Beautiful weather, stunning scenery and a formidable challenge greeted participants at last week’s Ashford Duathlon in Cong, Co Mayo. The event, which included a 5km run, 20 km cycle and final 2km run, took place amid stunning scenery in and around the Ashford Castle estate. Almost 200 participants from top class athletes to complete novices travelled from across the country to race on a course which skirted Lough Corrib, Ashford Castle, Cong Woods and Cong Abbey. The winner, Martin Grealish, put on a masterclass of racing with a time of 55.31, over four minutes clear of second placed Art Naughton. The ladies’ race was won by Anne Marie Egan in a time of 67.30.
Harlequin Adventure Duathlon tomorrow
The Harlequin Adventure Race will be held tomorrow Saturday March 23 with a start time of 9am. The race is a mix of running, cycling, and mountain running. The event is using the picturesque Lough Lannagh for the first run section, the undulating/hilly roads of Rathbawn for the second cycling section, and the tortuous hill run up to the booster station (Glenisland ) that overlooks Castlebar. The views up at the booster station are spectacular, Clew Bay, Croagh Patrick, Clare island, Castlebar town, and Lough Mask are only some of the views, as these can all be seen on the descent to collect the bike for the final 15k cycle back to Castlebar via Glenisland. To finish off the race competitors have a final 3k dash back to the line outside the Harlequin hotel for a total distance of 36 kilometres. This event is open to all abilities with the fastest expected to cross the finish line at around 11am in a time under two hours. To register log on to www.runireland.com or for more information, email [email protected]
