The Castlepollard 5km Road Race, which attracts competitors from near and far has become a firm favourite and is a well established fixture on the road race calendar. The success of the race, which is run over an excellent course that includes the magnificent grounds of Tullynally Castle is due to the tremendous time and effort put in to the organization of the race by North Westmeath AC and the very generous prize fund on offer. Wednesday evening 15th August was no exception and despite the dark clouds and poor forecast, the race still drew nearly 400 competitors. As always, Mullingar Harriers was well represented with over 40 Club members taking part. Starting at the Square in Castlepollard, it was a great spectacle to see the large field head out the Coole Road towards Tullynally. Never a busy road usually, this year, in consultation with the Gardaí, the organizers took the extra precaution anyway of arranging for the road from the Square in Castlepollard to the gates of Tullynally Castle to be closed to traffic, which maximized the safety to all those talking part. Fortunately the rain held off for most of the race and there was only one short shower near the end, which didn’t bother the athletes or the large crowd of supporters and onlookers too much.

The race was led out at a fast pace by the early leaders and by the time they reached Tullynally, the leading group of runners was well established. Heading back from Tullynally and battling the strong headwind towards the finish, it was Thomas Moran (Dunshaughlin AC) that had a clear lead, winning in 15:49, ahead of Noel Carroll (Shercock AC) second in 16:18 and Martin Fulton (Bailieboro AC) third in 16:22. Best of the Mullingar group was Tom McGrath finishing fifth in 16:33, followed by Shane Fitzsimons sixth in 16:45 who used the race to ease back into running after a well earned break of a few weeks after the tremendously successful season he has had. The women's race was won by Pauline Curley (Tullamore Harriers AC) in 17:34 who showed her Olympian class by dominating the women’s race.

The presentation of prizes after saw many from Mullingar collecting individual prizes in the various categories, and team prizes were won by Tom McGrath, Shane Fitzsimons and Mark McCann (10th overall) for first men team and by Aisling Moody (2nd girl u/16), Michelle O’Halloran (3rd senior woman) and Aine Kiernan-O’Reilly (4th senior woman) for second women team.

Also competing for Mullingar were Ollie Donnelly (1st in master category), Aidan Gorry, Glen Gaffney (1st boy u/16), Mel Carthy (2nd in master category), David Fagan (3rd in master category), Enda O’Carolan, Liam McGlynn (4th in master category), Cormac Dalton (3rd boy u/16), Kieran Nolan, Oisin Quinn, Jonathan Daly (2nd Junior Man), Pat Muldoon Senior (1st in master category), Patrick Muldoon, Stephen Naughton, Mervyn Harris, John Bannon (3rd in master category), Declan Brady, Maura Dervin (1st in master category), Michael O’Sullivan (3rd in master category), Lorna Moody (1st girl u/18), Noel Moody, Sean Gaffney, Aoife Darby, Caoimhe Gaffney, James Cribbin Junior, Christy Creagh (2nd in master category), Faye Walsh, Ciara Smith, Enda Finnerty, Lucy Langley, Michelle Gaffney, Andy Quinn, Shelly Smith, Louise Moore, Caitriona Corcoran, PJ Ballesty, Geraldine Walsh (1st in master category), Geraldine Carthy, and Eileen Gorry. In total, Club athletes won 19 individual prizes and 2 team prizes.

Before the main 5km event, there were races for boys and girls under 7, 9, 11 and 13 years around the Square in Castlepollard. Thankfully, the rain held off for these races and the Club was well represented with most winning prizes, but whether they won prizes or not, they all gave their best and thoroughly the enjoyed the experience. The Club has a good crop of talent among the younger ages and we'll see many of them compete for Mullingar with distinction in more races in the coming years. Among those competing for Mullingar were Darragh Smith and Joe Darby (boys u/7), Alva Bracken (girls u/9), Oisin Murray (boys u/9), Bea Drummond, Ciara Smith, Shelly Smith and Rachel Darby (girls u/11), Ciaran Luby, Rory Fagan, Brian Farrell and Paul McCool (boys u/11), Aoife Darby and Laura Gaffney (girls u/13).