Dominant Dominic triumphs in triathlon series finale

After the initial disappointment of the sea swim cancellation, the competitors steeled themselves for the first run, a 5km out-and-back route up the hill to High Lossit Farm. 

This was followed by a flat and fast, in parts, 41km bike ride consisting of five loops around MACC Business Park on partially closed roads. The route included the third longest taxiway in Europe where competitors took advantage of a substantial tailwind. 

The race finished with a return to the High Lossit hills and a hard 10km which followed the Kintyre Way route up to the Ballygroggan car park before heading onto a trail route out to the turn-around point overlooking Killypole Loch, returning to the finish at the Old Clubhouse.

Strong winds made for extremely challenging racing conditions. 

Dominic Sharkey returned to the scene of last year’s victory, posting the quickest individual 5km time of 19:32. 

He followed this up with another outstanding bike leg of 1:12:26, again the fastest effort of the day, both individually and team. 

On leaving transition for the last time, he posted the fastest individual time of 45:33 for the 10km run to wrap-up a comprehensive display on the day.

He was closely followed all day by James Cavin, Glasgow Triathlon Club, who posted the second best times of the day on all legs.

Series regular Cian Woodsend, Strathclyde University Triathlon Club, returned to complete the podium places with another excellent performance. He has performed consistently well across all races and distances this year.

Claire McCraw, Pentland Triathletes, made a strong start, posting a time of 27:18 on the first run.

Lying seventh, she moved into top gear on the bike, posting the fastest time of the day for the ladies - 1:31:34.

This moved her into a slender lead coming into the final transition, just 80 seconds ahead of Sarah Griffin, Mid Argyll Triathlon & Cycle Club, who had suffered a puncture on leaving the MACC Business Park and continued for the final mile on a flat tyre.

A close battle was witnessed on the last brutal run with Sarah chasing Claire down. The chase ultimately failed, with Claire coming home in 3:05:31, closely followed by last year’s champion Sarah in 3:06:02. 

Third place was claimed shortly afterwards by Elaine McGeachy in 3:08:59, who demonstrated amazing grit and determination given the condition of her feet at the finish.

The relay race saw an epic battle between two evenly-matched teams. It was “The Fast & The Furious” who chased down the early run leaders “Grr” and “Worth A Tri” on the bike leg to take a lead into the final run. 

They were being chased by a fast-finishing “Team Leighton” who just ran out of road to finish on 2:44:27, with “The Fast & The Furious” coming home in 2:43:14. 

Third place was claimed by “Three Generations” in 2:47:12.

An event spokesperson said: “This third leg of the Kilkerran MOK Tri Series gave us all some great memories on a fantastic day’s competition. The series will return with a similar format in 2025, with early bird entries for the series opening on January 1 2025.

“We are extremely grateful to all our sponsors, Kilkerran Single Malt, Kintyre Club and West Coast Motors, for supporting us. 

“Thank you to all the marshals, volunteers, Kintyre Kayak Club and David and Oliver Reid for providing exceptional water safety throughout the series. 

“Thanks also to our timing team, What’s My Time, which has worked with us to make our event such a success in its second year.”