Week ending Saturday 21st September

National Half Marathon Honours for Mullingar

The 2024 edition of the Charleville International Half Marathon last Sunday morning, incorporated the National Half Marathon Championships. Run in warm and humid conditions, nearly 1,600 runners completed the distance. Hosted by North Cork AC, the race commenced in the centre of Charleville and road closures provided a safe and well marshalled course for everyone. The route comprised of an out and back circuit to and from Kilmallock, just over the county boundary in Co. Limerick, and was described by participants as flat and straight.

Mullingar Harriers had five competing. Kevin Moore was first home in 1:09:45, Andrew Nevin posted a new personal best of 1:10:44 and Ian McCormack also posted a new personal best of 1:14:11. Eddie Newman finished in a very quick 1:19:03 to win the gold medal in his master category, while Maura Dervin was delighted to secure the bronze medal in her master category with 1:36:08. The senior men team of Kevin, Andrew and Ian were third Club and won the bronze team medals, which is Kevin’s first National medal competing for Mullingar Harriers. Congratulations to them all on their National medal winning successes [MO’S].

British Masters Pentathlon Championships

The British Masters Pentathlon Championships took place last Saturday at the Birmingham University Track. Excellent weather conditions were the order of the day, with bright sunshine and a pleasant cool breeze at times to help keep temperatures for the participants at a pleasant 18degC. Given it was an open competition, the event attracted athletes from Europe and Africa, and along with them was our own Aidan O’Donoghue pitting his skills against the best master athletes in his category. Aidan was right in the mix after winning the javelin with a throw of 35.26m. He was very happy with 29:07 seconds for 200m, was a bit disappointed with his long jump but got very close to his personal best in the discus. The competition came right down to the last event, the 1,500m. With Oloff Van Zyl of South Africa achieving a very fast 4:47:05, this was crucial in securing the gold medal for him, with Aidan narrowly missing a podium position back in fifth place overall [AO’D].

Cross country season begins this week

This Sunday, we head to Co. Meath for the Star of the Sea AC cross country meeting, a fixture that has been the Club’s opening cross country fixture for many years. There is a big programme of races, including juvenile races for boys and girls from under 9 years up to under 17 years, plus under 20, senior and master men and women. The race distances for juveniles are shorter than in Leinster cross country, so it’s an ideal fixture for newcomers, especially all those who have been training at the Club recently. There are prizes for the top 6 in the juvenile races, and team medals for teams of three. With the big number of juveniles at training lately we expect to be able to field a lot of teams. All entries this year are online at My Run Results, so don’t delay submitting your entry.

The first race is at 11am, so an early start is a must and aim to be at the course by 10am to collect your race number and have time for a proper warm up. It will be the first cross country race for several of our newcomers, so all are reminded to bring a packed lunch and a change of clothing, depending on the weather conditions, and parents are advised to bring appropriate clothing and footwear. Also, please wear your Club colours. Club vests can be purchased at training.

Help needed for Westmeath Schools Cross Country

Following on the heels of the Star of the Sea cross country is the Westmeath Schools Cross Country in Belvedere next Wednesday. The programme commences at 11am for the secondary schools, followed at 12 noon for the primary schools. This is an excellent introduction to running and as in previous years we expect very large numbers, especially in the primary schools races, so we’re appealing to Club members and friends that can spare a few hours from 10am to please help out. We ask that all who can volunteer to inform any member of the club executive this week. It will get very busy near start time, so we’re advising everyone attending to come early. Once it starts, things move along very quickly and we’ll be finished by 2pm.

Fit 4 Life resumes next Monday

The club’s Fit 4 Life programme returns next Monday evening. Aimed at beginners and improvers who have not had the opportunity to engage in regular exercise in the last while, this is now a 12-week programme run by trained and experienced coaches. Starting on Monday next, 23 September, the programme will run each Monday evening on our all-weather track from 7pm. Registration on Monday evening is from 6:45pm. Participants will be guided and supported each Monday evening to assist them in building up confidence and fitness levels in a safe and friendly environment.

Road Safety

With the evenings now starting to draw in, all Club members are reminded that they must wear reflective clothing when running on the road at night. That includes all who use our Club grounds and who run from the Clubhouse on training nights. Safety is a must at all times.

Sympathy

Finally, the Executive and members of Mullingar Harriers wish to extend sincere sympathy to Marie Louise Johnston and her family on the death of her mother, Celine, grandmother of Eloise, Hugo and Luca. May she rest in peace.

Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.

PRO