; 20, Frank Dunlop, 1.13.28; 21, Peter Morrison, 1.13.55; 22, Joe McConnellogue, 1.14.08; 23, Glen Pollock, 1.14.27; 24, Paul McDonald, 1.14.44; 25, Anne Paul, 1.14.45; 26, Niall McEnhill, 1.15.03; 27, James Beattie, 1.15.21; 28, Desmond McHenry, 1.15.29; 29, Edward O’Reilly, 1.15.29; 30, Team Spartans, 1.15.50; 31, Eamon Doherty, 1.16.28; 32, Eamon Harkin, 1.17.16; 33, Paul Skelly, 1.17.39; 34, Lorcan Healy, 1.17.51; 35, Seanie Meyler, 1.17.58; 36, Colin McCartan, 1.18.32; 37, Emma Bamford, 1.18.37; 38, Paddy Heaney, 1.18.52; 39, Ronan Walsh, 1.19.01; 40, Aidan Borchers, 1.19.06.