“Virtual” Mullingar Half Marathon 2020 (19th Sept)

Mullingar Harriers dominates the Virtual Mullingar Half Marathon

After being postponed just days before it was due to be held on its traditional date of St. Patrick’s Day, the Mullingar Half Marathon eventually became a “virtual” event due to the Covid-19 social restrictions, so runners could run the 21.1km distance any day between Sunday 13th and Sunday 20th September, time themselves with a GPS device and submit proof of their times online. A group of Mullingar Harriers AC athletes ran the half marathon distance on Saturday morning 19th September to coincide with the virtual event, covering much of the original race course.

Leading the Harriers home were James Keegan in 1:19:19, Eddie Newman with 1:19:39 and Gerard Gavin who ran 1:21:21. Those times were also the three fastest times entered in the overall virtual event giving the club full occupancy of the podium. Shortly behind the leading men was Áine O’Reilly in 1:28:04, the fastest time for a lady and so she leads the female standings.

In the group of twenty six Harriers who ran the virtual event, a total of seven ran personal bests for the half marathon distance. Alan Crowley just missed a top three finish with 1:22:27, while Amy Mahony also had a very strong run finishing in 1:36:43. Other Harriers recording personal bests were Emer O’Hanlon (1:41:21), Mary Stuart (1:41:35), Máirtín Savage (1:41:39), Siobhan Farry (1:42:45) and Caroline Mullen (1:52:08).

During the week a number of Harriers ran the 21.1km distance on their own, bringing the total number of Harriers completing the virtual event to thirty two. Among those solo runs was Jenny Algar who ran 1:33:40 and Enda Seery who also recorded a personal best time of 1:29:20. Jenny’s effort was the second quickest recorded by a female runner and with Amy Mahony’s run being the third fastest the Harriers ladies also dominated the virtual podium.

While the road race calendar remains empty, the dedication of the Harriers towards their training is commendable. With so few targets to aim for the work rate of the club’s athletes is still paying off with personal improvements and great achievements.