Eleanor is first Irish woman home in Slovakia

The state of the art, X-bionic Sphere in Samorin, Slovakia was the venue for MSC Triathlon Club lady, Eleanor Rooney's toughest race to date.

The Ballyshannon woman, who trains with MSC Triathlon Club, qualified to compete by taking second place in her age category at Challenge Galway in 2016, and so on 2nd June, Eleanor toed the line at The Championship, a half iron distance race which saw both professionals triathletes and the fastest age group athletes from Challenge races around the world compete to be the best on the planet in their category.

The race consisted of a 1.9km swim in the calm waters of the Danube river followed by a 90km Cycle before a grueling 21km half marathon in tough conditions where temperatures hit a stifling 32C. Eleanor emerged from the swim leg with some time to make up on her fellow age group competitors but the strong cyclist put in a super bike leg in a time of 2hrs 48 minutes and passing the first of her Irish competitors in the process.

The first of the three lap run course found Eleanor struggling but as the k's passed by, and with great encouragement from the MSC Tri Club crew who had travelled to the event, Eleanor's determined spirit and grit drove her on, passing the remaining Irish AG competitors to the fantastic carnival atmosphere at the finish line where she proudly hoisted the Irish flag to cross the line in a super time of 6 hours and 2 minutes. A fabulous achievement and result for this seasoned triathlete.

Next up for Eleanor is to organise Mullaghmore Triathlon which takes place this Saturday, 17th June and support husband, John, in his solo 555km Donegal Ultra Cycle later in the month.