Scott Orwell at the Ironman 70.3 Dun Laoghaire

Last Sunday August 25th saw 1600 competitors from all over Ireland and internationally descend on Dun Laoghaire for the 2019 Ironman 70.3 triathlon. 4 of them were from Scott Orwell, read on to hear how 4 roadies got on in this tough event!

Scott Orwell at the Ironman 70.3 Dun Laoghaire

Last Sunday August 25th saw 1600 competitors from all over Ireland and internationally descend on Dun Laoghaire for the 2019 Ironman 70.3 triathlon. The event is made up of a 1.9km swim starting from Sandycove across Scotsman’s Bay, followed by a 90k bike course taking in Luggala and Sally Gap culminating in a 21.1km run along Dun Laoghaire seafront and harbor. In miles this all totals 70.3 miles which is a half Ironman distance triathlon.

The event attracted the top professional athletes including double Olympic gold medalist Allister Brownlee as this was a qualifying event for the world triathlon in New Zeland next year.

It was an early start as we all had to be in transition around 5.30 a.m. to be ready for the 7.00 a.m. swim start. Unfortunately just as the event started fog rolled in around the 40 foot and into Sandycove. The start had to be delayed for an hour and the swim route altered for safety reasons as it was almost impossible to see the marker buoys. Once things got going it was full steam ahead and the Orwell teams kicked into gear.

Flying the Orwell flag we had representatives on two relay teams. On one team Eamonn Eaton swam, Anne Marie Loughrey cycled and Donal Loughrey ran. They were delighted with their performance finishing in 5th place out of the 40 relay teams taking part.

Joanna MAC was also the cyclist on her team and put in a remarkable performance taking almost 20 minutes off her 2018 time.

Greg Wilson was our man on the inside as he was one of the Tri Ireland organisers of the event. We were well looked after on the day.

There could have been some other Orwell Wheelers there but in the crowd we were the only two teams that met up.

All the training was worth it and it is really a fantastic experience to participate in a world class event with top professional athletes and Olympic champions.