Sligo Triathlon Festival - 4th and 5th August 2012

Sligo Triathalon Festival - Update 21.06.12

The explosion in the popularity of Triathalons in recent years is being celebrated in Sligo this August as the annual Rosses Point Triathalon event is being upgraded to festival status.

The August Bank Holiday weekend will see the Sligo Triathlon Club hosting their annual Olympic distance race as well as a Sprint distance Triathalon. For the uninitiated a ‘Sprint’ distance race is a shorter, and therefore easier race.

The festival is a celebration of the sport but also recognition that Sligo, and in particular, Rosses Point has been the home of one the original triathlon events in Ireland. Since the late 1970’s triathlons have been run in Sligo and the current club still has many members who’ve raced in every decade since then.

For the fourth year running, the August Bank Holiday weekend will see triathletes from all over the country descend on Rosses Point.

Chairman of the Sligo Club Pauric Deery said “This year we are delighted to run both the Olympic/Standard & Sprint races with the Olympic event taking place on the Saturday morning and the Sprint event on Sunday”, he said.

Entry prices for both events are a very reasonable (€40 for individuals in the sprint €45 for the Olympic and €60 for relay teams in both races. Entry is now open on www.triathlonireland.)

“For those of you who have completed races in Sligo before, you know we offer a safe, well organised and fun day. For those of you who are new to triathlons, Sligo is a fairly flat course between the beautiful setting of Knocknarea and Benbulben.

“Our focus in Sligo is to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible with a race focused on the needs of all triathletes regardless of level of expertise”, he said.

Junior Championships

This year the event will also include a Junior Championships. “We are very excited to announce that we have been chosen by Triathlon Ireland to host one of their legs of the National Sprint Distance Junior Championships.

“This will be an opportunity to witness the best of the best up and coming young triathletes some of whom will no doubt be representing Ireland in the Olympics in the next few years.

Race Details

Both the Olympic and Sprint distance races will begin in Rosses Point. This sheltered beach provides an ideal location for a fast, safe and enjoyable swim.

The car-park in Rosses Point provides ample space and is an idea location for a transition area.

The bike route in either race begins and ends with a view of Sligo Bay and promises a flat scenic course that suits all levels of cyclist

Once back in Rosses Point, competitors will complete their run in and around the village of Rosses Point to end their race.

Prizes

“Sligo Triathlon Club is delighted to announce a new prize for this year Sprint Race. To reward those clubs that travel together, and reduce the petrol costs!,

“We are offering a club prize for teams comprised of 6 club members. For the club that take 1stplace, there will be a cash prize of €500, €300 for second place and €200 for third prize”.

(These teams must be comprised of at least 2 female members and each member of the team must be an individual entrant)

Across both days, Sligo Triathlon Club will be offering €200 each to the first Male & Female along with a small memento of the day. All prize information can be found on our website – www.sligotriathlon.ie.

Some more details can be found on our Facebook page or by following us on Twitter.

Listen to Margaret Carr Flynn interview Pauric Deery - Chairman of the Sligo Tri-athalon Club on Ocean Life 18th June 2012

Ocean FM are delighted to announce our media partnership of the Sligo Triathlon festival on the August Bank Holiday weekend Update 28.03.12

Building on the success of the Sprint Triathlon event held on the bank holiday weekend last year, the club are now hosting an Olympic Triathlon as well.
There is a huge level of interest in the Sprint distance Triathlon and we will build on that this year but a lot of people wanted to do the Olympic distance as well, said Pauric Deery Chairman of the Club.

Ocean FM CEO Tim Collins said he is delighted to be working with the local Club. Ocean FM is all about our listeners and getting out and fit and healthy is a big thing for people these days. I know we have a lot of people in the station that are signing up for the events, he said.

Entry for both events is now open on the triathlon ireland website.

RossesPoint has a long tradition of triathlon going back over 35 years with the All Ireland Metalman Triathlon in its hayday attracting competitors from all over Ireland and abroad as well as the televisions cameras of RTE. The event in its modern incarnation kicked off again in 2009 shortly after the Sligo Triathlon Club was formed.
The two triathlons are aimed at all levels of participant from experienced athletes to people new to the sport.

The Sprint distance is the an easy option according to Pauric.

It's a sprint distance event which means a 750m swim, 20km Cycle and finishes with a 5km run.

2009 saw the running of an Olympic Distance event which is double the distance of a sprint event in all disciplines.
The switch to sprint distance has opened up the event to more people and last year saw over 300 people take part in the event. There was a strong local contingent amongst these made up of seasoned athletes and many doing their first triathlon.

The swim takes place along sandy Rosses Point beach, it is generally sheltered from ocean swell but does get quite a lot of wind meaning it can make for a choppy swim. The large car park is used for transition to the bike, this route goes towards Sligo town via Ballywheelan and turns at Cartron returning to Rosses Point. Having disembarked from their bikes, competitors run through Rosses Point Village and back to the finish area along the promenade. It's an excellent venue for a triathlon with loads of parking and good vantage points for supporters to take in the race.

This years event (2012) will take place on Saturday the 4th of August for the Olympic distance event and Sunday 5th August for the Sprint event.