Sunday 2nd October saw the sun shining for the third annual Granite Mann – the Island’s only off-road, triathlon – pass off with great success.

The event, open both to teams and individuals, saw competitors converge on Cringle Reservoir and Plantation to tackle a 400m swim in the reservoir, followed by a 10km mountain bike ride and a 5km run through the rugged trails and tracks of the plantation.

Granite Mann, organised by The Children’s Centre, was designed to offer a genuine challenge to elite athletes while also being accessible to multi-sport novices and people of different abilities.

The inaugural event in October 2014 attracted strong support from the Island’s athletic community, and this year saw a significant rise in the number of entries, with 28 teams and over 100 triathletes taking part.

The results were as follows:

Solo Men: 1st Ryan Downey, 2nd Ian Brookfield, 3rd Chris Looney.
Solo Women: 1st Nikki Sharpe

Female Team: 1st No Direction (Silla Parnell/Carolyn Brown/Becca Miller), 2nd No More Cake!(Glesni Corney/Claire Heath/Louise Craddock)

Male Team: 1st The Flower Pot Men (Graham Annett/PaulKneen/Tom Cringle), 2nd Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Services (Elliot Moore/Gary Kirby/Gareth Gawne), 3rd Three Little Rascals (Bruce Berry/ Russell Rascal Collister/Paul Rascal Cubbon).

Mixed: 1st 2 Mad Bulls and a Cow (Caroline Helks/Martin Hill/Orran Smith), 2nd Freoaghane Free Riders (lottie Wood/Darren Murphy/Ian Lamberton), 3rd Two Poms & an Aussie (Alan Jones/Troy Thexton/Kerry Beattie)

Full race results can be found at Manx Timing Solutions http://www.manxtimingsolutions.com/Results/EventResultsMain.aspx

All funds raised by the event will go directly to The Children’s Centre’s many charitable projects and services (Mobex, Out2Play, Child Contact Centre, Community Development and the Community Farm), which make a positive difference to the lives of children, young people and families through the Island.

Lisa Motley, Endurance Events Fundraiser at The Children’s Centre, commented, “We were delighted that Granite Mann will raise almost ?5,000 and has been a great success again in its third year. It was a beautiful, sunny Autumn day, the atmosphere was fantastic, and every competitor gave their all. The Children’s Centre team would like to congratulate not only the winners but everyone who took part.

“We would also like to say a big thank you to PWC for sponsoring the event for the third year, this ensures that all the money raised from the entry fees go directly towards supporting our charitable projects . We were extremely grateful to Manx Utilities and DEFA for permission to use Cringle Plantation and the reservoir which provided a fantastic location. To Bikestyle for providing technical support on the day and prizes, to Asia Fresh who also donated prizes. Thanks also to Tim Dedman of Gourmet Foods for supplying the competitors with delicious soup and flapjack, to Andy Simpson for his time in marking the mountain bike course and to Willie Corkilll for his expertise and time in maintaining the blue dot trail and to all the marshals, helpers and Manx Timing Solutions for their timing and results service.”

“At The Children’s Centre, our purpose is to help children and young people towards brighter futures and the realisation of their potential. It’s a deep commitment with long-term results, so our focus is on fundraising events with ‘endurance’ – like Granite Mann. It’s through small but determined steps that we hope to make a big difference over time”.

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