Cormac McAnallen's 12th anniversary commemorated

To mark the date, a charity run has been planned to celebrate his life and raise funds for the trust set up in his memory.

Cormac was 24 when he died and had just taken over as Tyrone captain from Peter Canavan. The McKenna Cup, which he lifted just a few days earlier, is now in possession of the McAnallen family.

The shock of his passing prompted solidarity from across the religious and sporting divide in Northern Ireland.

To illustrate how his death had touched the community, a letter arrived to the McAnallen household from the headquarters of the Royal Black Perceptory.

The Cormac Run will take place on April 23 in Cormac’s home parish and is jointly organised by the Cormac Trust and St Patrick’s GAC, Eglish. Funds raised will support the cause of combatting Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young and providing sporting facilities for the young.

His mother Bridget McAnallen says her family can take some comfort from the many families who have been helped by The Cormac Trust, the foundation set up in his memory.

As well as providing defibrillator’s to more than 150 clubs across the country, and providing First Aid training, The Cormac Trust most recently donated €50,000 to the Mater Hospital in Dublin to contribute towards a new ground-breaking research programme in genetics.

It is hoped the run will help young people to raise their fitness levels and there is an eight-week programme of fitness training especially for the Cormac Run on the website: wwwcormacrun.org

There will be a 10km, 5km run and walk on the day to suit all levels of fitness and competitive runners will be catered for too, with micro-chipped timing, a Cormac Run Medal and individual times uploaded to the website.

All entrants will receive a goody bag and there will be a barbecue at the finish.

For more information please contact The Cormac Trust on 028 3754 7721 or email: [email protected]