Mary Peters

Cross Country Champions

Second in the Northern Ireland Finals!

On Monday 5th May our Boys Athletics Team travelled to Belfast, with Mrs Kelly and a group of enthusiastic volunteer parents, to compete in the N.I. Schools Athletics Final. The team qualified for this big event during the Western Area Finals last month. It was a hard fought race. They had to run a distance of 2 miles for the first time. The competition was very strong but our boys came in a proud 2nd. They were presented with a beautiful glass trophy and they met Dame Mary Peters the famous Pentathalon gold medal winner of the 1972 Olympics.
	Back: Quentin, Conor, Dame Mary Peters, Gerald & Shane . Front: Kealan, David, Steven & Jordan

On Monday 5th May our Boys Athletics Team travelled to Belfast, with Mrs Kelly and a group of enthusiastic volunteer parents, to compete in the N.I. Schools Athletics Final. The team qualified for this big event during the Western Area Finals last month. It was a hard fought race. They had to run a distance of 2 miles for the first time. The competition was very strong but our boys came in a proud 2nd. They were presented with a beautiful glass trophy and they met Dame Mary Peters the famous Pentathalon gold medal winner of the 1972 Olympics.

Back: Quentin, Conor, Dame Mary Peters, Gerald & Shane .: Front: Kealan, David, Steven & Jordan

Three Chosen for the Northern Ireland Cross Country Squad.


Conor	Shane	Jordan
Conor, Shane and Jordan have really achieved something beyond most children's reach. They have been chosen for the Northern Ireland Cross Country Squad. This means that a Northern Ireland Coach will train them and they could possibly, eventually be asked to represent their country in an international event against other countries. WELL DONE BOYS!

How did the boys feel about the whole experience?

Gerald's Story. I was really very nervous when I was going up in the bus and very very tired because it took us about 2 hours to get to Belfast. When we arrived we walked around the course. It waslonger than any of the other tracks we'd raced on. When the girls finished ( they always go first) all the boys were very nervous and shocked it was so long. As we lined up I felt really scared. My heart was really pumping so fast. The whistle blew, we started off. I was running as fast as I could but lots of people were running in front of me so I just started running faster. Coming to the third last bend I was a good bit in front of a lot of people. I looked behind to see a lot of fallen boys. I was exhausted and staggering and trying to go faster but my legs couldn't. Just then somebody clipped me and I fell straight to the ground. Oh, lots of people passed me but I got right back up and sprinted to the finish. I said to myself, "I did my best so I don't care where I finish as long as I finished that exhausting race." We saw a bit of the Belfast Marathon, had our picture taken with Mary Peters and finally the bus took us all the way back to Derry with us happy because we got second!		Shane's Tale On Bank holiday Monday 5th May 2008 St. Eithne's P.S. travelled to Belfast to compete in the Northern Ireland Primary Schools' Cross Country Championships. We arrived in Belfast at 9:30 a.m. and I felt very nervous indeed. At the start of the race I was even more nervous because there were so many schools and such a long long track. The girls ran their race and it was a very exciting race to watch. Now it was our time! We lined up ready to go. Before we set off the mayor of Belfast gave all of us a bit of confidence. The whistle blew and we were off. Keeping a steady start off pace I was at the back to begin with. Half way through the race I had begun to overtake and was pushing through to the front. Nearer to the end of the race I could see the finish line so I started to sprint. I overtook lots of tired out people near the end and I ran over the finish line 9th overall. When the race was over I felt so very glad because it was our longest ever. We were all excited and surprised at the presentation because we came second overall and we all received a medal. I got two for finishing in the top ten.