Q1, 2023 News & Reports – January to March

MARCH

World Masters Indoors

Part of a very big squad of over 140 master athletes from Ireland, one of the biggest National squads to take part, Sean McMullin and Aidan O’Donoghue competed at the World Masters Indoors in Torun, Poland. Sean is no stranger to competing at this level but for Aidan it was his first time competing at World level.

Sean got his campaign underway with the 3,000m Race Walk on the track on Monday 27th March. The experienced athlete that he is and knowing his opposition well, Sean went out with determination from the start and set the early pace. The race quickly came down to a straight battle between Sean and an Italian athlete. At the halfway point though Sean had to surrender the lead but dug deep to hold his pace and form to finish in second place and was delighted to win a World silver medal. Sean could relax and recover for the 10k Road Walk on Friday 31st March, which was a combined race of two age groups, so forty six men toed the line. Race walking is a very difficult discipline and competitors have to be extremely careful every step of the way and are under the ever-watchful eyes of the judges. As a measure, nine men were disqualified but Sean drove on and though incurring a single warning, he was delighted to finish in second place with a season best time and added to his medal haul with another silver medal to round off a great Championships.

Aidan competed on Sunday 26th March in the Javelin where he threw very close to his personal best and was very satisfied to finish a very creditable twelfth place in his first World Masters event. Aidan returned to action on Monday 27th March for the High Jump, again competing near his best to finish twelfth in the World. The Javelin and High Jump though were only warm-up events for Aidan’s primary focus of the Championships, the Pentathlon on Wednesday 29th March. The standard at this level is huge but Aidan settled nicely into the competition from the start and was performing right up to his expectations but unfortunately he picked up an injury and faded a bit over the last two events to finish down the field but still not far off his personal best points for the event, so has to be very satisfied with his performance against the best in the World.

Very well done to Sean and Aidan for flying the flag for Mullingar Harriers on the World stage.

Dunboyne 10k

More than 850 registered in advance for the Dunboyne 10k on Sunday morning 27th March, with 700 finishers on the day from walkers and joggers along with a good depth of Club athletes at the front of both the men and women races, including a good number from Mullingar. On a beautiful mild spring day with only a light breeze, conditions were great for running. Every contestant received loud cheers as they passed through the village at the start and again on the Dunboyne AC track at the finish. The route, with a new finish area at the track proved very popular and its fast potential shone through with the first ten athletes crossing the line in less than 32 minutes, including Jack Moran who led the Mullingar group home in fifth place in a very fast 31 minutes 40 seconds. Following Jack in was Kieran Nolan (37:28), Patrick Muldoon (38:52), Michelle Bohan (40:50), Robin Jackson (42:55), Emer O’Hanlon (44:17) second in her master category, Linda Cunningham (46:14) and Nuala Moran (50:26).

SIAB Schools International Cross Country

Every athlete dreams of running for Ireland and on Saturday 25th March that dream came true for Tianna O’Leary when she made her International debut at the SIAB Schools International Cross Country in Liverpool as a member of the Irish Junior team, and she made it an even more memorable day by winning team silver, which was a great reward for all her hard work and dedication in training. Held in a cool and windy Sefton Park, the best Irish schools athletes were up against the best from England, Scotland and Wales running on a lovely undulating open parkland course with good underfoot conditions.

Tianna settled in to her running very quickly in the pack in the Junior girls 3,000m race. Continuing to work hard throughout, and with a great final effort she pushed all the way up the home straight to cross the finish line still full of running, an excellent fifth score for Ireland and playing her part in team success as the Irish team finished in second place, to win the silver team medals, a great result for Tianna on her International debut.

Now that Tianna has made her International debut for Ireland, her name will be added to the International Roll of Honour in the Clubhouse, the one hundred and twenty third name on the marble wall plaque.

Mullingar Half Marathon

Well established now as a firm favourite on the road race calendar, the Mullingar Half Marathon took place 0n a wet St. Patrick’s Day when over 1,200 took part, though actually over 1,400 had entered the race, so it was a very successful fundraiser for TEAM (Temporary Emergency Accommodation Mullingar), a very good and deserving local cause. This is an excellent race at the right time of year to try record a good time on a mostly flat fast course. The rain resulted in lots of standing water and puddles to be negotiated, especially along parts of the Royal Canal paths, but it was also quite mild and just a little windy in places, so conditions were quite good for long distance running.

Needless to say Mullingar Harriers was very well represented with forty two taking part, delighted to be able to put all the hard work over months in training into action. The race has a great reputation and continues to grow and attract huge interest from far and wide. It was a great spectacle to see so many runners fill the main street of Mullingar and it took some time for everyone to clear the town and head out into the countryside before returning again to finish in the town park. While the race is a charity event, giving the majority simply a chance to run the distance in company, the more competitive runners ran hard from the start. Mullingar Harriers did very well, with Vinny Connolly coming in a close second, we had two master category winners in Eddie Newman and Mary Stuart, a host of PBs, and 23 finished under 1 hour 40 minutes.

