Congratulations to St. Bernadette’s Special School Student Sarah McGurk from Convoy, who has just completed the Excel Sports 160km Hawaii Challenge.

Sarah finished the final 1k of her challenge with her school classmates, teacher and SNAs last week.

Organiser of the Hawaii Challenge, Eunan Quinn, from Excel Sports met Sarah in Drumboe Woods to present her with a Lei, which is a garland of flowers given in Hawaii as a welcome or farewell, and he also kindly included a Lei for each of Sarah’s classmates and staff members for helping her reach her goal.

Pictured is Eunan Quinn from Excel Sports presenting Sarah McGurk (Convoy) with a Lei for completing the Excel Sports 160km Hawaii Challenge.

Congratulating Sarah, Eunan Quinn said: “Massive well done to Sarah for completing the Hawaii Challenge. Walking 1K every day is no easy task, but Sarah kept herself motivated and moving, so she should be delighted with herself. Sarah had great support from her parents who also took part in the challenge, and I’m told she also had great encouragement from her school, St. Bernadette’s in Letterkenny, where the staff helped her get her daily walk in during the day and her classmates spurred her on by joining in on the challenge. I was honoured to present Sarah with her Lei for finishing that final kilometre.”

Sarah completed the last 1k of her Hawaii Challenge last week at school and she proudly showed school principal John Haran her medal, t-shirt and snood that she got part of the sign-up.

Sarah McGurk (pictured centre) from Convoy completed the final kilometre of her Excel Sports 160km Hawaii Challenge with her senior year classmates at St. Bernadette’s Special School, Letterkenny. Event organiser Eunan Quinn from Excel Sports kindly gifted Sarah along with all her classmates with a Lei for completing the challenge. Also pictured is teacher Terence Shiels and SNAs Fiona McFadden and Ann McGinley. 

Mr Haran said these virtual events are a fantastic motivator for young and old: “It’s great to see so many of these pop-up virtual events that encourage people to set a goal, keep active and look after their mental health. It’s not about first past the post, but about doing it at your own pace, in your own time. Big congratulations to Sarah for completing the challenge and we look forward to proudly hanging a picture of her and her classmates on the school wall. Thanks to Eunan Quinn and the team at Excel Sports for their great work too.”

For more information on the Excel Spots virtual challenges visit www.popupraces.ie and for more information on St. Bernadette’s Special School visit stbernadettesschool.eu.