McCullough reaches new heights with Irish team
AFTER injury ruled him out of the cross-county season Dunleer AC’s Jack Mc Cullough took on a new sporting project in April.
The talented athlete ran his first ever mountain race at the Bray Head Summit in mid-April finishing 30th and after some eye-catching performances at the Howth Head race and then the All Ireland Youth Mountain Running Championships, the Clogherhead native was selected on fourman Irish Youth Team picked to represent Ireland in the WMRA World Youth Cup Mountain Running Championships held at Janské Lázn in the Czech Republic at the end of June.
Jack who is a student at St. Josephs CBS Secondary School completed his Junior Certificate this summer and following his final exam he was driven straight to the airport to join the team on their flight to the Czech Republice.
The race was held in the picturesque village of Janske Lazne.
Following a parade of all the teams represented, the race started at the foot of the erná hora (The Black Mountain).
Unusually, it was held on the uphill only course with a 580m ascent over 5km. Jack was part of the four-man team which packed very well on the day to finish an impressive 12th out of a very large field.
Turkey stole the show on the day by winning the event.
The race was followed by a very impressive presentation party and cultural events throughout the evening.
While the Irish football team and fans were giving an impressive account of themselves in France, these young budding Irish athletes of the future had an amazing introduction to a World Athletics forum where they experienced an international race, a variety of cultures and socialization in the Czech Republic.
Jack is also eligible to run in the same event next year, having ran out of his age this year.
Jack had further reason to celebrate during his Junior Certificate with a great performance in the 2.5Km ‘Round the Head’ swim in his native Clogherhead. Jack finished third overall out of over 100 swimmers to win the U18 event. His former coach, Olympian and role model Colin Lowth won the race in fantastic style.