Main pic: The winning Finn Valley AC U17 girls team at the Donegal Cross Country Championships.
The Donegal Novice and Uneven Ages Cross Country Championships, hosted by Rosses AC at Mullaghderg Banks, was a day to savour for a load of Finn Valley AC athletes who returned with medals.
Enda Doherty was crowned as the Donegal Novice Cross Country champion after a big battle out front with Dale Corbett. Enda had enough in the tank to nose in towards the finish for a memorable win.
Enda, of course, is a son of FVAC stalwarts Patsy Doherty, who was the Donegal Senior XC champion back in 1976, and Bridgeen, a FVAC trustee who has been with us since the early days.
His win in the individual race was a fine spur for Finn Valley AC to take the team honours with Enda, joined by Ben Carr, who took bronze in third, Shaun Bannigan in fifth and Padraig Og McDermott in 16th.
The Finn Valley AC men’s team who won the Donegal Novice Cross Country Championships.
Sally McMenamin was the women’s silver medalist with Finn Valley AC also taking silver. She was followed by Bronagh O’Gara in fifth, Bernie Martin 13th and Geraldine Browne in 15th.
The Donegal Uneven Ages Cross Country Championships were also held alongside the Novice Championships at Mullaghderg and FVAC won six of the nine team golds on offer as well as taking six individual gold.
Finn Valley AC had a double success at U17 level with Mouchine Fathoun, Mark Alexander, Caolan Gillespie and David Campbell placing first to fourth in the boys race while Holly McNulty, Andrea Reid, Aimee McElchar and Abi McGeehan doing likewise in the girls race.
Indeed, Lorcan Kelly and Leah Kenny in each race ensured it was a clean sweep of the top five for FVAC.
Finn Valley AC’s U15 girls took gold through a 1-2-3 from Caoimhe McNeill, Saorla Gilligan and Darcie Clarke, backed up by Aoibhinn Greene in fifth.
Bronze medal winner Noah Davis led Finn Valley to the team gold in the U13 boys and he was followed by Shay McHugh, Evan Patton and Shea Irwin in fifth, sixth and seventh.
Finn Valley AC’s winning U11 girls team
It was a Finn Valley AC double in the U11 races, too: Caitlin Gillespie, Erin Moy and Cora Clarke were on the podium and joined by Eimear Moy (7); and Harry Houston won the U11 boys gold, leading a team of Eoin Cunningham (4), Jude Martin (6) and Blake Keenan (7).
Finn Valley AC took silver in the U13 girls via Ellen Rose Carlin (7), Sorcha Cunningham (8), Aoibheann Moss (10) and Alison Mbuli (13) and it was bronze for the U15 boys of Cian Neeson (6), Dylan Temple (12), Jack Toner (19) and James Barron (20)
There was silver for FVAC in the U19 boys with Odhran McBrearty second, Mark Kearns fifth and Ismael Fathoun sixth.
Rhea Moy of FVAC won the U9 girls while FVAC’s Matthew Breen was third in the U9 boys. Aine Moy, Malea Griffin, Riagan Venzon, Finn O’Mahoney, George Gallagher and Iarlaith Brennan were all inside the top 10 in the U9 races.
Onwards we go this weekend for Carndonagh, where the Donegal Senior and Even Ages Cross Country Championships take place. Best wishes to all of our athletes and coaches in action.
The East Donegal 3/4 Marathon, Half Marathon and Women’s 13k were held in Ballybofey on Sunday with a solid representation from Finn Valley AC and the FVAC Fit4Life group.
Finn Valley AC’s Barry Gallagher was third overall in the half marathon, going 1:20:44 and behind only the Milford AC duo of Paddy Ryan and Stephen Devlin while Peter McMenamin placed 16th in a time of 1:30:07.
In the half marathon, Finn Valley AC had: John McGee 1:50:25; Ross Doherty 1:55:21; Cathal Lafferty 1:55:55; William McGlynn 1:59:13; Selina Russell 2:22:22; Edel Neely 2:22:22; Stephanie Rushe 2:22:23 and Mary Martin 2:22:24.
In the 3/4 marathon, Finn Valley AC athletes to compete were: Anne Marie Bose 2:33:26; Michael Thompson 2:49:12; Mary Hippsley 2:58:34; Sean O’Leary 2:58:37; John Griffin 3:02:38; Diane Gallagher 3:16:06 and Emer Anderson 3:22:52.
Over the 13k distance, Finn Valley AC had: Caroline McConnell 1:17:44; Julie McGee 1:17:46; Clara Caroll 1:18:01; Aine McElchar 1:18:01; Sabrina Anderson 1:26:17 and Deirdre Friel 1:30:07.
A Finn Valley AC Fit4Life group running in the Donegal East Half Marathon in Ballybofey on Sunday.
In the United States at the weekend, Cara Laverty competed for Providence College at the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational, hosted by Loyola University Chicago. The Providence women finished 10th overall with Cara finishing 37th and the second ‘Friar’ to score. This weekend, it’s the New England Championships in Hopkinton for Cara and Providence.
The 2025 Remembrance Run will take place at Finn Valley AC on Sunday, November 16.
Come join us, sign the Remembrance Wall, which tells a story of loved ones no longer with us and draws memories from those who come to walk or run in their honour.
There will be 5k and 10k options on the day and the event – which draws hundreds of participants – gets underway at 10am. Online entry is now open.
The annual general meeting of the Finn Valley Athletic Club will take place on Wednesday, October 29 at 8pm in the Finn Valley Centre. Everyone is welcome to attend on the night.
Medal haul for Finn Valley AC at Donegal Cross Country Championships was last modified: October 7th, 2025 by Contributor
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