The 2020 Ulster Winter Throws Festival took place on Saturday last and attracted eighty eight athletes from thirty one clubs in fifteen counties to a sunny, calm Finn Valley Centre.  For some it was their first visit to Donegal and everyone seems to have enjoyed the experience. Many athletes achieved personal best performances in their chosen event and the stand out performance from a Donegal point of view was the new County Senior Discus Record of 44.36m by Finn Valley’s Gavin Mc Loughlin beating the old figure of 42.62m set by Sean Carlin also of Finn Valley in the 1970’s. And the more recent mark from his clubmate John Kelly 43.50 in Sweden

Donegal Development Day 1

Details for our first Cross country development day  

Day 1

 Finn Valley Ac Centre  

           12pm start  

Joseph grabs a national silver in triple today 13.24m An interesting aside isthathe eligible for this age group for another 3 years

Great news from Vaxjo Sweden as John Kelly breaks Donegal discus record 43.50 

MARK English broke Finn Valley AC’s 800m record in Italy.

ENTRIES for the 2020 RunDonegal Women’s 5k - which is being held as a virtual event - are nearing the magical mark of 1,000.

FORMER Irish Olympic team manager Patsy McGonagle has blasted Athletics Ireland, whose stringent Covid-19 guidelines are set to prevent Mark English from defending his Irish 800m crown.

SOMMER Lecky won the Irish senior women’s high jump title this afternoon.

ORGANISERS of the 2020 Virtual RunDonegal Women’s 5K are overwhelmed by the response to this year’s event which saw over 1,000 taking part and over €10,000 raised.

ATHLETICS Ireland have closed the door on Mark English’s hopes of competing at the National Senior Championships this weekend, Donegal Daily/Donegal Sport Hub can reveal.

Brendan Boyce finished in third place at the 10k walk at the National Seniors Athletics Championships this afternoon.

JOHN Kelly won the National Senior Shot Put title this afternoon - and it was a 1-2 for the Kelly household.

Kelly won the gold with a superb 18.40m throw.

SEAN McGinley recorded a personal best at a graded meet at Finn Valley AC last night.
The Glenswilly teenager, who joined Finn Valley AC earlier this year, won the 800m at the limited meet in Stranorlar.

MARK English won on his first outing in Finn Valley AC’s colours tonight in Belfast.

ENTRIES remain open for the 2020 RunDonegal Women’s 5k - which is now being staged as a virtual event.

RISING Finn Valley AC ace Cassie Lagan is heading off to begin an athletics scholarship in America in the coming days.

BRENDAN Boyce set a new road personal best over 10k last night.

THREE generations of the one family took part in the 51st staging of the Donegal Track and Field Championships yesterday in Stranorlar.

ENTRIES remain open for the 2020 RunDonegal Women’s 5k - which is now being staged as a virtual event.

THE 51st Donegal Senior Track and Field Championships will be held in the Finn Valley Centre Stranorlar on Saturday next, August 1, with a 10.30am start.

DEMPSEY McGuigan has confirmed that he is targeting the Olympic Games next year.

The Finn Valley AC man has launched a fundraising appeal to aid with his preparations to reach the Tokyo Games.

JOHN Kelly broke yet more new ground with a record-breaking throw yesterday in Sweden.

The 2020 RunDonegal Women’s 5K looks set to be the most successful yet, with 550 entered to take part.

FORMER Irish Olympic team manager Patsy McGonagle fears for a future generation of Irish athletes if the sport’s governing body proceeds with plans to stage no juvenile or underage championships in 2020.

June 8

DONEGAL-based Athletics Ireland Regional Development Officer Dermot McGranaghan has urged clubs to make the most of the new phase of Ireland’s reopening.

IF THERE is such a thing at the moment in sport, Arlene Crossan might well be entitled to regard herself as among the lucky ones.

