North West triathlon club to host Irish Championships

This race is also the Ulster Championships and it is the qualifier race from any athlete looking to represent Ireland at the World Duathlon Championships this year in Edinburgh.

The club was asked by Triathlon Ireland to host the Championships again after a successful race last year. The race took place in Burnfoot which saw athletes run and cycle laps of a course which took in the Slab Road, back towards Bridgend along the main Letterkenny Road and back to Burnfoot along the Buncrana Road. The course will remain unchanged this year with the Slab Road being closed for the duration.

The race will be a Standard Distance Duathlon which consists of a 10km run/40km cycle/5km run. Last years winners - David Graham from Belfast, who is a member of Triathlon Ireland's successful Development Squad, and Eimear Mullan from Limavady who currently resides and competes at top level in England, are both expected to return to defend their titles.

The local challenge will come from the host club North West with Colm Quigley, Paul McConnellogue and Gary O'Donnell all expected to race. Letterkenny triathlon club 24/7 is also expected to field a team with Sean McFadden and Ciaran O'Sullivan leading the way.

Limavady club Triangle will also field a number of athletes of which Anne Paul was runner up in the women's race last year.

While in the relay event last year's winners were local men Darragh Furey and Rory Devlin. As this is both a championship race and a qualifier for the World Championships the race will attract athletes from all over Ireland to take part making it a highly competitive event.

Entry is now open and the organisers will accept entries from individuals and also from any two person relay teams.

An important new requirement of Triathlon Ireland is that a one day licence fee must be purchased in advance from Triathlon Ireland's website and that it will not be available to purchase on the day. This licence can be purchased through a link on the entry page. Athletes will not be allowed to race unless they have this licence or alternatively that they are a Triathlon Ireland member.

Entry is only available online and can be made through the events page on www.runireland.com at http://www.runireland.com/events/2010-04-25/northwest-duathlon. This link is also available on the clubs website - www.northwesttriclub.com.