Athletes in bid to raise 1m for sick children

ATHLETICS hero Eamon Coughlan will tog off and Cobh’s pride and joy Sonia O’Sullivan has marked it in her diary.

Wed, 03 Sep, 2003 - 01:00

Sean O’Riordan

Both greats hope to line out with nearly 700 other athletes at the weekend in the hope of raising up to

1 million for Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin and the Irish Cancer Society.

The venue for this year’s triathlon charity fundraiser, organised by Musgrave SuperValu-Centra (MSVC), is Farran Woods in Co Cork.

Athletes, many drawn from the supermarket outlets, will compete both as individuals and teams over three disciplines. Sponsorship has also been gained from a wide variety of shop suppliers and supermarket customers.

The 800m swimming leg will get underway at 1pm next Saturday and this will be followed by a 25m cycle and a 10km run which concludes at around 4pm.

Last year the charity triathlon raised more that 500,000, and this year the organisers are hope to double the pot.

Those participating in the full triathlon will be fitted with a special band on their wrists which will electronically record their times over each of the three events.