Lost Sheep Half Ironman - Kenmare, Kerry (01/09/07)

The 1.9km swim is held in the Kenmare bay, but it’s the bike course that is the selling point of the race. Containing two category one climbs in the Healy and Caha passes, along with a category 2 and 3, athletes also have 27 hairpin turns to contend with on the downhill of the Healy pass. Once off the bikes it’s no easy jog to the finish as the half marathon run is also hilly and challenging.

Mickey Kerr had a strong bike leg along with steady swim and run splits to finish in a time of 5hrs 3mins 25, and 4th in the 45-49 category. Patrick Mc Laughlin stopped the clock with his 5hrs 10min 21 time. Giving him a personal best time for the distance by 19 minutes, and a whopping course best by 38 minutes. Gary O’ Donnell had an excellent race to finish in exactly 5hours.

Also down from the northwest area were Peter Skeffington and Conor Eannetta from Omagh. Peter in his first attempt at the distance finished in 5hrs 29, with Conor coming home in 5hrs 53. Good showings as they start training over the winter for their first Ironman next summer in Austria.