Eleven people won the top prizes at the Outsider Awards 2017 in the Sugar Club on Leeson Street in Dublin last night. The awards presented by Anton Savage celebrate people who are doing amazing things outside mainstream sport on the Irish outdoor and adventure scene.
The thirty-eight nominees across 12 categories represented a mix of awesome adventurers and incredible people who are inspiring others, pushing boundaries and breaking barriers through their chosen sport. Amongst those recognised and awarded on the night were the Galway Baybes all female cycling team.
The team of four cyclists; Marie Boyle, Karen Cassidy, Bríd Ní Neachtain and Joanne Murphy, who were nominated in the Woman of the Year category took home the overall Audience Choice Award for their record-breaking performance in the Race Around Ireland last August. The four Galway athletes in their first ever ultra-endurance marathon cycling event covered 2,212km in 81 hours and 13 minutes setting a new Irish record by an incredible 10 hours and 17 minutes.
In accepting the award, Joanne Murphy co-founder of the Galway Baybes said, ‘We are four ordinary women who wanted to show that with passion, dedication and commitment you can achieve anything. We want to inspire more women to take up the sports of cycling and triathlon. We felt quite inadequate listening to the achievements of some of the other nominees tonight and are very grateful for the nomination and support we as a team have received, we couldn’t have done this with without our crew, sponsors, families and friends. We are truly shocked and delighted to bring a National award home to Galway in recognition of our sporting achievement last year.’
Other award winners on the night included:
Outsider Woman of the Year: Sinead Kane, Blind Runner
Outsider Man of the Year: Joe Barr, Endurance Cyclist
Most Inspiring Person: Nikki Bradley, Adventurer
Youth Award: Aoife Hopkins, Sailor
Most Devoted to the Outdoor Scene Award: John O’Regan, Runner
Breakthrough Achievement: Killian Callaghan, Mountain Biker
Just Eat Fit Food Award: The Irish Biltong Company
Best Outdoor Adventure Event: Quest Glendalough
Best Outdoor Escape/Provider: Giddy Gally Adventures
Leave No Trace and Clean Coasts Most Sustainable Escape/Provider: Dublin Clean Canals
Best Outdoor Adventure Film: Between the Wind and the Waves with Francois Colussi, Wild Mayo
Best Outdoor Adventure Photo: Living the Dream by Adrian Van der Lee
You can follow the adventures of the Galway Baybes on Facebook and Twitter as they attempt to set and break more cycling records in 2018.
