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The Fighting Cancer Triathlon C/O Midland Triathlon Club

Testimonial : Gerry Duffy 

They say things happen for reasons unknown. Well that is certainly true of the Tri To Beat Cancer

Triathlon. I first became involved in this fantastic event in 2003. Having had no triathlon

experience up to that point, I was very nervous as I donned a wetsuit for the first time that

spring. My involvement on that beautiful summers day was as a swimmer in a relay team of 3.

Hell I can't even remember who my team mates were. I can however, vividly recall the truly

amazing feeling that you get when you feel you have achieved something beyond what you

I was asked by my brother who at that time was on the organising committee to fill into a relay

team. He explained about the fact that you had to raise money in order to participate. It

seemed fairly straightforward. I received a sponsorship card a few days later in the post and if

memory serves me correctly, I carried it around with me for 6 or 7 weeks asking people to

sponsor me for a fiver or a tenner whatever they could afford. Before long I had the necessary

funds safely secured, in fact I think I managed to  get a little more that the minimum we were

asked to raise. It was not nearly as difficult as I had expected. People love to support great

causes and this was and is certainly one of those. A few other friends told me that they had

come up with some novel ideas themselves. One had organised to valet 6 friends cars over a

Saturday which got him €120 of sponsorship and another simply went around the factory where

With the necessary funds sorted, now all I had to do was train for the event. I was two months out at that point and had about a

months swimming in my local pool behind me where I had safely raised my personal bar to 20 lengths or 500 metres. Now was

the time to increase this in order to achieve the distance required and in open water as well. A number of Friday evening swims

in Lough Owel, with a group of friends, sorted me out in this regard and race day came with what I felt adequate preparation

I arrived at the venue (“Lilliput” at that time) with my stomach infested with butterflies but thoroughly excited nonetheless. With

the swim suit safely in place around my frame which thankfully has reduced with age, I started the walk along with my fellow

299 athletes down to the start line in front of a lovely period residence dating back over 100 years. How many times had those

stones and mortar of that lovely house seen a similar scene before with swimmers about to enter the much fabled Lough Ennell,

The gun went off courtesy of a chap who has since become a great friend (Joe Holton) and 600 arms moved feverishly forward

all vying for space. What a thrill ! The swim was 750 metres but with the limited experience I had at that point, I might as well

have swum the channel. At the end of it as I handed over to my team member, I was euphoric, my only regret being that I had

not trained to do the full 3 disciplines myself. Thankfully I would rectify that the following year and since then triathlon has

The “Fighting Cancer Triathlon” as it is now called is simpy an amazing experience. Its founder Anne Burns is a personal

inspiration to me. It is managed by a group of highly committed people all with a common goal, to raise funds for charity and to

The present venue for the Fighting Cancer Triathlon is Belvedere House, just outside Mullingar. When Sir Edmund Hillary reached

the summit of Everest in 1953 he sent a telegram to his great friend Howard Bury who was at that time resident in Belvedere,

I would do it just to complete the truly unique run course which will send the blood pulses racing in each and every athlete for

21 February 2010

Gerry Duffy                      Claire O’Neill