Last Sunday, I was taking part in a 10km run for the Rose of Tralee festival when I spotted a girl in front of me with cropped dark hair and three little ladybirds tattooed under her right ear.

“Maria Walsh!” I yelped like an over-excited fan/stalker and jogged up beside her. A few months previously, I had travelled to her family farm in Shrule, Co Mayo, and spent an afternoon with Maria, her parents, Vincent and Noreen, and her brother, Mikey, for Irish Country Living, where we chatted as we scoffed sausage and rasher sandwiches and Maria posed for photographs in a window of sunlight between unseasonal snow flurries.

Despite the thousands of miles she has travelled since then – and the thousands more people she has met – she recognised me and joked that thanks to the feature in the Irish Farmers Journal she has secured the deeds to the family farm.

We had a quick hug (though I felt rather sorry for her as my clothes were already stuck to me with the humidity, while she remained immaculate in her running gear), before I waved goodbye as I knew there were many other runners who would be looking for selfies and smiles. Anybody who has met Maria would agree that she simply has the X-Factor and I look forward to seeing what she will do now that her reign as Rose is over.

What’s most interesting to me, though, is that Maria was selected as the Philadelphia Rose not on her first, but on her second attempt at entering the competition. If she had not tried just one more time, she would never have become arguably the most memorable Rose of Tralee in many years.

Of course, not everybody wants to be a Rose, but I think there’s a lesson in Maria’s story that applies across the board. On Tuesday, I read a report that research by the Royal College of Surgeons showed students who came in through the back door after completing another course fared just as well as those who got the points first time. During a week when many young people might be disappointed that they did not get the CAO offer they had hoped for, it’s worth remembering there is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat, and often it’s by taking the more scenic route that you really grow.

Indeed, Sonia O’Sullivan – speaking ahead of the Great Pink Run – reveals it’s the races that she won after some crushing disappointments, rather than those that came easier to her earlier on in her career, that mean the most to her today. Meanwhile, the Fitzgerald family, are determined to reach their own goal of a sustainable farm life despite living in sweet suburbia.

Elsewhere, Mary Phelan visits Living Links, who provide invaluable support to those bereaved in tragic circumstances. We have further details of a competition to win broadband for your community, a getaway in west Cork up for grabs, some wonderful portraits of poultry keepers by Ramona Farrelly and all of your usual favourites, from fitness and fashion to food. We hope you enjoy the read.