A weekend of great success for local athletics club

There was huge success for Tullamore Harriers last Saturday, as two of its talented young athletes earned gold medals at the Leinster Uneven Age Cross Country event at the Curragh, Kildare.

On a challenging course with steady climbs and sharp descents, almost 50 athletes from the Offaly club took to the stage.

A total of eight Tullamore athletes won individual medals, while three club teams also won medals.

In the Under-17 race, Ally Duffy – who was last week named Young Sportsperson of the Year at the 2026 Westmeath Independent Community & Sports Awards - ran a controlled race but on the last lap really hit stride to claim a great win over the talented Lily Walsh.

The Under-17 Boys race went right down to the wire as Danny Rigney was neck and neck with Daire Beacroft (Meath) coming down the home stretch. But Rigney showed great determination to get the win.

Conor Dunne ran brilliantly in the Under-11 Boys race and was rewarded with a silver medal. In the Under-15 Girls, Tilly Cusack looked comfortable throughout the early stages and when the pace picked up was able to give eventual winner Sinéad Fitzpatrick a run for her money.

Like Cusack, James Hynes was also competing against a year older, as he stepped up to Under-15s, and his grit and determination earned him a bronze medal.

In the last race, Ronan Keaney found himself for the majority of the five kilometres out on his own in third. He was closing on the leading two over the last mile but the gap was just too big.

In the Team's categories, there was medals for the Under-15 Girls and Boys, and the Under-17 Girls. The Under-15 Girls team (silver medals) was Matilda Cusack, Amelia Lillie O'Connor, Annebal Donegan and Roisin O'Brien. The Under-17 Girls team (gold) was Ally Duffy, Adelyn Walsh, Elise Cusack and Mollie King, while the Under-15 boys team (gold) was James Hynes, Antoni Wojtyra, Daire Garvey, Joe Daly, Jason McKinney and Eoin Herlihy.

Meanwhile, the club was also represented at the 10km De Bordeaux in France, with Danielle Donegan finishing in seventh overall from a huge field that resulted in 4,000 finishers. Danielle produced an excellent run in a time of 33:04.