Vinny Connolly’s time was 1 hour 11 minutes 5 seconds, only twenty seconds behind the winner and ten seconds ahead of third place, so it was a terrific race up at the front from start to finish. Following strongly behind came James Keegan in a fine sixth place (1:13:16), then Kedagh Geoghegan (1:18:09), Johnny Morrissey (1:18:25), Kris Foster (1:18:26), Eddie Newman (1:19:20) first in his master category, Eoin Clarke (1:19:25), Andy Boyhan (1:19:52), Tony Doran (1:19:57), Enda O’Carolan (1:21:30), James Cribbin (1:24:21) and Kieran Nolan (1:24:53). Our first woman finisher was Aine O’Reilly in 1:28:36, placing just outside the top one hundred, followed by Jacintha Reilly (1:29:10), Murty Hanly (1:30:44), James Lally (1:30:46), Susan Glennon (1:32:31), Dara O’Shea (1:33:09), James Carton (1:33:11), Mary Stuart (1:33:53) first in her master category, Aisling Corcoran (1:34:31), Colm Walsh (1:39:53), Aeilish McGovern (1:40:08), Gemma Kelly (1:41:22), Joan Hickson (1:41:29), Mairtin Savage (1:42:07), Laura Geoghegan (1:42:48), Claire Ross (1:45:40), Criona Reid (1:45:55), Orla McLaughlin (1:46:44), Niamh Spellman (1:47:11), Richie Kelly (1:47:02), John Bannon (1:47:35), Caroline Mullen (1:47:55), Marie Louise Johnston (1:49:00), Frank Lynam (1:50:12), Jane Creevy (1:53:04), Emer Savage (1:55:09), John Callaghan (1:56:14), Andy Quinn (1:58:30), Kevin O’Brien (2:05:14) and Ray Smyth (2:07:20). There was a number of others from Mullingar Harriers playing a vital role as pacemakers, too many to name individually, but feedback on their excellent pacing was very positive, so very well done to them on a job well done.

There was also a 5k race, the Fleadh 5k, with the proceeds going towards the cost of hosting the Fleadh again in Mullingar this summer. The half marathon started first, followed by the 5k a few minutes after and it finished in the town park where everyone could wait to welcome the half marathon runners back, which really helped to fill the gap of over an hour while the half marathon runners went out into the countryside before returning to finish in the park.

The 5k had 224 finishers, including a good number from Mullingar Harriers, led home by Michelle Bohan in fourth place, the first woman to finish, in 19 minutes 58 seconds, followed by Lily Walsh in eighth (21:26), Alex Sheridan in tenth (21:48), Marco Bertolo (23:23), Penny Bohan (23:50), Katie Bohan (24:49), Barry Walsh (25:27), Ronan Kelly (25:53), Declan Costello, Vera McCool, Paul McCool, Emer O’Hanlon and Geraldine Walsh.

Leinster Juvenile Indoor Relays

The Leinster indoors concluded on Sunday 12th March when the Leinster Juvenile Indoor Relays were held in the National Indoor Arena in Dublin. Mullingar had entered four teams and for most of them it was their first time to compete indoors at a Leinster Championship but they didn’t show any signs of nerves or anxiety and each and every one of them competed with great determination and thoroughly enjoyed the event.

The uneven ages were held in the morning and Isla Brennan, Ruby Brennan, Aoibhe Martyn and Lily Walsh ran in the heats of the u/13 girls 4x200m. With three heats, only the winner of each and the next three fastest times would qualify for the final, so the competition was fierce. The Mullingar girls ran their hearts out and despite a great final lap by Lily Walsh closing the leaders down very fast, the girls finished third and missed a place in the final by just one place and a very narrow margin on time.

In the afternoon, the even age relays were held. We had two teams in the u/12 girls 4x200m, where there were five heats and only the six fastest times would advance to  the final. The team of Aoife Gouldsbury, Maria Gouldsbury, Amelie Kelly and Clodagh Keane ran a brilliant race and finished a terrific second place, but unfortunately it wasn’t fast enough to qualify for the final. Our second team of Liadan Gavin, Lily McDonald, Alice Hyland and Ellen Gallagher also ran really well but despite a great team effort, they too didn’t qualify for the final. These are young teams and the experience will stand to them for the future.

Conor Gavin, Cillian Gavin, Aaron Robinson and David Canning ran in the heats of the u/12 boys 4x200m where only the winner of each of the three heats would be guaranteed a place in the final, along with the next three fastest times. The Mullingar boys left nothing on the track and though they finished out of the qualifying places, like our girls teams, they can be very proud of their efforts in their first Leinster Indoor Relays.

Bohermeen Half Marathon

Bohermeen AC hosted yet another fantastic and probably the fastest half marathon this year on Sunday morning 12th March. With over 1,300 finishers, the event continues to be very well supported by clubs from all over the country. It’s not the flattest course but it produces fast times, due in no small part to the high quality of runners who push each other along. There are no quiet spots where a runner may be left on their own and there is always someone to tag along and race with. Just three weeks after setting a new personal best of 1:11:29 in the Barcelona Half Marathon, Andrew Nevin was back in action and finished tenth place in an excellent 1 hour 11 minutes 46 seconds, followed in by Alan Crowley (1:20:52), Enda Seery (1:29:10) and Declan Claffey (1:37:04) all running extremely well and rightfully pleased with their races. Well done to the Mullingar athletes and to Bohermeen AC for hosting another great race.

