Lough Neagh Triathlon

Bjorn Ludick and Mary Lafferty were the victors at the 2010 Lough Neagh Triathlon held at Ballyronan Marina on Saturday 31st July 2010. South African Ludick led from the start to secure his first win a Lough Neagh. His win was set up by a superb display of cycling. Lafferty competing for Setanta Triathlon Club, Co. Louth retained her female title, pacing her effort to perfection to take the lead on the run section.

Conditions were perfect for the race, as the athletes entered the water. Cookstown District Council Chairman, Councillor John McNamee, was on hand to start the race, and the swimmers were already well spread out as they exited the marina. With the spectators using the large breakwater as the perfect viewing gallery, it was soon evident that the pace was fast and furious at the front. Ludick was first to exit the water with a slight lead over Dublin’s Neil Bolger, and Colin Bolger. Over a minute later came previous winner Brian Campbell from the promoting Hi-Elbow Club. In the female race Emma Bamford from Olympian, Belfast was having a terrific swim leading out of the water followed by Joanne Doran, North West.

With full road closures and a four lap circuit, the athletes were able to crank it up on the bike leg. The spectators in the village responded with lots of encouragement as the athletes swept round the fast corner at the start of each lap. Ludick soon powered out of sight while Colin Bolger had caught and passed his brother Neil. Bamford, fresh from her victory at Portrush, was showing how much she has progressed this year. With another good bike leg, she remained in the lead coming into T2. However the real action was occurring behind her. Lafferty, with the fastest bike leg of the day, had moved right through the field into second place. Anne Paul had also moved through, and as they racked their bikes the first three females were separated by only 1 minute.

Ludick started the run with a lead of over three minutes. Colin Bolger withdrew from the race due to injury leaving his nearest challengers as Neil Bolger and Campbell. As expected former Northern Ireland Cross Country Champion, Campbell upped the tempo, and started to chip away at Ludick’s lead. Wayne Reid, from Athlone was also quietly putting together solid performances in all three disciplines, and moved up into third place. With noted runners Paul Curran and Peter Savage also running well the time gaps were starting to diminish. However it was Ludick who got to the line first, closed down to within 16 secs by Campbell, who had put in a terrific late charge on the last lap. Reid completed the top three with his best ever performance at Lough Neagh. Try as she could Anne Paul couldn’t close the gap to Lafferty, who backed up her bike with the fastest run leg. By the end of the first lap both had passed a tiring Bamford, with Kelly-Anne Speight from Dundee University running through to take third spot.

Commenting on his win, Bjorn Ludick said, “I knew I had to push it on the swim and bike to build up a lead over Brian going into the run. The lapped run course helped me as I was able to see how quickly he was catching me. I love the bike course here; it’s technical, but really fast in places”. Mary Lafferty was delighted with her win, “I promise that if I can, I’ll be back next year to make it three wins in a row”.

The organisers of the event would like to thank Cookstown District Council, Woodside Haulage, Powerade, Sunstart Bakery and Performance Nutrition Plus, Cookstown for their sponsorship of the event. Also Ballyronan Development Association and the local residents for their support and patience. Next year will be the tenth anniversary or the race, and it is hoped that we can attract more championship events to Ballyronan.

Results

Full results with run splits in excel format are here.