Pat Finnerty Memorial 5k League 2024 – Round 3 (22nd May)
Susan Finnerty presents the Perpetual Trophies to James Keegan & Sinead Whitelaw
James and Sinead are local winners of Pat Finnerty Memorial 5k Series
At the conclusion of the final round of the Pat Finnerty Memorial 5k series on Wednesday evening 22nd May, Mullingar Harriers James Keegan and Sinead Whitelaw emerged victorious in the men and women races and were very worthy recipients of the Pat Finnerty Memorial Trophies.
In contrast to the early rounds, it was cool and wet for the final night, which made it tough for spectators and officials but it better suited the runners. With more entries taken on the night, overall numbers were up again on previous weeks. Well over 200 registered to run over the three evenings, so the event continues to grow. Over the three nights we saw that entries were nearly evenly split between men and women, about two thirds came from Westmeath but a third came from neighbouring and nearby Counties including Longford, Cavan, Offaly, Meath, Kildare, Laois and Roscommon, and from further afield, adding an International flavour, were two visitors from France taking part. It’s great to see such interest far and wide in the event.
Just running the final night and therefore not eligible for the overall prize, Diarmuid Fagan raced to victory in 15 minutes 43 seconds, an impressive time on the tough Belvedere course. Following him in was James Keegan (16:10) in second and Timmy Murphy (16:36) in third. With the best two of three times to score in the league, Sinead Whitelaw could rest for the final night confident that she couldn’t be caught in the league, so we had a new first woman for the final night, Aine O’Reilly in 19 minutes 41 seconds, which guaranteed her a senior prize, followed by Jenny Algar (19:49) in second and Susan Glennon (19:53) on her heels in third. All through the field there were great battles for category prizes, so everyone raced hard for every place right to the finish. Full results of the race and final results in the league are available on www.myrunresults.com. After the race, everyone gathered in the Courtyard Café in Belvedere for some very welcome refreshments and lovely fresh food and the all-important prize giving.
The top three men in the league were James Keegan (Mullingar Harriers AC), Dan Morriss and John Whitelaw (Mullingar Harriers AC) and the top three women were Sinead Whitelaw (Mullingar Harriers AC), Emily Grennan (Tullamore Harriers AC) and Aine O’Reilly (Mullingar Harriers AC). The perpetual trophy for first man and for first woman were presented by Susan Finnerty to James Keegan and Sinead Whitelaw. This year the proceeds from the league will go to Tanzanian Heavenly Homes, a local non-profit charity organisation founded by John McCauley and before the presentations, John was invited to outline the origins of the charity and how the funds raised will be used to improve conditions for local people in Tanzania. As a thank you, John presented a beautiful photograph of the very large group from Mullingar Harriers AC that had participated in the Mullingar Half Marathon back in March, and the photograph will be displayed in a prominent place in the Clubhouse.
Sincere thanks to everyone who gave up their free time and helped out with car parking, registrations, course building, stewarding, start officials, finish line officials, Richard Ferris and Siobhan Farry who shared leading the race on a bike over the series to make sure no one went astray, Declan Costello for his photographs, most importantly to everyone who took part in the series, and finally, a big thank you to Westmeath Civil Defence for providing first aid and ambulance cover, to the Staff of Belvedere House and Gardens, to Susan Finnerty for presenting the trophies, and finally to the Courtyard Café in Belvedere for hosting the prize giving.
The category prize winners were:
Senior Women – 1. Sinead Whitelaw, 2. Emily Grennan (Tullamore Harriers AC), 3. Aine O’Reilly; Senior Men – 1. James Keegan, 2. Dan Morriss, 3. John Whitelaw; Junior Men – 1. Luke Greene; women o/40 – 1. Charlotte Kearney (Donadea AC), 2. Aeilish McGovern, 3. Aisling Corcoran; men o/40 – 1. Alan Crowley, 2. Eoin Clarke, 3. Enda O’Carolan; women o/50 – 1. Mary Stuart, 2. Criona Reid, 3. Caroline Mullen; men o/50 – 1. Gerard Gavin, Damien Hillard (Bohermeen AC), 3. Mick Fagan; women o/60 – 1. Vera McCool, 2. Pauline Troy, Irene Lynam (Na Fianna AC); men o/60 – 1. Mel Leahy (North Westmeath AC), 2. Jack O’Connell (Tullamore Harriers AC), 3. Brian O’Reilly (Laragh AC); women o/70 – 1. Breda McDonnell; men o/70 – 1. Michael Smith (Laragh AC), 2. John Waldron, 3. Sean Kelly.
