The last weekend in June saw Trilogy Triathlon Club host it’s ‘We Care Weekend’.
Over two days, thousands of kilometres were covered by club members. Distances cycled and ran by individuals not thought possible, but there was something magical in the air at O’Gormans, The Bog Road in Fairgreen.
Donal O’Gorman allowed the club special access to his facilities for the weekend and Trilogy set up a base camp where their run and cycle routes started and finished.
The base was ran by several enthusiastic volunteers, accepting donations and capturing the weekend on camera and video.
Momentum gathered over the two days with Trilogy members and members of the community joining in to raise awareness of their We Care campaign.
We Care was set up by the club to raise funds for Le Cheile (ASD) classes (autism unit), in Portlaoise Educate Together NS and also the crisis fund for Family Carers Ireland.
Saturday began at 7.30am with the 10 x 10km challenge. Pam Grogan had set herself a target to run 100km in two days. Over the weekend with ten time slots, large numbers gathered to accompany Pam on her 100km journey.
The halfway point was Portlaoise Educate Together, running through the top of the town and back to base. There was much chatter and laughter on route, with huge support from club members and passers by.
Sunday began somewhat similar with even bigger crowds gathering to run and cycle. The club had also organised a 200km cycle of 50km loops with Mick Scully as lead cyclist.
All levels of cyclists were catered for with some members opting for 50km, 100km, 150km and a small number completing the full amount of 200km.
Many personal bests were achieved en route with a real sense of community spirit felt throughout the weekend. Mick and his fellow 200km cycling group completed their 200km within a six hour timeframe.
Pam Grogan crossed the finish line just after 6.30pm on Sunday evening completing her 100km in 9 hours 42 minutes.
Sinead Wearen a stalwart for endurance and a huge supporter of Family Carers set herself a mammoth target to run 10 half marathons in 3 days.
Starting at midnight on the Thursday/Friday Sinead began her journey. Sinead was triumphant throughout Friday and Saturday completing most of her half marathons solo, however due to an unexpected knee injury Sinead had to pull out after 6 half marathons. Sinead covered a massive distance of 126.6km finishing her last half on Saturday evening.
The club would like to thank everyone in the community that came together for a very successful fundraising event.
Despite many businesses being closed during the pandemic, many small local businesses came out to support by offering services or donations.
A special mention of thanks to O’Gorman’s, Bog Road, Fruit & Nut Health Store, Salon M, Lawlor Clinic, McKeon Stone, Laois Sports Partnership, Saol Aclai, Kavanaghs Bar and Venue and M & M Catering.
Pam Grogan PRO for Trilogy said: “The weekend was just so magical, a huge sense of positivity was flowing with everyone supporting one another.
“The club had set a target to raise €10,000 to share between the benefactors, we haven’t finished receiving all donations, we can say though that we have surpassed €15,000 and we are still counting.”
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