Some old rugby heads will probably assemble in Knocknacarra Church tomorrow evening (8.00pm) for a Memorial Mass for Kevin O'Byrne. The Galway native and former College and Connacht scrumhalf died recently in Kenya where he spent his working life.

At 7.20am on Monday morning Richard Donovan left Mizen Head on the coast of Cork with North Pole Veterans Fearghal Murphy and Paul Grealish, Shane Lennon from the Camp Claddagh charity and the runner's brother Olympian Paul Donovan and began his long journey to Malin Head at the top end of Donegal. Three years ago the Galway Ultra Runner ran from Malin to Mizen in a record time of 5 days 14 hours and 15 minutes even through he laboured with a stress facture for much of the run. This time he hopes to beat the existing record (Mizen to Malin) of 4 days and 12 hours set in 1988 by Englishman Richard Browne. Even though he will have to clip a whole day off the time!

The record breaking achievements of Donovan on the world stage are astonishing. We remember the year 2002 when he ran 7 marathons on 7 continents! He won the first North Pole Marathon and won the first South Pole Marathon. To achieve his objective this week Richard Donovan will have to run three marathons per day against the clock in order to cover the 365 miles in record time. Fingers crossed. Absolutely all proceeds go to Camp Claddagh for the Chernobyl Childrens Project as the Kings Head Pub and Malt House Restaurant are picking up the tab. www.runthecountry.ie.

By comparison the De Care Claremorris 5 Mile Road Race & Walk on Saturday at 6.00pm in aid of Mayo Cancer Support will be a piece of cake.

With Wimbledon comes the Kit Kat Parks Tennis Camps. Registration is this Friday between 4.00pm and 6.00pm at the tennis courts in Barna, Crestwood, Knocknacarra , Maree and Westside. Enquiries to Gai Barry at 091 528891. Robert will be in attendance at the tennis courts in Ballinasloe Rugby Club grounds on Friday as well. Call Robert on 085 1364954 and ask him what times is he there. Registration in Tuam took place last Saturday but the camp in Presentation College does not start until Monday like the others. Call John 085 7673682 to be sure.

We're not so sure about this Summer Solstice business, neither we suspect are Westlife fans! The sun maybe at it's furthest from the equator but it wasn't anywhere near Annaghdown on Saturday either. Still the monsoons waited until the Annaghdown Summer Solstice 10K was complete and many of the competitors had bathed their feet in Lough Corrib at Annaghdown Pier. Race Director Paul Fallon with his committee of Alan Duggan, Myles Meehan and Francis Curran and many other volunteers such as the school teachers and staff put on a good show. They have the advantage of an ideal race route with very little gradients to bother the runners. It is a race that could have a long innings. Certainly the organisation was top class. Saturday's was the second running of the event. Mark Davis of Craughwell AC was first home in 33.50, Brian Bruton from Bohermore was second in 35.42 and Johnny Lane (Craughwell AC) was third in 35.47. Dan O'Rourke (Tuam) was best at V40, Martin McEvilly (Galway City Harriers) won V50 and Brian Geraghty (GCH) best at V60. Ann Carter (Burnthouse) won the Women's section in 39.17, Noreen McNamara (Mayo) was second in 41.36 and Jane Ann Healy was third in 41.53. McNamara took the V35 top spot and Maire Therese Beatty (Inverin) won in V45. Galway footballer Derek Savage finished in good order in the top thirty. Note to Liam Sammon, don't be stuck, the Cortoon stalwart looked good. So did Annaghdown.

Galway World Cup Fun Weekend will be held on Friday and Saturday in Salthill Devon Grounds at Drom. It gets underway at 11.30am on Friday. This is an annual event (in fact it is the tenth) for 360 young people between the ages of 14 and 16 years and 80 staff from youth projects across the country. The young people are already fundraising for Goal the Irish International Hamanitarian Organisation. Indeed over the last five years the participants have raised over 27,000 Euro for Goal! The weekend's events will promote self esteem, teamwork, friendship, social, personal and educational skills in the young people. The bit that is really worth watching on Friday morning is what is called the 'most creative kit'. There will be an emphasis on cultural awareness and each project will represent different countries in a fun way and one of the major prizes will go towards 'the most creative kit'. The various teams have been working on this for ages. It is nearly more important than the soccer!