East Down AC Notes

gearing up for London, Belfast and Edinburgh marathons. [caption id="attachment_21921" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="EDAC juniors Eimera Connor and Aoife Cochrane with Ciara Mageean."][/caption] Despite the loss of an hour’s sleep most made it to pre-arranged starting points respectably dressed and awake.xa0 Depending on the level of injury presently being carried, distances ranging from 8 to 22 miles were covered, in the mist shrouded beauty of the Quoile area, and most were back home and in bed again before they had been missed. However, the highlight of the week was the visit by rising star Ciara Mageean to the Junior club training on Thursday night. While Ciara has been taking the athletics world by storm and sets her sights on London 2012, a less well known talent was demonstrated by her ability to keep over 60 boys and girls not only interested and enthralled but quiet as she passed round her medals, talked about her career and answered numerous questions from the crowd who were clearly star struck. She finished off her visit with a short exercise work out. [caption id="attachment_21922" align="alignright" width="169" caption="Ciara Mageean shows off her medals to the EDAC juniors."][/caption] A big thank you is sent to Ciara for giving of her time to encourage the stars of the future and talk about the need for regular training, dedication and sacrifices on the way to success. She is proving not only a success in competition but as an ambassador for the sport too and she can count on a big fan base in this neck of the woods. Meantime, the new Five Mile Road race arrangedxa0 in Leitrim for next Saturday has caught the interest of locals and with large turnouts expected from East Down, Newcastle and Murlough there should be plenty to keep the local friendly rivalry going ahead of the Titanic Quarter 10K the following week. [caption id="attachment_21923" align="alignleft" width="206" caption="EDAC coaches Deirdre Mount and Roisin Gaffney (Club Chairman) with Ciara Mageean."][/caption] ]]>