Tullamore 5k

The Tullamore 5k on Sunday morning 12th March started outside the Tullamore Harriers Stadium and the course was on closed roads before ending on the track in the Stadium. Being part of the Peugeot Race Series and the Offaly 5k Race Series, it attracted big interest and over 360 toed the line for the event. Leading the Mullingar group home in an excellent 16 minutes 22 seconds was Ross Killalea in 11th place overall, the 3rd junior man. Running strongly behind and finishing fast was Kris Foster (16:39), Mary Stuart (20:56), Emer O’Hanlon (21:38), Brigid McCabe (22:59), Nuala Moran (24:28) and Nicky McCabe (25:30).

Nicky was second in his master category and with Mary and Brigid winning their master categories and Emer O’Hanlon finishing third in hers, it was little surprise that the Mullingar master women team leads the Offaly Race Series after race one and are eagerly looking forward to the next race in the series.

Leinster Junior, Senior and Masters Indoors

The Leinster Junior, Senior and Masters Indoors took place on Saturday 11th March at the National Indoor Arena in Dublin and our master athletes absolutely stole the show for Mullingar.

First into action was Pauline Troy who competed in the Master 1,500m. Battling hard over seven laps, Pauline was rewarded for her efforts with first place in her category and she was delighted to receive the Leinster gold medal. Next up was the race walks, where Colm Walsh looked strong in the Master 3,000m walk to win his category with ease in a fine time only three seconds off the Championship record. Sean McMullin used the Master 3,000m walk as part of his final preparations for the European Masters Indoors in Poland later in the month, winning his category comfortably as expected, to win another Championship gold medal.

Among the masters, Kyle Faherty was our only junior athlete and he was using the event as race preparation for the All-Ireland Juvenile Indoors in early April. Finishing third in his heat of the Junior 200m saw him qualify for the final. Running in the tight inside lane in the final was always going to be difficult but Kyle gave his very best and though he finished out of the medals, this was his first Leinster junior final and he will have learned so much from the experience of competing at this level.

Aidan O’Donoghue had a very busy day. He had entered the Masters High Jump, Shot Putt, 60m Hurdles and Pentathlon. In the pentathlon, performance in 60m hurdles, long jump, shot putt, high jump and 1,000m run equate to points and the athlete with the highest points total at the end of the five events is the winner. However, on the day it was agreed that he could double up the individual events with the pentathlon, so he wouldn’t have to compete twice, with his performance in the pentathlon events counting in the individual events too. Aidan’s campaign got underway with the 60m hurdles, which he won comfortably to take the early lead on points. Fourth in the long jump saw his lead reduced, but he was still leading overall. Strong wins in the shot putt and high jump saw Aidan going into the final event, the 1,000m run, with a big lead and though he finished fourth in the run, he had more than enough of a buffer to place first overall by a good margin and win the pentathlon gold in a new personal best of 2,464 points. His performances in the hurdles and high jump won him gold and in the shot putt won him silver, so he ended the day with three Leinster titles and a second place.

Tom Walsh competed in the Master Weight for Distance, where he made throwing the heavy 28 pound weight look easy, improving with each of the four rounds to win by a big margin in a new Championship Record of 7.71m. This was an excellent record breaking performance by one of our finest master athletes. Our final athlete in action was Linda Cunningham who blasted around the tight two laps of the Master 400m to finish second and was delighted to win the silver medal and end an excellent medal-filled day for Mullingar.

All-Ireland Schools XC Finals

At a rain soaked SETU Sports Arena in Waterford on Saturday 11th March, the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Finals took place. A number of Mullingar Harriers were representing their schools and colleges competing strongly over a difficult, hilly and at times treacherous course to bring home both individual and team medals.

First up were Tianna O’Leary and Eleanor Kiernan (Ursuline Convent Thurles) in the Junior Girls 2,500m. Tianna stayed in the top ten during the first half of the race with Eleanor never far behind. During the second half of the race, both girls ran very strongly to finish 5th and 16th respectively, helping their school team to 3rd place. More importantly, Tianna’s fifth place finish earned her a place on the Irish Junior Schools team that will compete in the SIAB Schools International Cross Country against teams from England, Scotland and Wales in Liverpool later in March. This is a fantastic and very well earned achievement for Tianna, her school, her family and the Club, and we wish her well.

Next up was the Intermediate girls 3,500m where Mullingar Harriers had two representatives with Caoimhe Kilmurray and Grace Byrne competing for Loreto Mullingar. Caoimhe battled all the way to the line and finished well placed in 13th. Grace worked hard over the difficult ground to finish strong in a competitive race.

