| Helena
Crossan successfully defended her Connamara ultra-marathon (39.3
miles) title on Sunday last with an emphatic performance that
saw the durable Carndonagh athlete power her way to a new course
record by over 12 minutes in 4 hours and 40 minutes and 12 seconds.
Uniquely, she was not the only Inishowen A.C. athlete gaining
national prominence at the weekend as Ballyliffin athlete Conor
Collins became the first athlete from the Club to win a medal
at the national juvenile indoor championships in Nenagh.
With the entire country in the grip of a cold snap, Helena Crossan
set out on her 39.3 mile trek around the Connamara countryside
on Sunday last with over 100 hardy souls to brave whatever the
elements were to throw at them. Undeterred, Crossan set off at
a high tempo and was well clear of the second placed woman by
the 4 mile mark. With victory on her mind, the World 100k bronze
medalist passed the 26 mile mark in 3 hours and 08 minutes and
came home unchallenged in a new course record of 4 hours and 40
minutes and 12 seconds. This performance was enough to give the
Carndonagh athlete fifth overall in the elite field of male ultra-marathon
finishers.
Conor Collins reached the final of the U 18 boys 400m by running
a Club record of 54.35 seconds in his heat. Less than 2 hours
later, Collins was back on the track running a gallant 55.61 seconds
to take third place in the final and earn Inishowen A.C. its first
medal at the national juvenile indoor championships. For Collins,
this performance marks a major breakthrough as the fourth year
Carndonagh Community School student showed enormous potential
as a young juvenile athlete by qualifying for the County sportshall
team that competed in the UK finals in Birmingham on several occasions.
Carndonagh juvenile Declan Donaghy put in a highly creditable
performance in his first national championships by finishing tenth
in the U 13 boys long jump with a best of 4.64m. Declan was a
bronze medalist in the Ulster & Northern Ireland Championships
in March and will have gained a great deal from competing at national
level.
Up-Coming
Events
Three athletes from the Club are UK bound this weekend. On Saturday,
Nuala Bradley (U 13) and Kayla Farran (U 15) will represent Donegal
at the UK sportshall finals in Birmingham. Finbarr Gallagher will
travel further sound to run in the London marathon on Sunday.
We wish all three every good wish and success.
Meanwhile, the Donegal Grand Prix road season gets underway on
Sunday 4th May with the North West 10k in Letterkenny at 3 pm.
The second race in the series will be the Culdaff 5k on Friday
9th May at 7.30 pm. This event will also include a 1 mile race
for juveniles aged from 11-16 years. The Furey Insurance 5k series
gets underway on Wednesday 16th April at Magee University in Derry
at 7.30pm on the Bay Road.
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