All the action happened on Sunday 26th February for the club members of Lifford Strabane AC.
The club saw two of their Track & Field athletes Shannon Craig & Seamus McAteer make their way to England to compete at two different venues.
Juvenile athlete Shannon Craig competed at the English U20 AAA Indoor Championships in Sheffield in the High Jump event. Shannon jumped a 1.60m placing 9th overall in a field of 16 athletes.
The experience to be gained from competing at such a high standard against the best of athletes in these islands will only enhance this young athletes performances in future competitions.
Master Track & Field athlete Seamus McAteer was a member of the NI Masters Team that competed at the Inter Area Indoor Match at the Lee Valley Indoor Complex, London. Seamus finished 5th in the 400m in a time of 64.5 seconds and 5th also in the shot putt with a throw of 7.80.
Again this athlete saw himself competing at a very high standard and rubbing shoulders with Great Britain Olympic, Mr Dwain Chambers.
Closer to home 33 Lifford Strabane AC athletes were among the 227 runners and 131 walkers that braved the elements of the unfavourable wintery weather conditions and took to the starting line of the Alan Patterson Trust 5K in Raphoe.
On a day that had the majority of the runners report slower finishing times than their previous races, some fantastic times were achieved. The race itself was being used by a number of athletes as a recovery run, club athlete Liam Cleary being one of them running a fantastic time of 21:59.
For others it was their first race of the 2017 season and for many it was merely a show of support for such a worthy cause. To hot things up on such a wintery day we had a “Battle of the Coaches”, with none other than club coach Michael McKinney gaining bragging rights for this time anyway!
The first 3 Junior Male club athletes to the finish line were; 1st Brandon McGrinder. This young athlete finished in a superb time of 18:21, 1st junior male overall and 5th finisher overall.
Wilson Craig was 2nd junior male overall 13th finisher overall running a fantastic time of 20:37. 3rd was Aaron McGrath who took on a pacing role today finishing in a great time of 22:03, 3rd junior male overall.
The first 3 Senior Male club athletes were; 1st Michael McGrinder finishing 7th overall in a superb time of 19:07 2nd in the M40+ category, Club coach Michael McKinney was 2nd senior male for the club, showing that he hasn’t lost his touch finished in a super time of 21:26 3rd in the M50+ category, 3rd was club coach Chris Cuskelly finishing in a great time of 21:57.
The first 3 Senior Female club athletes were; 1st Carmel Hoynes 4th female finisher overall, 1st F40+ Category in an excellent time of 23:18, 2nd was Oonagh McGuigan, Oonagh placed 5th female finisher overall, 2nd F40+ Category in a great time of 24:15, Mary Mullen was 3rd senior female club athlete finishing in a fine time of 26:40.
A special mention to the ladies from The Glenelly Branch of Lifford Strabane AC whom all ran well deserving personal bests today. Great achievement ladies!
Well done to all our club athletes who competed over the course of the weekend.
Training continues for juveniles Mondays & Wednesdays 6.30pm. Adults Tuesdays & Thursdays 6.45pm.
Our Couch 2 5k training programme continues as we near our target race, St. Patricks Day 5K.
