 it was due to altercations between both sets of players so that's all your full-time soccer scores here on Highlands Sunday Sport returning our attention now to athletics and I'm delighted to say I've got Brendan McDade of Flatterkin AAC in studio Brendan as always you're welcome to Highlands. Thank you very much Hossien and Brendan we're going to talk about the 50th celebrations in just a moment and maybe recap over the the last 50 years and what the standout the highlights was for the club but you had your annual turkey trot earlier today in Leonard Kinney a fine morning for running first of all it was indeed Hossien perfect conditions a little bit cold but no no breeze and good conditions for pbs and good runs yeah we were delighted we had over 60 turned out for it the unique thing of the turkey trot of course is that people predict their time before they run and then wherever's the closest to their prediction sort of wins the turkeys yeah so it's it's not even the people that's first across the line anybody and anywhere in the field can win this event yeah so likes Owen McGinley he was the fastest man today wasn't too far off his off his prediction you might just give us maybe a handful of the names who performed well today there Brendan yeah well and in terms of predictions we had two on just one second out Claire McGuigan from liverster band she predicted 1745 and actually ran 1746 and her own chairman Raymond Birch who had predicted 1643 and ran 1644 and then the third I suppose in the race in terms of times was Michael Harkin who had predicted 1801 and ran 1759 so unless you were within nine seconds actually off your prediction you didn't get a turkey yeah okay some people got the turkey and they'll be all started for Christmas so 50th celebrations is taking place next weekend uh Brendan I know a lot about letter Kenny AC with my father Charlie been been been been involved but if you go back 50 years back to the to the early 70s how how did letter Kenny AC all come about yeah well I suppose they're from memories of talking to people you know there's involved at a time there was meetings held in December 71 some senior athletes like JB Dordy and Michael Cramsey who had sort of formed a little committee uh and then in early 72 there was uh people like Eddie Gibson brother Austin and that got together more or less with juvenile end of it and I think formally in around March April of 72 the club registered with Ulster athletics and with the BLOE at the time the Irish athletics so the the club went from from there on yeah 50 years um half a decade or 50 years and a long time for a club and a lot has happened obviously Brendan but maybe some of the standout moments and and some of the standout athletes that that had letter Kenny right up there yeah it would quite a number uh I mean even team wise which I suppose clubs always look at uh mirror men's team around I think it was 1998 that they won the short course cross country up in Dublin up in Alta and more recent times then our women's cross country team in 2021 won the national senior title and we're second this year in it uh both in case now they go to represent Ireland at the European clubs you know it's a great milestone for the club uh again back in the early 2000s we had marathon teams comprised of Gary Crossen and Paulie McKinney were always to the fore in the marathon running and they were usually joined by the likes of Marty Gormley or Niamh McGee to make up a team wise and would have won that national title on a number of occasions um I suppose the other highlight down through the year would have been our national league teams we fielded both men and women for quite a number of years and managed to get up to third in that track and field uh league which was a great achievement for the club um and again we're delighted Tries and McDade has represented the club um you know as team manager now to a number of Irish teams on at Olympics and World Championships and indeed there's a team off now to Turin and Italy next Sunday um again Tries will be to the fourth that were the with Irish women's team on it I suppose individually um you know ones that come to mind like Katrina Jennings who you know went to the Olympics in London but in more recent times for the club has um gone on to the altar running and won world medals at the 100k and European forced at the 50k and holds Irish records now for that distance and I mean if you go back through the young ones like Mark English come through the club and what have went to world juniors and world seniors and obviously on the the bigger events like Olympics again um Darren McBurney represented the club at European cross country the world junior um you know in the European indoors um we were very funniging that went to world youths got a force to that at that level at world youths which is great also went on in the junior and European um indoors Danny Mooney who uh went to the Commonwealth Games with Northern Ireland and also represented Ireland at the European indoors in the 1500 and of course even now at the moment Anne-Marie McLinn who's going to Turin as a part of the Irish team next weekend this might be our third I think European cross country um and she would have won bronze with the Irish team at one of those European cross countries um and of course you know going way back the likes of Danny McDade who's coming through the club and has gone to two Olympics uh being silver medal team one in performance in Limerick at the world cross country and many other international that Danny has gone on on um you would have Gary Cross and go in the world student games Christopher Johnson also went to the European under 23s so there's been a host of members that have come through the club and went on to the great things in athletics yeah and clubs strive to have athletes at the top of their sport but for letter Kenny who brought three athletes through three three Olympians um which was was tremendous for a club a lot of club would would hope just to have one but but letter Kenny had three come through the club yeah it's it's fantastic for the club to get that sort of achieves them you know achievement to bring them up from especially from the younger age the likes of Mark English that would have started as a junior just training with the the juveniles and indeed Joe the his father would have helped coach him and did a lot of multi events with I think stood to mark in the later years and the likes of the Darren McBirdies and Danny Mooney and Marie Funnigan that come up through that juvenile angst and bring them all the way to international level is a great credit to the club yeah and and back when Danny McDade was at the Olympics and was he when he was to the four of of Irish run on it was a it was a very very good period for letter Kenny so it was having Danny at the front into the four of that it was and Danny would have led then many of senior teams at at Ulster and national level to cross country success as well when you have so many of that stature leading out the team I think it inspires others yeah and how's the club going at the moment obviously juveniles it's just like the football this is the grassroot stuff that's where the building blocks start and that's where you can see if there's any real potential and some of these young athletes and can continue this for letter Kenny how's it going at the moment Brendan yeah the club is very strong at the moment numbers are are very high there is a squad away in cork at the moment to juvenile cross countries on in cork and what we like to see there is athletes actually making that level even if they don't get medals you know at this young age you know it inspires them to keep going and maybe then achieve it at senior level I always think the great success for club is to try and keep them that transition from juvenile right and a junior and then on to senior that's the real task for every club yeah the Guards actually finished fourth today and on the 15 Guards and it wasn't a bad wasn't a bad day for the team no that's why I say I like them to see you just in and around there and making that qualification yeah so what's the plans then for next weekend celebrating the big fifter yeah we have a an anniversary 50 years in the Radisson Blue next Saturday the 10th there'll be drinks reception from 645 and then with the main meal at half seven there'll be a lot of interviews with past members a lot of old photographs from over the last 50 years and some messages from other sort of key people within athletics just to sort of recount what is what has gone on over the last 50 years yeah so there'll be a good feeling then in the build up to this is a good feel around the club at the moment is there there's a good feeling and a big demand on tickets and we're delighted to see some sort of previous members looking to to come along and enjoy the evening okay well listen brandon thanks for coming in and we wish you every success we are 50th next weekend thanks very much i'll see that's brandon mcdeod off letterkinny athletic club talking about 50 years of lac thanks for coming in brandon we're going to go for a quick commercial break when we come back we've got horse racing and don braw mcmonagall sport on highland is brought