The 20-year-old Finn Valley AC athlete has been absent from track since the Covid-19 lockdown in March, but her aims and goals haven’t altered.

DANIELLA Jansen should be on the countdown for a trip to Kenya in July.

The young Finn Valley AC star was set to compete for Ireland in the 4x400m relay at the World Under-20 Athletics Championships.

THE 2020 RunDonegal Women’s 5K will definitely go ahead in some form on Sunday, August 23rd, according to race organiser, Grace Boyle.

The event was due take place on Sunday, April 5.

FINN Valley AC middle-distance athlete Oisin Gallen has been selected on the University of West Alabama’s men’s track and field Team of the Decade, 2010-2019.

THE Donegal primary schools track and field athletics competition has been cancelled for 2020.

The event was due to celebrate its 50th anniversary next month.

The Finn Valley Centre in Stranorlar has been named as Sports Complex of the Year for 2020 by EU Business News.

FRONTLINE healthcare workers are to use the temporary accommodation facilities at the Finn Valley Centre during the Covid-19 emergency.

A DONEGAL brother and sister have launched Ireland’s first virtual 3k race and aim to raised funds for frontline health workers.

Shannon and Pauric McLaughlin from Convoy have set up Race Against Corona Virus.

PATSY McGonagle appeared on Off The Ball this week to recall some of his great memories as the Irish Athletics Team Manager.

BRENDAN Boyce’s place at the Olympic Games is safe after the International Olympic Committee clarified that all qualified athletes will retain their spots.

ORGANISERS have confirmed a new date for the 2020 RunDonegal Women’s 5k.

The popular race/run, which is held at the Finn Valley Centre, had been due to take place on April 5, but the event has been pushed back until Sunday, August 9.

THE 2020 Ballyliffin International Coastal Challenge has been pushed back to a new date in the summer - and Sonia O’Sullivan is still set to take part.

The popular race - which was expected to attract 1500 participants on Easter Saturday, April 11 - has been postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

THREE-time European medallist Mark English has joined Finn Valley Athletics Club.

English has signed for Finn Valley AC ahead of the 2020 outdoor season with the 800m runner aiming to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

THE MEMORY of Brid Carr continues to inspire, six years after the Glencolmcille woman died from ovarian cancer in 2014.

BRENDAN Boyce settled for silver at the Irish Life Health National 20km race walk championships today.

FINN Valley AC’s Ben Carr finished fifth in his age category at the Punta Umbria ETU Duathlon European Championships this morning.

FINN Valley AC’s Kelly brothers, John and James, took the top two places in the men’s shot put at the National Senior Indoor Championships today.

SOMMER Lecky shared gold at the National Indoor Championships in Abbotstown today.

The Finn Valley AC woman was the joint gold medallist in the women’s high jump while there was silver for Finn Valley AC’s Brendan Boyce and bronze for Peter Glass of Letterkenny AC.

THE RACE medallion - commemorating the 20th anniversary of Sonia O’Sullivan’s silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games - for the 2020 Ballyliffin International Coastal Challenge has been revealed.

JAMES KELLY won gold at the Irish Universities Championships today in Athlone.

Competing for Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Kelly took gold in the shot putt final.

TERESA Doherty of Finn Valley AC won the National Masters Championship on Saturday in Rathdrum, County Wicklow.

IRELAND’S greatest ever athlete, Sonia O’Sullivan, will be among the competitors at the 2020 Ballyliffin International Coastal Challenge, in association with Specsavers, Letterkenny.

OHN Kelly set new Ulster, Donegal and club shot put records today at his season-opening event.

The Finn Valley AC man, competing for the first time in 2020, reached out to 18.15 metres.

Kelly was competing in Reykjavik, Iceland and finished second.

BRENDAN Boyce has been named as the 44th Donegal Sports Star of the Year.

The Finn Valley AC race walker was chosen as the 2019 recipient tonight’s awards ceremony in the Mount Errigal Hotel, Letterkenny.