The Colaiste Mhuire Intermediate boys team was next up over 5,000m of hills and muck. While the rain had stopped at this stage, the ground conditions were still  very poor. Jamie Wallace was first home in 5th place  followed by Conor Sherwin, Pablo Lozano, Luke Greene, Niall Brady, Conor Liston, Daniel Hickey and Jorge Martin, all packing well to give the boys 3rd place in the team competition.

Aimee Wallace was representing St. Finian’s College in the Senior girls 3,500m race and was in contention from the start. The testing  course and  poor ground  took its toll though and it turned out not to be Aimee’s day.

The final race of the day was the Senior boys 6,000m. Colaiste Mhuire was represented by Diarmuid Fagan and Ross Killea. This was a fiercely competitive race and went out hard and fast. The two boys were side by side for the first three laps and working well with each other. During the final lap both pushed on well resulting in Diarmuid finishing 9th and Ross 19th, fantastic performances against top class opposition.

Congratulations to all who competed and to Tianna on her international selection. This concludes the cross country season and the school’s track and field season is now just around the corner.

Winter League – Round 4

The fourth and final night of our Winter League on Wednesday evening 8th March on the track turned out to be a very enjoyable and competitive race. Thirty nine athletes took to the start line for the 3,000m. The first six men finishers were Vinny Connolly (9:26), James Keegan (9:35), Kedagh Geoghegan (9:52), Andy Boyhan (10:00), Eoin Clarke (10:12) and Enda O’Carolan (10:39). The women’s race saw Sinead Whitelaw lead home (11:18), followed by Áine O’Reilly (11:18). In a great battle, a mere two seconds separated the next 3 athletes, Jenny Algar (11:32), Michelle Bohan (11:33) and Jacintha Reilly (11:34). Aisling Corcoran was sixth woman finisher, in 11:51.

The competition for team placings was only starting and after all athletes completed the race it took careful calculations to separate the mixed teams for the team placings. Team 1 and Team 8 emerged joint winners with 41.5 points each. Indeed Team 1 had moved from fifth position after the penultimate night to share victory, showing the importance of team racing in these events. Second place went to Team 9 (44 points), Team 4 was third (44.5 points), Team 6 finished fourth (46 points) and Team 3 got the nod for fifth (50 points). We had a tie for sixth between Team 7 and Team 10 (51 points each). Team 2 finished on 53.5 points and Team 5 on 55 points.

Overall the league was a very welcome addition to our winter training and valuable experience of track running has been gained as well as a focus on pace and timing over the different distances covered.

Leinster Juvenile Indoors

We’re well accustomed to Mullingar taking all the honours in Leinster race walking, and at the Leinster Juvenile Indoors in Athlone on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th March was no exception. Early on Saturday morning, Daniel Glennon and Ronan Kelly contested the u/15 boys 1,000m race walk, where Daniel recorded a clear victory by nearly a minute, with Ronan delighted to finish in fourth place and secure a place in the All-Ireland finals. John Glennon made it look easy in the u/17 boys 1,500m race walk, winning easily. He was only 0.24 seconds off the Championship record, so it was a shame he had no one to push him or he would surely have broken the record. Aisling Lane cruised to an easy victory by a big distance in the u/19 girls 1,500m and Andrew Glennon did likewise in the u/19 boys 1,500m race walk, giving Mullingar gold medals in each race that they contested. Any wonder our race walking squad are both feared and respected, all brilliantly guided under the expert eye of Michael Lane.

Rather than facing heats and a final, the u/17 boys 400m was run as time trials, with the medals awarded to the fastest times over the three races. Kyle Faherty competed in his first 400m race and attacked the first 200m, leading well at the bell and drove on hard to win in 54.20 seconds, which was good enough to win the bronze medal, which was a great result for his debut over the distance.

We only had two girls competing in the 1,500m, where Ailbhe O’Farrell (u/17) battled hard in a very competitive race but finished out of the medals and Caoimhe Donohue (u/18 girls) was rewarded with a close fifth place in a very fast race.

There were so many entered in the u/12 girls 60m, it took seven heats to run them all off. Liadan Gavin ran well but didn’t advance from her heat. Chloe Bell and Clodagh Keane had better success, both qualifying from their heats and even though both ran faster in the semi-finals, they were unlucky not to qualify for the final, especially Chloe who came so close with a third place finish and only narrowly missed a place in the final. Donncha Doyle and Rian Gavin battled well in their heats of the u/12 boys 60m but didn’t advance to the semi-finals.

Isla Brennan qualified from her heat of the u/13 girls 60m and running just as quick in the semi-final, was very unlucky not to reach the final but top marks for effort. Antonio Bertolo was drawn in the fastest heat of the u/13 boys 60m and was unlucky to miss a spot in the final by just one place. Like the u/12 girls, the entry for the u/14 girls 60m was very big and required 7 heats. Hui Fen Bartley and Tara Lynch ran well but didn’t advance to the semi-finals. Aobh Smith fared better with a fine third place finish in her heat to advance to the semi-finals, where despite running a great race she didn’t qualify for the final, but can be very proud of reaching the semi-finals.

