Brackens make quarter final of Fittest Family
They look lean, they play clean – and they are extremely keen! The Bracken family from Ballinabrackey put in a fabulous performance in Sunday night’s episode of Ireland’s Fittest family, winning themselves a place in the quarter final.
Dad Andrew (52), together with sons Eoghan (20), Ruaidhrí (18) and daughter Ailbhe (16) stormed ahead of the opposition in the challenging “Fast and Furious” trial – a race over bales and along a narrow beam in the gruelling TV contest filmed in Wicklow.
As testing as the Fast and Furious race was, the really tough test the competitors faced was the ‘Bog Bath’, in which they had to remain hanging upside down from a wooden pole suspended over a hole filled with murky water.
What was impressive was the degree of affection and co-operation between the four Brackens.
“Our chemistry is very good,” Ruaidhrí told the interviewer at one stage, and indeed the commentator remarked on the fact that there was a great sense of family unity, which was particularly evident as Ruaidhrí spoke words of encouragement to his younger brother as they both clung upside down to the pole.
The family gave it their all, to the delight of their coach, Cork camogie champion, Anna Geary.
“Oh I want to win so badly!” young Ailbhe declared as they awaited the start of the Fast and Furious race.
As the family were the first qualifiers on Sunday evening’s show, they did not have to undertake the third challenge of the evening, which was used to decide on a second quarter finalist.
The Brackens are passionate about sport. Andrew, a farmer, although he only took up running six years ago, now runs 5ks, 10ks and half-marathons.
Eoghan, who is about to go into his third year as a science teaching student in Limerick, plays with Kinnegad Seniors and was last year the captain of the Westmeath U20 Gaelic football team; Ruaidhrí, finished school last year.
His main sport is Gaelic football but he also played soccer up until recently, while Ailbhe, who is going into sixth year in school this year is not alone a member of Mullingar Arts Centre, where she sings, dances and does drama, but also a keen Gaelic footballer.