The finished javelin alley Lucas Donohue built at Snohomish High.
courtesy of Donohue family
SNOHOMISH — Lucas Donohue was a senior at Snohomish High School and an aspiring Eagle Scout who just achieved his life rank. Donohue had always had a lifelong interest in sports and some experience with javelin throwing. Wanting to give back to his high school, Lucas decided to construct a javelin alley for the school’s track team. 
Being in the Boy Scouts is no easy task, and requires years of dedication to reach the rank of Eagle Scout. One requirement aspiring Eagle Scouts must complete is constructing a service project that helps or benefits the community in some way. Coming up with a project and finding inspiration can be hard for some, which is where Lucas Donohue found himself in fall of 2019. Donohue had just achieved his life rank, and was soon tasked with building a service project to obtain Eagle Scout.
However, Donohue soon found inspiration from a fellow Eagle Scout, and Physics teacher at Snohomish High, Dave Weller. The two soon connected and began bouncing ideas off of each other, eventually coming to the conclusion of building a javelin runway at Snohomish High School. “At that point (Weller) brought up that the track team was in need of a javelin runway, and I told him I was interested. At that point, the idea was born, and I went forward with it,” said Donohue.
Before any construction took place, Lucas had to reach out to local booster clubs of the track team, mutual friends, and the athletic director. Some of the people Donohue reached out to owned construction companies, and were able to bring excavators and other machinery to make the process a lot easier. The runway was broken up into several parts, and since it was being built on uneven ground, leveling had to be done to give the runners a solid pathway. Eventually, 26 yards of concrete was poured into the alley to fill it in and smooth it out before it was rubberized.
“This project was very important and special to me. It gave me an opportunity to demonstrate leadership, and strengthen my communication skills. This project allowed me to mature, and realize how thankful I am to have people around me who want to support me,” said Donohue while reflecting on his journey.
