Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Donovan ya girma a Galway kuma ya shiga cikin wasanni a makarantar sakandare, yafi shiga cikin kwallon kafa na Gaelic, kwallon kafa, da rugby. Duk da haka, yayin da yake horar da kwallon kafa na Gaelic ya sami kyauta don gudu mai nisa. Ya fara fitowa a gasar tsere ta kasa da kasa ta IAAF ta 1979
wanda aka shirya a gida a Limerick, yana gudana a cikin tseren matasa kuma ya sanya 54th. Ya lashe sashin matsakaici na British Schools Cross Country International a waccan shekarar, tare da yin gudu a cikin mita 3000 a gasar zakarun Turai ta 1979 na matasa. Babban bayyanarsa na karshe shine gudu a gasar zakarun duniya ta 1981 ta IAAF, inda ya inganta zuwa na 18 kuma ya jagoranci kungiyar matasa ta Irish zuwa na takwas a cikin jeri.