Maeve Gallagher, the former cycling international and one-time national road race champion, is the star of this new promotional video for Mayo as a holiday destination. A native of Mayo, Gallagher has been juggling her career in international triathlon with her university studies, in pharmacy, at University College Cork.
However, she has won multiple national titles in recent years - at sprint and Olympic distance - and having switched her focus full-time to triathlon she has excelled at that sport, though a stress fracture has slowed her progress over the last year or so. Before specialising in triathlon, she was national junior road race champion in cycling, claiming that title in 2019. Indeed, she has won close to 30 national titles in cycling, triathlon and athletics.
She represented Ireland on the bike at the 2019 World Road Championships in Yorkshire and was in the front group sprinting for gold when she and Lara Gillespie both came down in a crash in the last 1km. That year, Gallagher represented Ireland at three European Championships; cycling, triathlon and cross country running.
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Mayo.ie says the video, which films Gallagher swimming, running and cycling in different parts of the county, showcases the varied natural beauty the region has to offer.
"Like a mermaid she dives gracefully into Callow Lake near Swinford, relishing the cool, fresh water as it closes around her," Mayo.ie says, stretching poetic licence to the maximum. "Her cycle route takes in the glorious coastal landscape forming part of the EuroVelo 1 cycle route looking out over Clew Bay, Ireland's archipelagom and its countless islands.
"These roads are quiet and breathtakingly beautiful. Maeve varies her run training, sometimes using the even surface of the Great Western Greenway near Mulranny – the 42km length matches the full marathon distance. Other times she relishes the challenge of Wild Nephin, further West.
"The Bangor Trail is testing off road running and includes the suspension bridge at Tarsaghaun. The forest in Letterkeen is a superb option for walking and running on broad woodland trails."
