On Sunday, the Lifford club travelled to Killybegs for the second instalment of the Donegal Cross Country Championships.  This time around, it was the turn of the uneven age championships, with the club bringing twenty three athletes to the event.  On what was a glorious day for running, the picturesque backdrop of Fintra beach provided an ideal venue for this event.  The race circuit was changed from the beach this year due to the high tide with a newly excavated course providing a mostly soft sand base for the runners.  For some of the older athletes in attendance it brought back some not too fond memories of energy sapping races on the sands of Carrickfinn beach many years ago.

First up for the club in the boys under seven race was young Cian McGettigan.  A straight sprint to the finishing line saw young Cian coming home in a brilliant 5^th place, picking up another medal this week for his exploits.  The Under 9 girls had a 500m run on the newly excavated course with two young Lifford girls taking to the starting line.  In a large field of runners, Tyler Toland followed up a good run last week to come home with an excellent top twenty finish, placed 17^th. Young Cate Smyth who finished in 5^th last week over 300m made a big step up to the longer distance and put in another performance to follow team mate Tyler home in 18^th position.

The club had a large contingent in the boys under 9 race.  With a large starting field and many over eager young athletes raring to go, the Lifford runners found themselves on the ground when the whistle blew.  With six runners in the race, and all very promising young athletes, they were up in a flash, sand wiped from the eyes and hunting down the leaders.  Considering their misfortune at the start, all six boys put in very credible mid table finishes.  Leading his team mates home was Corey McGettigan, followed closely by Wilson Craig, Ryan Stewart, Luke Toland, Darragh Waldron and Jack Begley.  Young St. Johnston lad, Toland, and Waldron from Lifford were having their first races for the club, with all six doing extremely well.

In the Girls Under 11 race, the club had six young girls stepping up to the starting line.  Whereas the club missed out on team scorers last week, the club had the luxury of fielding six scoring runners this time around.  Three of the girls were having first time races for the club, Lauren Devine, Emma Devenney and Shannon Craig.  Raphoe girl Craig put in the performance of the day for the club coming from an early mid table position to pick off the leaders one by one, eventually coming home in an excellent 10^th place finish.  In what was a large tightly packed field and with little to separate the runners, Laura Burns came home in 30^th position followed closely by Jessica McLaughlin 31^st, Amy Stewart 38^th, Emma Devenney 40^th and Lauren Devine 44^th. While the team missed out on a team medal this time, all these young girls have shown great potential for the future.

In the Under 11 Boys race, another large field of over fifty runners took to the starting line.  Four Lifford lads made their presence known with Conor Lynch leading the pack from the off.  Conor’s early pace saw him fade through the latter half of the race yet still finishing in an excellent 22^nd place.  Kyle McCarron from the town was having his first race for the club and showed some promise finishing in 25^th place.  Christian Wilson followed up a top ten finish in his age category last week with another fine run coming home in 35^th.  Sam Wilson was also having his first race for the club, and while he was well positioned through the first 800m, he found the latter stages tough, but can still be happy with his performance.  In the Girls Under 13 race, Rosie Waldron put a weeks sickness behind her to post a strong run in yet another large field of runners.  Like her club mates in the Under 13 category, the 1100m distance on the sand proved difficult, yet she can still be happy with this run out.  In the Boys Under 13, the club had three runners, Barry McLaughlin, Conor McKinney, and Ciaran McBrearty.  Yet again, all three posted strong mid table runs.  Young McLaughlin led the Lifford contingent home followed closely by McKinney who was just over a weeks sickness, with Ciaran McBrearty following close behind.

Yet again this week, well done to all our young athletes who turned up to compete.  While we only had four weeks training behind us to prepare for the cross country, the club was delighted with some individual performances over the two week period.