MONAGHAN’S ELAINE ‘SHOOTER’ ALEXANDER VOTED AS NORTHERN IRELAND’S ADVENTURE ICON

Elaine Alexander, affectionately know as Shooter to her friends, has been crowned as Northern Ireland’s Adventure Icon as voted for by the public during the recent OutdoorNI.com Awards in association with Surf Mountain.
Miss Alexander, who last year successfully circumnavigated Ireland by Kayak in a fundraising challenge for the Share Holiday Village in Lisnaskea, won over forty percent of all votes in this much coveted category.
Upon receiving the award Miss Alexander said, “It is really lovely to be recognised by the public in this category. There were some outstanding individuals nominated including two very talented surf kayakers whom I really admire myself so to come out on top is amazing and I feel very proud.”
Miss Alexander continued, “The main goal behind this expedition was to raise ten thousand pounds for the Share Holiday Village, which we achieved. However, I also wanted to push myself to the limit. I knew it was going to be tough but didn’t appreciate how much the trip would take out of me. I shed over a stone and lost count of the number of blisters on my hands during the six weeks I was on the water but it was all worth it for the incredible coastlines and fantastic people I met along the way”.
As well as recognising Northern Ireland’s Adventure Icon, the OutdoorNI.com Awards also highlighted outdoor activity providers at the top of their game, the best outdoor websites and most popular activity events which took place across Northern Ireland in 2011. Belfast City Bike Tours, founded by Fermanagh man Jerome O’Loughlin, took the award for Best New Provider of Outdoor Activities in Northern Ireland.
Full report in The Northern Standard