It has been a successful and eventful couple of days for the evergreen Laois athlete Martin McDonald.
The Ballyroan, Abbeyleix & District runner competed in two World Masters races in Spain in the last week.
Up first, Martin took on the 6km Uphill-only race at the World Masters Mountain Running Championships in the Spanish Pyrenees at Canfranc.
Freezing, snowy conditions overnight and into morning led to tough racing conditions, especially over the steep finishing ascent.
Temperatures were approximately 3°C at the race start and 0°C at the summit. The melting snow at the summit, as the sun came out, made for slippery conditions in places.
Martin finished 3rd in the M65 category behind Colin Donnelly (Great Britain) (2023 M60 Champion) and Farina Gilles (France).
The Irish team of Martin (3rd), Conor Nolan (6th) and Liam Lynch (14th) also claimed bronze for the second year in a row. Spain took gold and France were 2nd.
Martin returned to action on Sunday and competed in the 17km Classic (Up and Down) at the World Masters Mountain Running Championships in Canfranc.
Weather conditions were much improved this time with some heat in the air throughout.
The race consisted of 7km up and 10km down with an elevation gain of 1000m, starting and finishing in the same place.
Determined after Friday’s Bronze medal, Martin took to the front of the field, leading the M65 age category to top and still in front to the last tracker point.
By this stage, Spanish opposition was just 4 seconds off.
The race finished with approximatley 700/800m of road with a flight of steps at about 350/400m from the finish. At the road, Martin was in full flight to hold off 2nd place.
On the road, disaster struck, Martin led into the steps with 400m to go and took a tumble, falling head first down the concrete steps.
He sustained a bad head wound and fractured bones in his hand as well as multiple scrapes and scratches.
Although determined to finish after being out on the ground after some time, the paramedics had the last word and made the decision that Martin was not in a stable position to finish.
The Irish M65 team, however, kept the flag flying in Martin’s absence and raced to an individual bronze medal for Conor Nolan and team Bronze for Conor, Ger Down and Jim St. John.
Well done to Martin and we wish him a speedy recovery.
SEE ALSO – In Pictures: Glorious sunshine, big crowds and mighty craic at Day 1 of the Ploughing Championship
