Castle Irvine Estate in Fermanagh was the venue for the juvenile All-Ireland Cross-Country Championship this year and it filled quickly on a dull Sunday morning with athletes from all over the country trying to be the best they can be.
First up for Newcastle AC was three time NI and Ulster champion, Harry McVeigh, who last year took bronze in his age category after suffering a bad fall at school during the week, so he was toeing the line with intent to right the wrongs of last year.
He was facing not only the provincial champions but also Donal Devlin, of “Keep er Lit” Running Club, who took their last race right to the line at Billy Neill.
As each of the lead U-12 boys grappled for position, at one point Harry found himself down in sixth with more than a few metres to reign in.
There is something special about this young athlete as when the going gets tough, he embraces it and uses this to ignite a fire within him.
At no point did he ever look or consider that he was defeated. Going into the final 500m, Harry emerged from the trees battling it out for third place.
It was a battle that would fizzle off in the final 100m when Harry drove up that final hill as if his life depended on it and shook off the competition to cross the line in third place and retain his bronze position in a time of 6.51, which is 17 seconds quicker than his 2000m time at Kilkenny last year in the same age category.
The most impressive aspect of this win was the fact that, after a few weeks previously, dipping on the line for the win, Harry secured the first Ulster man home with over nine seconds to spare on his Ulster rival Donal Devlin, which is a testament to the effort and work that Harry has put into his physical and mental preparations in the past few weeks since they last met.
Read the full report in the current issue including update of performances by Connaire Og McVeigh, Fiachna McAleenan, Natalie Cotton, Ethan McMullan and Patrick McDaid.