Sunday 16th of September saw the club host another Ironman Athy day – To support our friend Deca Ironman Ger Prendergast in his quest to complete 52 Ironman days in 52 weeks and also to act as a big training day for our 21 strong Ironman Barcelona team. This was the 2nd such day this year and following the success of the 1st one in July the club extended an invitation to local clubs and triathlon enthusiasts. We also posted some live facebook feeds throughout the day which seemed to go down well and generate a bit of online interest too.
The day proved to be a great test run for some members of team Barca. The water was chillier than we will face in The Med for sure & the bike elevation of 1,000m was way more challenging, as was the run give it was a 2k loop with half on grass and half on tarmac, so it’s fair to say we set up a challenging “big training day” as we peak in our training programs. Participants chose their own distance to complete with many doing the full swim, full bike & part of the run. Ger Prendergast completing the full ironman distance.
The day itself went off without any major incidents. A couple of bike malfunctions and a few punctures but nothing the crew couldn’t handle. Everyone put in a real graft on the day (especially in the chilly Barrow waters and on the hilly bike course) and finished beaming with confidence. Really pleasing to see fellow club mates come down to the bike and run course to support participants, we had loads of friendly beeps and waves from passing traffic and a few members of the public even pulling in to find out what was going on and wish us all the best. Great support from Athy town residents as always.
The club would like to extend a big thank you to
#AthyRowingClub – Out in force from early in the morning to marshal the river & support participants
Padraig & Karen Kavanagh – Event set up & hosting of Junior sections activities on the day
All members of our marshaling and aid station management team including Baco McEntee & his wife Monica, Gemma Martin & Paula Prendergast.
Richard Daly – Principal of Athy College for his continued support & use of school facilities
John Fox (Infinity Cycles) – for last minute bike maintenance/repairs
All club member for participating & supporting participant during the day & assisting with event clean up.
Ger Prendergast for making the effort to come down and complete one of his Ironman days in Athy and to support our Barca team day. Ger is truly inspiring, so positive and determined. We look forward collaborating with Ger in the future.
Next stop……………..IRONMAN BARCELONA!!
Below are a few photos of the day, more available on our Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/athytriteam/
