While most of us were watching the exploits of Messi and Mbappe in sunny Qatar, several young Fermanagh athletes – who had qualified from the Ulster Championships a month previously – made the gruelling journey to Conna in Co. Cork for the Athletics Ireland’s uneven age group finals.

This venue was of the traditional variety at Frank Hayes’ farm where the cattle were taken in for a day’s rest!

Medals

The young runners travelled home with a clutch of medals and bundle of memories.

St. Catherine’s AC had an army of volunteers who made everyone feel welcome, as we parked up in Frank’s fields.

The sun shone to brighten up the day, but the underfoot conditions were very testing for even the hardiest of competitors.

The course had tough hills, switch backs and was very muddy. Enniskillen Running Club (ERC) had 12 athletes competing and all performed well.

The U-13 Girls arrived on the back of an Ulster team silver medal. Kate Kelly and Megan Mullally had heroic runs to finish in the top 20.

Improved

They both improved on their provincial positions, coming fourth and fifth Ulster runners, winning a silver medal with Ulster in the process.

Annabelle McKenzie came 36th, while Maedhbh Donnelly, Beth Buchanan, Maille and Eva Hennessy were the other members who helped their team to a sixth-place finish in Ireland.

In the U-15 Boys, Harry McKenzie was arriving as Ulster champion; however, his preparations were hampered by recent illness.

He also competed with an injured foot after being spiked during the early part of the race.

Ran smart

Nevertheless, undeterred, Harry ran smart and bravely working his way through the field from 36th after the first lap to finish in ninth place, earning a national individual medal.

In the U-17 Boys’ race, Frank Buchanan was always in contention and placed himself in the lead group throughout the race.

When the pressure came on in the last 500m, Frank maintained his position to claim an individual medal in 12th place.

Tremendous

Jamie McDonnell, who had only joined ERC this year, was another to have a tremendous run, again finishing strongly to come 22nd and thereby claiming a provincial silver medal with the Ulster team as fourth finisher.

There were solid runs by Tiernan McManus and Charlie Reihill. Both will aim to get a solid block of training in advance of the upcoming school cross-country season if they wish to retain their school’s title.

A great run

Ben Warnock, running for Monaghan, had a great run coming 15th overall. Ben was the lead runner in his team, which won bronze.

Meanwhile, in the novices’ men’s cross-country race, the world and Olympic rowing champion swapped the comfort of the boat for the mud of Frank’s fields.

Paul O’Donovan showed he too is made of tough stuff when lining out for Leevale AC, coming 79th overall.