Hundreds of people turned out at Farran Woods, Co. Cork over the weekend (Saturday, September 3), to participate in the annual Musgrave Triathlon. Now in its tenth year, the event has raised a whopping €2.9million to date in much needed funds for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, the Irish Cancer Society and Cork Cancer Research Centre.
Triathlon 2011 aims to set a new milestone, as this years target is to exceed the €3million barrier and with over 110 teams participating, the Triathlon is well on target to meet this goal.
Minister for Agriculture, Marine and Food, Simon Coveney T.D., opened the day’s event when he addressed the crowd and congratulated participants on their involvement in the Triathlon. Minister Coveney said, “It is a tremendous achievement for one company to demonstrate such energy and commitment to make this event such a success. It is fantastic to see Musgrave staff and retailers from all over the country to come together for a common goal – to raise money for three very worthy causes. This great turnout makes the event the success that it is and the participants are to be congratulated for their efforts in helping to reach a new milestone this year. I hope more people will be inspired to start training for the 2012 triathlon to build on this year’s momentum.”
Commenting on the event, Martin Kelleher, Managing Director, Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland, said “We are delighted with the participation and support today – our retail partners in SuperValu and Centra, our suppliers, Musgrave staff and the general public have all stepped up to the mark for a very good cause. Our Triathlon has been in existence now for ten years and it is great to see that the enthusiasm has not waned. This event is something we feel very passionate about in terms of our ability to support and work closely with such deserving and essential services here in Ireland. Unfortunately cancer touches so many families throughout the country and we are delighted to be doing our bit to help those families at a time when they really need it. Community is at the heart of the Musgrave company values and this event is a great example of our community coming together to help others.”
According to John McCormack, CEO of the Irish Cancer Society “It is wonderful to see this annual fundraising event organised by Musgrave’s coming around again. Cancer touches all of our lives directly or indirectly, one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives. According to the latest figures nearly 30,000 cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2009; therefore it is so important for us to have the best support services in place for people going through this difficult time.
The monies raised by competitors and supporters of the triathlon this year will go towards providing essential services such as our night nursing service which looked after over 2,000 families last year alone, our cancer information helpline who in 2010 answered over 20,000 calls and our four Daffodil Centre’s now opened in hospitals in Dublin, Cork and Galway. We hope to open a further four Daffodil Centre’s in 2012.
Our sincere thanks to Musgrave’s for their hard work and commitment in making this event possible and their on-going support of the Irish Cancer Society“
Over 110 teams participated in this year’s triathlon which followed the traditional pattern of swimming, cycling and running, with the competitors being given the option of doing it solo or entering a three person team, with each member taking part in one area.
The first leg of the event kicked off with the 800m swim, which was a warm up for the next two sections.
The cyclists eagerly awaited their companions to emerge from the water before setting off on their 33km cycle, while the solo participants dried off in haste before mounting their bikes to continue their journey.
Once the cycle was completed, brave competitors began a 10km run which brought them to the finish line. An overall distance of 41 kilometres was travelled by competitors who finished all three legs of the triathlon.
As with previous year’s Farran Woods buzzed with energy and excitement, an excellent venue for the event, which was a huge success. Store owners and staff from SuperValu and Centra stores throughout the country joined in with other competitors who completed the gruelling task, demonstrating the tremendous support and commitment of the company and its employees towards an event that can make such a difference to the lives of others.
