Outsider magazine celebrated a year of amazing achievements by people involved in outdoor adventure at its third annual People of the Year event which was supported by Trident Holiday Homes, Cotswold Outdoor and Great Outdoors, Dublin.
Tony Mangan was named Outsider of the Year for his epic adventure running around the world. Tony won a holiday which was given by Trident Holiday Homes, co-sponsor of the awards. (Photo: David Craig)
Receiving his award, an emotional Mangan said, “This award means the world to me.” But he was quick to add that life is returning to normal now that he’s back. “My mam is still worrying about me. She was worrying about me being walking a mile in the cold weather. I have to remind her, ‘Mam, I’ve just run around the world; I’ll be fine.’”
Jacinta Doolan, Director of Trident Holiday Homes, presented Mangan with a holiday voucher and said, “I hope after his run around the world you will enjoy a relaxing break at home in Ireland in one of our holiday homes.”
Jade O’Connor who was named Outsider Woman of the Year award and won a fantastic MSR Hubba Hubba tent. (Photo: David Craig)
Kitesurfer Jade O’Connor (43) was named Woman of the Year. O’Connor won the British Ladies Championship in June 2014, came eight at the World Championships in Istanbul Turkey, August 2014 and fourth at the European Championships in Poland in September 2014. The Dublin woman is Ireland’s highest ranked kiteboarder. Kiteboarding is a close action, high adrenaline, high-speed water sport that sees up to 30 kiteboarders at a time race around a course reaching speeds in excess of 50km per hour. O’Connor commented, “I am over the moon… This kicks my 2015 race season off with a bang of good energy”
(L-R) Matt Roffe from Cotswold Outdoor who co-sponsored the awards, Helen O’Sullivan who picked up the Audience award, Liam Delahunty with his Most Inspirational award and John O’Regan who won the award for being most Devoted. (Photo: David Craig)
The Most Inspiring Person award went to multi-sport racer Liam Delahunty (36) who hails from Kilkenny. Delahunty was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis eight years ago and his life fell apart. He suffered from serious depression and admits that he considered suicide. Everything changed for Delahunty back in 2013 when he set himself a target of completing 24 races in 18 months. In December he scaled that mountain with a final event in Waterford. In 2014 he also came first, second and third respectively in WAR Lough Dan, MOXY, WAR Sugar Loaf and the Dingle Adventure Race (sport).
“I have met some amazing people through getting involved in adventure racing. It has really helped me fight against depression and not let MS take over my life,” said Delahunty.
Deirdre Mullins who won the award for Best Film and Maurice Mullins her father who took home a Lifetime Achievement award. (Photo: David Craig)
A lifetime achievement went to Maurice Mullins (72) from Skerries, Co Dublin. Mullins organised Ireland’s first triathlon in 1983 and then long-distance triathlon. He also competed himself, running 130 marathons, 20 100km races, a handful of 24-hour races and competed internationally in ultra-distance events. Although he now has cancer and has had to slow down in life, he still keeps active by cycle training in his garden shed and continues to inspire.
A modest Mullins stated, “It’s lovely to get this award but for every organiser there are so many helpers behind the scenes. When I organised that first triathlon, I had 104 helpers. They deserve this award too.”
An award voted for by the audience on the night went to Helen O’Sullivan (nee Whearity), also from Skerries. The 37-year-old mum of one suffers from cystic fibrosis but overcame the odds to run the Dublin marathon in October in a time of 3:45:56. A clearly delighted Whearity who received a huge cheer from the crowd, said, “Even through the training was hard, I loved every minute if it.”
A Youth award went to Belfast teenager Dominic Burns. This 17-year-old climber has been punching above his weight for several years now on the domestic and international scene. In 2014 won the Senior Irish Bouldering and the Senior Irish Lead Climbing Championships. He also won the Junior Irish Bouldering Championship and the Junior Irish Lead Climbing Championship as well as coming fourth at the British Bouldering Championships and the IFSC European Youth Cup. He came 27th at the IFSC Bouldering World Championships in Munich. Burns said, “It’s really great to see more people taking an interest in climbing.”
The Most Devoted to the Outdoor Scene went to ultra-runner John O’Regan (45). In 2014, the Dubliner won the Red Bull Wings for Life World Run in Killarney and finished second in the inaugural Tralee 100K just two weeks after running 227km in the Belfast 24-hour race. He is also the current National 24-hour Champion. A level 2 athletics coach, John also trained 30 first-time marathon runners at Le Cheile Leixlip AC and also ran the half marathon and Dublin marathon as an official pacer. He was advisor and online coach for Mark Pollock’s Run in the Dark, organised the crew behind the Bumbleance charity push and also helped coach Sinead Kane, the first blind Irish female to complete the Dublin Marathon in October. He is also actively involved in the local Parkrun and coaches runners in Athletic Ireland’s Fit4Life programme.
An understated O’Regan said, “We don’t do these things to get awards but it’s nice all the same.”
Conor Lavelle who won the award for Best Breakthrough Performance.
The Breakthrough Achievement Award for 2014 went to Dublin mountain biker
Conor Lavelle (17). He came third from, in the Enduro World Series junior category.
Awards were also presented for the Best Outdoor Escape, Film, Event and Photo. The Escape award went to Pure Magic Achill, a kitesurfing and water sports lodge in Co Mayo. The Film award went to Deirdre Mullins for her short film, Going the Distance about her father Maurice (see above). Best Event was the Helly Hansen Killarney Adventure Race and Best Photo went to James Jones for his picture of Ballyhass Wakeboarding Park.
Commenting on the awards, Jacinta Doolan, Director of Trident Holiday Homes said: “For such a small country, Ireland really is a big hitter when it comes to adventure. It is so humbling seeing people do such incredible things. The mind boggles.”
Matt Roffe of Cotswold Outdoor, stated, “It was great to support such an awe-inspiring community – the people that, sometimes against the odds, go the extra distance and pull off extraordinary achievements. When Outsider first got in touch I was stirred by the amazing stories of Maurice Mullins and Tony Mangan, both very different achievements but sharing the same driven adventure spirit. Total outdoors magic.”
The Best Outdoor Event award went to Ollie Kirwan from Elite Events which runs the Helly Hansen Killarney Adventure Race.
Roisin Finlay, editor of Outsider magazine, added, “Everyday I hear about Irish people doing extraordinary things. Just when you think the bar cannot be pushed any further, somebody will do something that is completely incomprehensible like Tony Mangan running around the world or Liam Delahunty competing in all of those races when he has such health challenges. Ireland is really leading the way for adventurers around the world and at Outsider we really wanted to acknowledged that.
We were incredibly lucky to receive such great support from Trident Holiday Homes, Cotswold Outdoor and Great Outdoors which meant we could make it a night to remember.”
The event took place on Thursday 29 January at Generator, Smithfield, Dublin 7.