Evan Nohilly (u/14 boys 60m) and Aaron Conroy (u/15 boys 60m) ran well but didn’t advance to their finals. Making his sprint debut for Mullingar, Finn Roddy finished second in his heat of the u/16 boys 60m to qualify automatically for the final. Absolutely blasting from the blocks in the final, he powered his way to an excellent fourth place, narrowly missing a medal. Finn ran much faster in the final than in his heat, the real mark of a Championship runner and is someone we can watch for in the future. Quyen Bartley contested the u/17 girls 60m where there were four heats and despite a terrific effort in her heat where she placed fourth, narrowly missing a place in the final. We ended the sprints with the u/17 boys 60m where Barry Walsh put in a great effort in his heat didn’t advance to the final.

Over in the field events, Antonio Bertolo jumped further and further in each round of the u/13 boys long jump to place a very creditable seventh place overall. Donncha Doyle placed a very creditable sixth place in the u/12 boys high jump and can take satisfaction from his efforts. In the morning, Evan Nohilly competed in the u/14 boys high jump but didn’t feature in the medals. He returned for the u/14 boys shot putt in the afternoon where he finished ninth, just missing a place in the final eight, which was a fine result for Evan. Also competing in the field events but finishing out of the medals was Hui Fen Bartley (u/14 girls shot putt) and Aaron Conroy (u/15 boys long jump).

SUNDAY

Returning to the track early on Sunday morning, Finn Roddy placed second in his heat of the u/16 boys 200m and in the later final put in a terrific effort but had to settle for a place out of the medals. Two Leinster finals over the week-end will give Finn great confidence for future competition. There were five heats of the u/17 girls 200m with only the six fastest advancing to the final. Quyen Bartley finished strongly in her heat but didn’t qualify for the final. Kyle Faherty won his heat of the u/17 boys 200m, while Barry Walsh ran strongly in the heat but didn’t advance. In a thrilling final Kyle led into the finish straight and was only passed in the closing stages to finish second by a narrow margin and earn his second Leinster medal of the week-end.

Ellen Gallagher, Michelle Wallace, Liadan Gavin, Aoife Gouldsbury, Amelie Kelly and Chloe Bell contested the u/12 girls 600m heats, but only Chloe advanced to the final, winning her heat well. She battled hard in the final but finished out of the medal places, though top marks for effort. Gareth Glennon, Seamus Clarke, Alex Sochanski and Harry Flanagan ran in the u/12 boys 600m, but only Harry advanced to the final where he put in a great effort but had to settle for a place out of the medals. Mullingar was out in number for the u/13 girls 600m where Isla Brennan, Ruby Brennan, Lucy Kilmurray, Aaliyah Downes, Emily Tully, Lucy Mulvany and Lily Walsh ran well but didn’t advance to the final, though Lily came very close in her heat and only missed a place by a very narrow margin. Antonio Bertolo, Louis Kiernan, Oisin Clarke, Aonghus O’Reilly and Cillian Galvin ran in the u/13 boys 600m but didn’t advance from the very tough heats.

Moving up to 800m, Chloe Duggan and Lisa O’Brien ran well in their heats of the u/14 girls 800 but didn’t advance to the final to join Beibhinn O’Reilly who finished second in her heat to reach the final. Even though Beibhinn ran quicker in the final, it wasn’t enough and she had to settle for a place out of the medals. Scott Cogan won his heat of the u/14 boys 800m and Aaron Wallace was second in his heat to advance to the final, but Greg McDonnell couldn’t make it three from Mullingar in the final though he ran well in his heat. The final was run at a furious pace from the start where Scott tucked in well and bided his time in the pack. With a terrific last lap he chased the early leader hard to pull clear of the pack into second place, pushing hard to the end to cross the line in second to win the silver medal, followed home by Aaron running well but out of the medals on this occasion.

Also competing over 800m but not advancing from tough heats was Blathnaid Peters, Emma Lagan and Sadhbh Carey (u/15 girls), Conor Walsh (u/15 boys) though he came very close, Lydia McDonnell and Siofra O’Reilly (u/16 girls), Conor Mulvany (u/16 boys), Ailbhe O’Farrell (u/17 girls). Running in the final of the u/18 girls 800m, Caoimhe Donohue and Jessica Cunningham were unlucky to finish out of the medals.

Mullingar had a good number entered in the 60m hurdles events. Alex Sochanski contested the final of the u/12 boys 60m hurdles but finished out of the medals. Chloe Duggan came close in her heat of the u/14 girls 60m hurdles, missing a qualification spot by a narrow margin. Aaron Wallace qualified from his heat of the u/14 boys 60m hurdles, but no luck for Scott Cogan and Cormac McGrath who didn’t advance to the final to join Aaron, who ran quicker in the final but finished out of the medals. Also competing strongly over the hurdles and enjoying the competition was Liadan Gavin, Amelie Kelly and Michelle Wallace (u/12 girls), Lucy Kilmurray, Lily Walsh, Aaliyah Downes and Ruby Brennan (u/13 girls), and Quyen Bartley (u/17 girls).

