FVAC Notes 16 December 2024
Leah O’Gara was in record-breaking form on Sunday at the World Athletics Bronze meet in Dublin. This was, in every respect, an international meeting with representatives from 24 countries and attracted a large crowd. Leah, a recent recruit to Finn Valley AC, is a student at Loreto Letterkenny and was competing in the U18 5k. She returned a time of 25.45, which is the fastest ever by a Donegal athlete on this distance on the road. Finishing second to the French champion on this occasion. Leah will now need to continue to work hard over the Christmas holiday break as she will compete in the British Indoor Championships U17 in Sheffield mid-January. Furthermore, she will travel to Spain in late January/early February to compete at another international meet to improve the time set on Sunday. The other Finn Valley athlete in competition at this event was Aoife McGranaghan, competing in the 3k, returning a time of 19.01. Aoife will also travel to England in January.
Sunday night saw a tremendous turnout for the Finn Valley AC Annual Youth Awards with close to 300 athletes and parents in attendance. It’s interesting to note, in what has been a particularly successful season, that 82 Juvenile club athletes collected 166 national championship medals across a variety of events. There was a full turnout of coaches who made presentations of certificates to all the medal winners and a special round of applause for those who had gained international selection during the year, Katie lousie McMonagle and Stephen Slevin. Refreshments were served and those in attendance were given an opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of the coaching staff at the club, which now numbers in excess of 30.
The latest block of Little Athletics has now completed and the next 6 week will begin again on Wednesday 15th January – parents should keep an eye on the Finn Valley AC Facebook page for details.
All attention now turns to the St Stephens Day 5k which has of course a 12 noon start. Entries online and on the day from 10am. This event began without any great fanfare in the early 1970’s and was based at that time in Drumbo Forest and was in fact a handicap race. As numbers grew into the hundreds, it became impossible to continue that race format, hence what is now known as the St Stephens Day 5k starting on the Bridge at Finn Vally and finishing on the track with chip timing. Entries are coming in steady with adult entry €10, youth entry €5 and family entries €20. While there have been many world class athletes and Olympians in attendance over the years, it’s also an event for families and indeed the general community of east Donegal, with all welcome to walk run or jog. It doubles up as an opportunity to meet with members of the community home on holidays at this festive time and to have a catch up. There will be a cup of tea and refreshments in the Finn Valley Centre after the race. A contribution will be made to a local charity, and the club is expecting entries to reach 500.