Near miss fails to dampen the spirits of Hogan family
THE HOGAN family from Enniscorthy narrowly missed out on victory in this year’s series of Ireland’s Fittest Family.
Having reached last weekend’s final they lost out to eventual winners, the McSharry’s, from Sligo.
However, never ones to rest on their laurels the Hogans are now preparing for Wicklow’s fastest family competition which will take place on St Stephen’s Day.
They have won it for the last four years in-a-row and this year they will welcome the youngest member of the family, Piers (11), into the competition.
Speaking to this newspaper yesterday Tom Hogan said competing in Ireland’s Fittest Family was a great experience that brought the family together.
‘It’s probably the only competition in the country where you can compete together with all members of your family and it definitely brought us even closer together,’ he said.
‘It was such a great experience to do something with the lads,’ he added.
However, while Tom and Dena are renowned athletes, Tom said being involved in the competition necessitated a re-think.
‘Well, what myself and Dena compete in usually are individual sports and it’s usually a case of chasing down the person in front of you but with this it was nearly the last person over the line was the most important and that took a bit of getting used to,’ he said,
‘I had to reprogramme the way I think a little bit,’ he added.
He also said that the key to getting through the various challenges presented in the programme was to take a little time and not rush into things.
‘You’d see it with some families they would burst into it and then struggle but the key to it was just taking your time a little bit,’ he said.
Tom also said that one or two small things went wrong in the final that cost the family the milliseconds that ultimately made the difference.
‘We planned some things in advance but in the heat of the moment then you do things slightly differently and it changes.’
The family were full of praise for their mentor, Davy Fitzgerald, and Tom said the Clare man’s love for the Wexford hurling squad extends to the people of the county as well.
‘He really does love Wexford people, it’s genuine,’ said Tom.
The Hogan’s were also very appreciative of all the messages of support they received from people across the county during their time in the competition.
‘We were overwhelmed by the support we received from the people of Wexford,’ he said.
‘It really meant a lot to us and we are very grateful.’ In addition to Tom and Dena, the Hogan team included their sons Josh (17) and Jay (14).