It wasn’t all track action though and in the field events Mullingar athletes were busy, though none were fortunate enough to finish in the medal places. Aoife Gouldsbury jumped really well in the u/12 girls long jump, improving with each round and narrowly missed a place in the final eight by only a few centimetres. Also competing alongside Aoife and enjoying the competition was Michelle Wallace and Maria Gouldsbury. Chloe Duggan jumped very well in the u/14 girls long jump, improving with each round and narrowly missed a place in the final eight by just a few centimetres. Hui Fen competed with Chloe and enjoyed the competition too. Also competing in the field events and enjoying the experience was Harry Flanagan, Rian Gavin and Seamus Clarke (u/12 boys long jump), Aaron Wallace, Greg McDonnell and Scott Cogan (u/14 boys long jump) and Louis Kiernan (u/13 boys shot putt).

Mullingar finished the week-end with four gold medals, two silver, one bronze and two of our athletes finished in fourth place, giving us eight automatically qualifying for the All-Ireland finals.

FEBRUARY

Kinsale 10 Mile

Set in the beautiful surroundings of Kinsale on a great course with a fast final 5 mile net downhill section, the Kinsale 10 Mile on Sunday 26th February attracted a very big entry of nearly 800. Finishing strongly in a very enjoyable and excellently organised run on a lovely scenic course in fine Spring weather, Patrick Muldoon was very happy to finish well up in 67 minutes 5 seconds.

Murray Lambden Open Meeting – Race Walks

The Murray Lambden Open Meeting walking events held in the Isle of Man on Saturday morning 25th February proved to be a golden competitive opportunity for the Mullingar Harriers racewalkers. On a surprisingly good morning for the time of year, the combined 5k, 10k and 20k race walk starts meant plenty of company for all, as everyone faced the challenge of the ticking stopwatch. With each athlete having their own target times to aim for, leading the way was Andrew Glennon who set out to achieve the qualifying standard of 46 minutes 45 seconds set by Athletics Ireland for the European Team Championship Junior 10k. With plenty of early company from fellow junior and senior athletes, Andrew walked a strong and composed pace close to 7 minute 30 second per mile pace to reach the half way mark in 23 minutes 21 seconds, precisely on schedule. Then, over the second 5k, he increased the tempo to do his second 5k in 23 minutes 4 seconds, finishing with a particularly strong last mile and a qualification standard of 46 minutes 25 seconds achieved.

Next home was young Aisling Lane, who as a junior was still taking on both the junior and senior walkers. With plenty of support in the race, she finished in 53 minutes 40 seconds and a comfortable lead of one minute and 45 second over the second placed female finisher. This was a good solid performance on which she can build for the future. While the juniors faced a challenge over 10k, the true test for all developing walkers is in making the jump from 10k to 20k when they move into the senior ranks. This is a challenge which many fear to take, but not young Matthew Glennon. Having completed one 20km at the end of last year while coming to the end of his junior career, he faced his first 20k as a Senior with a focused determination. With astute pacing Matthew walked 5ks of 22:16, 22:17 and 22:17. Then, when the real race pressure came on, he fought bravely to cover the last 5k in 22:40 and a final time of 89 minutes 30 seconds for a comfortable race victory and more importantly half a minute inside the qualifying standard for the European Team Racewalking Championships to be held in May. This was a very happy day for the Glennon family and Andrew and Matthew can assist and encourage each other in anticipation of a probable unique double family Major International representation in the months ahead.

Sean McMullin honoured by Irish Masters Athletic Association (25th Feb)

Congratulations to Sean McMullin on being presented with the Tadhg Lynch Perpetual Trophy by the Irish Masters Athletic Association at its AGM on Saturday 25th February. This award is made annually in recognition of an athlete who has made a major contribution to Masters Athletics over a number of years.

Tadgh Lynch was one of the founding members of the Irish Association back in the 1970s and was well known in the European Masters Athletic Association until his untimely death in 1991. As both a competitor and official his contribution to Athletics and to Master’s Athletics in particular was immense.

Sean is the first current member of Mullingar Harriers to receive the award, though founder member and first Chairman, Sean Cooney, received it in 2016. The award was first presented to Eamonn Coghlan on being the first over 40 year old to run sub-4 minutes for the mile in 1994, so Seam is in very good company indeed!

Athletics Leinster “B” Cross Country

A new event in Leinster, the Athletics Leinster “B” Cross Country Championships took place in a cold but dry and beautifully sunny Stradbally Hall in Co. Laois on Saturday afternoon 25th February. Stradbally Hall is better known as the venue for the Electric Picnic Music Festival in September. Obviously the attendance last Saturday couldn’t match the 70,000 that attended Electric Picnic last September, but there was still a great buzz in the air and the inaugural event was very well received and is sure to grow in the coming years.

Confined to those that didn’t win an individual, club or county team medal in Leinster cross country last autumn meant that most in Mullingar Harriers were ineligible to compete but we still had two girls in action. Maria Gouldsbury went out fast in the u/11 girls 1,000m and remained in contention for much of the race, finishing well up in the big entry and was delighted with her race. Chloe Duggan led out the u/13 girls 1,500m at a very fast pace, which quickly stretched the field and though she had to reduce her pace midway and surrender the lead, she still battled on well and finished strongly and was also pleased with her race.

