A: Grange, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, Ireland | E: info@mullingarharriers.com

Week ending Saturday 24th March 2018

 

Golden All Ireland Indoors for Glennon siblings

The Glennon underage race walking siblings, Andrew, Matthew and Sarah all took gold on the first day of the AAI Juvenile Indoors last Sunday in Athlone IT. Young Andrew Glennon was just too good for the opposition in the boys 1,000m u/14 race walk and swept to victory, pulling clear on the final lap with an impressive turn of pace to win his first All-Ireland title. Matthew Glennon also impressed in the boys 1,500m u/16 race walk, dominating the race from the start and winning by a big margin, well over half a lap ahead. To make it three for three for the Glennon family, settling in to the early pace in the girls 1,500m u/18 race walk, Sarah Glennon bided her time but with two laps to go surged into the lead, pulling clear and opening a gap that was just too big to close and she raced to victory with over thirty seconds to spare to win a third gold for Mullingar and reinforce the Club’s reputation in race walking. Our final walker, Jayne Walsh competed in the girls 1,500m u/16 where she battled well but finished out of the medals in sixth place.

On to the metric mile where Bea Drummond competed in the girls 1,500m u/16, putting in a solid performance but had to settle for seventh place, out of the medals. In the boys 1,500m u/16 Colin Smith put in a good performance but just couldn’t match the pace in the closing laps and finished out of the medal places. There were two heats of the boys 1,500m u/17 and Eoin Quinn was unlucky not to advance to the final, missing a place by a narrow margin after a brave effort in his heat. Aoife Darby cruised through her heat of the girls 1,500m u/18 to earn her place in the final. Normally a certainty for a medal at this level, a bout of illness only a week before had clearly taken its toll and while she had enough in the tank for one race, the heat, there just wasn’t enough for two races in one day and she was very disappointed not to win a medal but she certainly gave it every effort.

We had two young sprinters in action in the 60m. Criostoir Ormsby impressed in his heat of the boys 60m u/12 where he finished second to earn a place in the final and though he ran quicker in the final he finished out of the medal places but has to take great satisfaction from making his first individual All-Ireland final. Callum Costello couldn’t quite match the performance that saw him take silver in Leinster and didn’t advance from his heat of the boys 60m u/13, but still put in a strong showing against top quality opposition. In the field events, Shauna Leydon contested the girls u/17 long jump but struggled a bit with her mark and finished out of the medal places.

All-Ireland Juvenile Indoors continues

This coming Sunday, the AAI Juvenile Indoors continue in Athlone IT and Mullingar athletes will be competing in 200m, 600, 800m, 60m hurdles and shot and we wish all of them the very best of luck. Remember, the clocks go forward an hour on Sunday, so be sure to set your clocks before you go to bed or you might arrive in AIT an hour later then you think and miss your check in time.

Important Information Evening for 8 and 9 year olds

An important information evening will be held in the Clubhouse on Tuesday evening 20th March for the parents/guardians of children aged 8 and 9 years that trained at the Club last year and are current members of the Club. There will be no training for this group on Tuesday. We are asking parents/guardians to attend this meeting as child safety, Club rules, and establishment of a rota will be discussed. In line with child safety guidelines, the Club is only able to accommodate 100 children at the 6:30pm session and children already members and training with the Club will be allocated places first. Therefore it is important that parents/guardians attend the meeting. The remaining places will be offered to new members on Thursday 22nd March at a registration evening from 6:30pm.

Harsh conditions for Mullingar Half Marathon

The fourth edition of the Mullingar Half Marathon on St. Patrick’s Day attracted a huge entry of nearly sixteen hundred, of which nearly twelve hundred took to the start line and competed, a big increase on last year, so it is an event that continues to go from strength to strength. The event was a fundraiser for TEAM (Temporary Emergency Accommodation Mullingar), a very deserving local cause. To say conditions were harsh is an understatement with temperatures barely above freezing and a strong wind that added a significant wind chill factor, a headwind for the first half and tailwind on the second half, so far from ideal for the runners facing into the 13.1 mile race. Despite the weather, it was great to watch the huge mass of runners fill the streets as they made their way from the start, cheered on by a good gathering of hardy supporters. Among the throng were forty from the Club, though with such a large entry it is easy to miss someone out of the results. Even though it was a charity event, and for most the event was simply a chance to run the distance in company, for some a race is still a race and they ran hard from the start looking to record a good time on a fast mostly flat course.

