This last week saw the last two rounds of the County Juvenile Track and Field Championships with the U/9 and U/10 Championships in Finn Valley on Wednesday evening and the U/12 and U/13 Championships in Lifford on Sunday and attention now turns to the Ulster Championships.

McAlary wins Glenmore 10 Mile

McGonagle's delight as Eilish Flanagan secures Olympic place

MARK English achieved his two big career goals all in the space of one minutes and 45.71 seconds tonight.

English breaks Irish 800m record to nail Olympic spot

Finn Valley AC’s Gavin McLaughlin won the Irish senior shot put gold in Santry.

It was a Finn Valley one-two in the shot put with James Kelly winning the silver.

Convoy man McLaughlin took the gold with a fine 16.51m effort. This was McLaughlin’s first senior title, continuing his fine showings in a month when he added two metres to the Donegal discus record.

Kelly reached out to 16.42 for silver while former champion Sean Breathnach took the bronze medal.

MARK English came third in the men's 800m at the True Athletes Classic in Germany today.

In spite of adverse weather conditions, a series of events took place.

Young athletes competed on the track in sprints and middle distance races.

The youngsters also got a taste of javelin, high jump and long jump events.

The event was held with Donegal and Ulster Championships looming on the horizon.

Mark English takes victory in 800m in Sweden

English ran a superb 1:45.22 at Meeting Madrid.

McGuigan set a new best of 72.32m to win gold at the Scottish Athletics Invitational Hammer.

Big evening ahead at Finn Valley AC as we prepare for a pre-Olympic press conference..

RESULTS.....

The National Senior 20k Walk in Tuam on Saturday, the AAI Games in Santry on Saturday and Sunday and open meets in Antrim Forum

FRESH from a winning performance in Sweden on Sunday evening, Mark English will race in Madrid this weekend.

BRENDAN Boyce has had his place at the Olympic Games officially confirmed.

MARK English has had to pull out of today’s FBK Games in Hengelo, but is expected back on track in the next two weeks.

MARK English returned to action in fine fashion, winning the men’s 800m at the Sollentuna Grand Prix in Sweden.

GAVIN McLaughlin put two metres onto the Donegal discus record yesterday - and is already aiming to take down his next barrier.

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

MARK English has had to pull out of today’s FBK Games in Hengelo, but is expected back on track in the next two weeks.

AS THE clock ticks towards the Olympic Games, Mark English will return to the track on Sunday.

English will compete in the Sollentuna Grand Prix in Sweden.

Events for children born from 2011-2014, included runs, throws and jump competitions.

THERE was a one-two for Finn Valley AC duo James Kelly and Gavin McLaughlin in Liverpool at the weekend.

MARK English has had to pull out of today’s FBK Games in Hengelo, but is expected back on track in the next two weeks.

Last weekend we had a welcome return to competition and over 200 athletes turned out in sun-drenched Aghyaran for the first of the Finn Valley Golden Jubilee events on Sunday. 

BLE CONGRESS

Fr John O’ Donnell, a native of Kilmacrennan was elected as the fifth President of BLE at the Congress in Sligo. He defeated Bill Coughlan the sitting President by 94 votes to 50. Fr John had previously served as President of the Ulster Sports Council and at the time of the Congress he held the position of BLE Vice President.

The good news this week is that Sport Ireland have given the green light to the resumption of athletic competition from Monday June 7^th. However, as with everything else in the modern world there are conditions. The first is that there is a limit of 100 people, these include the athletes, officials and parent/guardian for all athletes under 18. Covid regulations will apply regarding, masks, social distancing and sanitisation.

The first Donegal Competition of the year will be the County Pentathlon championship for U/14, U/15, U/16, U/17, U/18, senior and master male and female athletes.  The event will take place in the Finn Valley complex and pre-entry is essential, so clubs must send their entries to the County Director of Competition Patrick Galvin before Monday May 31^st    no entries can be accepted after this date because the number of competitors must be strictly adhered to and if entries are very large then arrangements will have to be made to organise two or more sessions. The Government have said that the limit on the numbers taking part in competition will be reviewed in July but for now we must adhere to the guidelines.

1979 was a momentous year for Donegal and Irish athletics with Ireland hosting both the World Cross-Country Championships in Limerick and the World Military (CISM) Cross-Country Championships in Fermoy. It was a year in which John Treacy retained the World Cross-Country title and Ireland won silver medals in both global championships with Danny Mc Daid playing a captain’s role in Limerick. 

The adjourned congress of AAI took place on Saturday and the delegates voted on a total of 81 motions, some were of a housekeeping nature reflecting new realities by changing IAAF and Olympic Council of Ireland to their new title of World Athletics and Olympic Federation of Ireland.

Please click on the link inside register ……………… Date for the theory online is Wednesday June 2^nd  at 7pm followed by the practical on Saturday June 5^th 9.30am @ Finn Valley AC Centre

Mark English confirmed among Irish interest in 'Golden Spike' meet

Finn Valley AC have announced a Jubilee Race Series to include 5k, 10k and 10 mile road races  The first in the series is a 5k on May 30 (Entry link below)

BRENDAN Boyce finished ninth in the men’s 50k at the European Race Walking Cup this morning in Podebrady, Czech Republic.

A look back to 1978 and the events and races tht made it such a memorable year...

The Finn Valley AC representative reached out to a best of 67.43m.

Maguire, a native of Strabane, will begin in the role from next weekend, Donegal Daily/Donegal Sport Hub can confirm.

The Finn Valley AC man will compete in the men's 50k walk in Podebrady, Czech Republic on May 16

Finn Valley AC have announced a Jubilee Race Series to include 5k, 10k and 10 mile road races

The AAI Congress took place at the weekend with mixed results for Donegal Athletes.

In 1974 Donegal athletes continued to make their presence felt at national level...

McGinley has been appointed as Senior Athletic Performance Coach.

Compiled by Bernie O'Callaghan; Ulster Records Officer

An insight into Marks life on the run..

Since the lockdown began Donegal County Board has grown by two clubs, there is a welcome return to the fold by Killybegs AC.

Donegal Athletics Board will induct four former athletes from the county posthumously into the Hall of Fame. All four were born in the county and lived here for a large part of their lives but were forced to leave in search of employment. As there was no athletic club in the county they competed with clubs where they lived.  All four won National Senior Championship titles.

A look back at some of the events that were held in 1970, the first full year of the County Board.