Munster Schools Cross Country

Competing in the Munster Schools Cross Country on Friday 24th February in Waterford, Tianna O’Leary finished 3rd and Eleanor Kiernan 9th in the Junior Girls 2,500m, securing automatic qualification for themselves and their Ursuline Convent (Thurles) team at the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country at the same Waterford venue in March. There, they’ll meet up with fellow Mullingar Harriers members Caoimhe Kilmurray and Grace Byrne (Loreto Mullingar) in the Intermediate girls, the Colaiste Mhuire Intermediate boys team including Conor Sherwin, Jamie Wallace, Conor Liston, Jorge Martin, Luke Greene and Daniel Hickey, the Colaiste Mhuire Senior boys team including Diarmuid Fagan and Ross Killalea, and Aimee Wallace (St. Finian’s College) in the Senior girls, who all qualified from the Leinster Schools Cross Country in Santry on 8th February, so there’ll be plenty of Mullingar interest to cheer for at the All-Ireland Schools Finals in Waterford.

National Senior Indoors

An action packed National Senior Indoors took place at the National Indoor Arena in Dublin on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th february where on Saturday afternoon, Aimee Wallace nearly came a cropper on the kerb in her 1,500m heat, thankfully surviving unscathed,  but Euan Lagan wasn’t so fortunate and he injured himself when he hit the kerb in his heat of the 3,000m. Such incidents aside, it was a good Championships for the small group from Mullingar that competed.

Continuing his preparations for the Leinster Juvenile Indoor in two weeks, Kyle Faherty lined up on Saturday morning in the fourth of seven heats of the 200m. With only the fastest six times across all the heats advancing to the final, the competition was fierce but Kyle looked very much at home in this company and ran extremely well for someone so young competing at this level and while his competition ended at the heats stage, the experience will stand to him for the season ahead.

Shauna Leydon admitted to feeling slightly off colour before her heat of the 800m and showing that you need to be at one hundred percent at a National Finals, despite being in a good position going into the final lap, she knew it wasn’t her day and unfortunately had to step off the track and was unable to finish. Nothing serious we’re assured and we wish her a speedy recovery.

Despite going out a little bit too hard with the eventual winner in the opening laps of the 3,000m race walk and admitting to suffering a little in the closing stages, Aisling Lane was in a different class and was never under threat for the silver medal, and with an otherwise faultless display in this tough technical event finished comfortably in second place with over a lap to spare to win the National silver medal.

The entry for the 3,000m was so large, that the field was separated into two heats, with the medals decided on the fastest times over the two races. Going in the first heat, Euan Lagan was full of running after one kilometre and deciding that the pace was too slow, he moved to the front and pushed it on. He looked strong and relaxed in the front, but disaster struck with less than three laps to go when he stumbled slightly on the back straight, and with an unfortunate misstep he hit the inner kerb. He recovered his footing quickly and appeared to be alright but less than half a lap later suddenly pulled up, clearly bothered with a sore ankle, sadly ending his race. After the race he remained confident that it was a minor enough injury and stopped only as a precaution, which is a difficult but ultimately very wise decision.

Running her first 1,500m in several years, Aimee Wallace looked comfortable and full of running in her heat. Going into the final bend she looked certain to finish in the top five places and qualify automatically for the final but disaster struck when two other runners came around her on the outside and collided with her. Pushing her into the kerb, Aimee was forced to step into the infield momentarily before quickly recovering and moving back out again but the lost momentum cost her a place and she finished sixth, just outside the automatic qualifying places. However, an appeal was lodged, the video reviewed and while not resulting in disqualification for any other athlete, the judges decided that Aimee had been impeded and she was given a place in Sunday’s final. In Sunday’s final, Aimee went to the front right from the gun and with two laps to go had opened a sizeable gap on the pack. However, with two laps to go, the pack began to close her down and despite giving it her all she was caught and passed and finished seventh, out of the medals, but was rewarded with a massive 16 second PB of 4 minutes 34.73 seconds and there’s surely more to come this year.

Barcelona Half Marathon

Andrew Nevin certainly made his trip to Barcelona to run in the Barcelona Half Marathon extremely worthwhile. Finishing well up in an excellent  166th place of the more than 19,000 that toed the line early on Sunday morning 19th February, running in very pleasant partly cloudy conditions and 16degC, Andrew started relatively conservatively and passed the 5k mark in 17 minutes 24 seconds, but from that point on, each subsequent 5k marker point saw him running sub-17 minutes 5k splits, and he slowly increased his pace slightly over the course of the race to finish in a fantastic 1 hour 11 minutes 29 seconds, a very big personal best for the distance. Congratulations to Andrew from everyone at Mullingar Harriers on this terrific performance.

Turgesius Island 10 Mile Road Race

Hosted by our near neighbours in North Westmeath AC, the Turgesius Island 10 Mile Road Race on  Sunday morning 19th February started in Collinstown Village before taking the nearly 150 runners along scenic county roads in the North Westmeath area and finishing at The Cut, on the shore Lough Lene, overlooking Turgesius Island, which of course gives it name to the event. Being a local race organised by an athletics club, athletes from Mullingar Harriers were delighted to run in support of the event.

