Last weekend was day two of the Donegal County Championships for Rosses AC’s U14 to U19 age groups.
Like last week, we again had a large group of athletes make the journey to the Aura in Letterkenny where Letterkenny A.C. hosted an excellent day and we were even treated to brilliant sunshine. With athletes competing in high jump, discus, sprints, hurdles, javelin, long jump, middle distance and relays, we won medals in all ages and events and finished the days with the u15 and u16 girls teams winning the relays. The athletes performed exceptionally and are a credit to themselves, their parents and their coaches. Many of these athletes are starting to specialise into specific events for themselves and will be looking to be competing at the top end in Ulster and All Irelands in the coming weeks and months. Big thanks to all the parents who travelled to support and help. Another successful Rosses AC day out.
Brendan McBride of Rosses AC.
Over at the London marathon there were 50,000 competitors and the club had the experienced Brendan McBride (above) taking on the challenge. The hard work through the winter months had him well prepared as he ran a strong time finishing in 3:24:36.
Across the Atlantic, we had three athletes taking on the 128th Boston Marathon, the oldest and most iconic race over the distance. In very challenging conditions with extreme heat, the first Rosses AC athlete home was Helen McCready who put in a massive effort fighting the conditions along with managing cramping feet to complete in a time of 3:02:33. Martina Mulhern put a super training block in before this race which allowed her to post a great time of 3:26:27. Keith O’Connell had a tough day at the office but ensured he got the job done as he suffered an injury three weeks ago. While the first half of the race was good, he suffered with a number of factors and knows he will fight another day for a better time but huge kudos for completing. Back at home the Errigal College 5k last week saw Declan ferry continue his winning with a time of 15:41. Paul McKelvey had a fine run to finish in 5th place in 17:53. Patrick Trimble won the M50 category in 18:23 with Shaun McDevitt running a solid 21:24.
Martina Mulhern and Keith O’Connell of Rosses AC after completing the Boston Marathon.