Race winner was Johnny Daly (Longford Road) in 1:12:21 and first woman was Maria McCambridge (Dundrum South Dublin AC) in a very strong 1:18:59. First finisher for Mullingar Harriers was Andrew Nevin in 8th place (1:15:10), followed by Tom McGrath 14th overall and first in his master category (1:18:16), Eddie Newman 17th overall and second in his master category (1:19:03), Aidan Daly (1:19:47), Enda O’Carolan (1:21:09), Aine O’Reilly an excellent 42nd overall and finishing third woman (1:23:41), Eoin Clarke (1:23:59), Alan Crowley (1:24:15), James Keegan (1:24:20), Eoghan Bracken (1:26:40), Nollaig McEntegart first in his master category (1:26:44), Liam Woods (1:26:59), Enda Seery (1:30:57), Paul Ginnell (1:31:40), Sean Liston (1:31:54), Brian Collentine (1:32:41), Michael O’Sullivan third in his master category (1:37:50), Michelle O’Halloran (1:38:06), Gillian Walsh (1:39:31) expertly paced by husband Mal McDonnell, Aidan Rafferty (1:40:23), Ray Daly (1:41:13), Jane Creevy (1:42:03), Eva McMorrow (1:42:13), Criona Reid (1:43:32), Declan Costello (1:43:34), Colm Walsh (1:43:52), Andy Quinn (1:45:24), Mark Bate (1:45:45), Terri Greene (1:45:54), Brian Boyle (1:46:16), Joanna Tyrrell (1:50:18), Emer O’Hanlon (1:51:34), Richard Ferris (1:53:01), Tommy Archbold (1:53:10), Ruth Greene (1:53:57), Olivia Cooney (1:55:14), Ronan Bracken (1:55:28), Michelle Kavanagh (2:07:08) and PJ Ballesty.

Hyundai “Pat Finnerty Memorial” 5k

In a change to previous years, this year there will be no road league in May but instead there will be a single race on a new fast slightly downhill straight course based out of Clonkill GAA. The first man and first woman will receive the Pat Finnerty Memorial Trophies at the presentation ceremony after the race in the Clonkill GAA Clubhouse, where of course there will be lots of refreshments for the thirsty and hungry runners. The race is on Wednesday 2nd May, which is only six weeks away. Entries are now open at www.myrunresults.com for €12 online or €15 on the night. We’ll also have a 1,500m race for boys and girls aged 15 and younger.

Meath Spring Half Marathon and 10k

We missed reporting on it last week, but the Meath Spring Half Marathon and 10k on Sunday 11th March was a sell out and the host club Bohermeen AC was delighted with the success of the fixture. Good organisation, a relatively flat course with the potential to run a fast time and perfect calm conditions attracted over 1,300 competitors to the two events.

The day started off with the 10k and among the 410 finishers was Miriam Walsh (48:53), Caroline Boyle (50:40) and Linda Cunningham (56:36) running well and thoroughly enjoying the race. The main event, the Half Marathon had a very big entry of 915 and finishing well up in 21st place was Kevin Baker in an excellent 1:15:08. Also running extremely well was Patrick Muldoon (1:21:36), followed closely by Gerard Gavin (1:23:37) and the Mullingar group was completed by John Bannon (1:47:13). As with all Meath events the hospitality was of the highest order with lots of refreshments offered to the runners after the races.

Sean McMullin at European Masters Indoors

Everyone at the Club wishes the very best to Sean McMullin this week when he competes at the European Masters Indoors in Madrid. Sean will have a busy week of competition, starting with the 3,000m track walk on Wednesday afternoon and even though it is an indoor competition there is also a race walk on the road and even a cross country, so Sean will compete in the 5k road walk on Friday morning and the 5k cross country on Saturday morning, which is a tough schedule. We’ll report on how Sean gets on in next week’s notes.

Finally, the Executive and members of the Club extend sincere sympathy to Margaret Daly and the Daly and Macken families on the death of her father, John Macken RIP.

For the latest results, news and details of all upcoming fixtures check the Club’s website www.mullingarharriers.com. You can also follow what is happening at the Club on our Facebook page.

PRO