Posted Date: 04-Nov-2009 Wednes

It will be a busy weekend for Inishowen athletes as 22 juveniles will compete in the Ulster & Northern Ireland juvenile cross-country championships at the University of Ulster in Coleraine on Saturday and 14 athletes from the Club will take part in the annual Dublin City marathon on Bank Holiday Monday.

The spacious grounds for the University of Ulster campus at Coleraine will be the venue for the Ulster & Northern Ireland juvenile cross-country championships this Saturday 24th October. A full juvenile programme for athletes aged from under 10 up to under 18 years of age will take place throughout the afternoon, beginning at 12.00 noon. Una Cox and Aideen O’ Raw will race in the under 10 girls 600m. Pat Loughery, Aaron Mc Daid, Darren Donaghy and Lee Mc Laughlin will run in the boys under 10 600m. Mary Theresa Doherty and Lauren Mc Keever will represent Inishowen in the under 12 girls 1km event, with Fergus Cox, Ethan O’ Kane, Oisin Hession and Oisin Mc Gonagle in the under 12 boys’ equivalent. Tanya Collins, Connie-Anne Hession and Grainne Hession will race over 1200m in the girls under 14 age category. In the under 14 boys 1500m, Declan Donaghy will lead the Inishowen challenge along with Ronan Hegarty and Derek-Lee Doherty. Debbie Collins will compete over 2000m in the under 16 girls event, with Patrick Mathews running 3k in the under 16 boys category. Conor Hession and Stephen Friel will be involved in the final race of the juvenile programme when they test themselves over 5k in the boys under 18 race.

On Monday, 14 athletes from Inishowen will join a field of over 12,500 runners when they compete in the Dublin city marathon. The team will be lead by club captains Helena Crossan and Vinnie Hegarty and will include Bridig Moohan, Declan Cadwell, Owenie Mc Kinney, James Browne, Shane Doherty, Seamus Mc Daid, Patrick Doherty, Patrick Mc Laughlin, Shaun Mc Laughlin, Finnbarr Gallagher, Brendan Duffy, Karol Doherty and Willie-John Mc Laughlin. After months of diligent training behind them, these athletes are now looking forward to the challenge of racing 26.2 miles and for many the opportunity to set new personal bests for the classic distance.

Just 6 days later, many of these athletes, along with other club members will run in the Donegal senior cross-country championships at the Finn Valley Centre in Stranorlar on Sunday 1st November. The women’s 5k race is off at 12 noon with the men’s 10k set for 12.20.

Mickey Collins ran 21.52 for a 5k trail run held in Ards forest park on Saturday 26th September. The Buncrana based runner finished 11th overall with Brendan Duffy just behind finishing in 22.36. Breege Collins was amongst the top female finishers running strongly to record 25.03.