OWEN Martin had a magnificent outing in the German Ironman.
In the European Championship at Frankfurt, the unassuming Silverbridge triathlete scorched to a personal best time of 9.28.07 and in doing so achieved a lifetime ambition by qualifying for October’s World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
Owen, who races in the colours of Dundalk’s Setanta Club, was ninth in his 3539 age group and a brilliant 48th overall – and that in a massive field of 2,300 top class athletes.
Despite the absence of wetsuits (due to the high water temperature) the talented Martin swam 67.52 for the 2.4-mile distance, biked 4.57.35 for 115 miles (the course was an extra three miles long due to roadworks) and he ran the marathon distance of 26.2 miles in a stunning 3.16.06.
Owen told the Democrat he was delighted with his time but felt he could have ducked under the 60-minute mark had wetsuits been allowed.
And with the bike an extra three miles, he believed his overall time would have been close to nine hours 15 minutes.
Newry man Robbie Caraher, who, like Martin, races for the Setanta Club, was also so chuffed with his debut Ironman race.
The 29-year-old Louth county GAA physio, from Dora Avenue in the city, and who was formerly a physio with Bolton Wanderers and Glasgow Celtic, clocked a super overall time of 11.08.31 with a swim time of 84.05, bike split of 5.19.51 and marathon run time of 4.16.54.
Robbie, who once completed the world-famous New York Marathon, told the Democrat: “The German Ironman was just as tough as I thought it would be but also just as rewarding. It was easily the greatest sporting day of my life. The support from the crowds was absolutely unbelievable.”
Three other athletes from the Setanta Club raced in the German event with each one doing extremely well.
Irish Ironman record-holder Liam Dolan didn’t quite match his best time of just over nine hours but he scorched to the tape in an excellent 9.32.56. As per usual the tall Dolan was sensational on the bike with a lightning fast 4.46.40 and his run of 3.15.19 was quick too. But he lost quite a few places because of his slowish swim time of 85.49.
However, Liam qualified for the World Championship in Kona and makes a return to the big island of Hawaii after competing there last year.
Mark Rafferty did 11.05.06 with splits of 76.07 (swim), 5.45.46 (bike) and 3.56.36 (run) while Barry Rafferty completed the group with a finishing time of 13.54.44. His splits were: 99.14 (swim), 6.29.31 (bike) and 5.32.19 (run).