Finishing strongly in 3rd place in 55 minute 33 seconds, James Keegan led the strong Mullingar group home and our first woman was Jacintha Reilly crossing the finish line in 68 minutes 30 seconds, delighted to take the prize for second woman. Following James was Kedagh Geoghegan (59:37), Eddie Newman (59:54) 1st in his master category, Enda O’Carolan (62:42), then Jacintha Reilly, followed by Declan Claffey (72:56), Orla McLaughlin (77:57), Brian Boyle (81:43), Avril Keane (81:56), Frank Lynam (88:54), Caroline Boyle (89:34), Martin Mullen (91:26) and Raymond Smyth (91:26).

The Downs LGFA Valentine’s 5k & 10k

The Downs LGFA Valentine’s 5k & 10k on  Sunday 19th February attracted good entries. Among the nearly 100 runners in the 5k race was a big number from Mullingar, especially of our juvenile members. Finishing in 1st place was Conor Walsh in a swift 19 minutes 2 seconds, followed by Conor Geoghegan 3rd (20:53). Lily Walsh was 4th in 20:55, the 1st girl by a long way. Next in was Gareth Glennon (21:02), Daniel Glennon (21:08), Conleth Mullen (21:24) and John Glennon (21:24). Also taking part was Aoibheann Smyth, Andrew Bradley, Aoibhe Martyn, Isobeil Murphy, Tiernan Smyth, Cillian Martyn, Bernadette Martyn, Ava Meehan, Isabelle Smyth and Caoimhe Shanley.

The 10k race was a smaller affair and attracted just over 40 runners, and was won by Alan Crowley in 36 minutes 51 seconds, Tony Doran was 3rd (38:04), Enda Seery was 5th (39:48), followed by Tommy Byrne (41:52), Susan Glennon (42:55) 2nd woman to finish, Colm Walsh (45:14), John Bannon (47:33), Criona Reid (47:44), Terri Greene  (49:41) and Nuala Daly (50:51).

Winter League – Round 3

The third round of our Winter League took place on the track on Wednesday evening 15th February. This time it was a 3,000m race and 41 took part, when in perfect conditions James Keegan led them home in a fine time of 9 minutes 21 seconds. In a great battle for runner up, Kris Foster just got the better of Kedagh Geoghegan, coming home in 9:55 with just two seconds to spare. Aine O’Reilly was first woman home in 11:15, with Michelle Bohan in 11:37 taking second and Aisling Corcoran just holding off Jacintha Reilly for third in a time of 11:45.

Team positions have altered again after round three with team 8 now in the lead on 29 points, team 9 are second on 32 points, followed closely by team 4 on 32.5 points. The remaining team places are team 4 on 33 points, team 1 on 33.5 points, team 3 on 38 points, team 7 and 10 both on 40 points, team 2 on 41.5 points and team 5 on 46 points.

The final night of the league takes place on the track on Wednesday evening 1st March when the distance will remain at 3,000m giving everyone an opportunity to match or hopefully beat their time from last week.

National Intermediate, Masters and Juvenile “B” Cross Country

The National Intermediate, Masters and Juvenile “B” Cross Country took place in Gowran, Co. Kilkenny on Sunday 12th February where Mullingar athletes won six individual medals and Mullingar teams won six team medals. As has been the case for most of the past cross country season, top billing goes again to Vinny Connolly who took silver in the Intermediate race, leading the Mullingar team to second place and National team silver medals, in what has been a terrific year for Vinny and marked his spectacularly successful return to competitive athletics after nearly ten years away from the sport.

First race of the day was the u/11 girls 1,000m and Mullingar fielded a strong team intent on success. Racing hard all the way around the firm dry ground and first to finish for Mullingar was Amelie Kelly. With great support and close team packing by Clodagh Keane, Liadan Gavin, Maria Gouldsbury, Aoife Gouldsbury, Katie Bohan, Melody Kelly, Isabelle Smith and Robyn Kelly, the girls were delighted to finish 3rd Club and win the bronze medals. We had no team in the u/11 boys 1,000m but that didn’t prevent young Conor Gavin and Cillian Gavin from giving their best and they were delighted to be able to race in an All-Ireland final.

The next race was the u/13 girls 1,500m where the Mullingar girls were led home by the fast finishing Ruby Brennan, and with good support from Isla Brennan, Beibhinn O’Reilly, Shaynah Mitchell, Aoibhinn Smyth, Lucy Kilmurray and Mia Brennan the team was unlucky to finish out of the medals in fifth place, but this was a very creditable result in an All-Ireland final. Seeing Scott Cogan storm through to 2nd place in the u/13 boys 1,500m and with Greg McDonnell, Shane Canning, Cormac McGrath and Aonghus O’Reilly giving their all to the finish, the boys were rewarded for their efforts with silver medals as they placed 2nd Club.

Lydia McDonnell led the Mullingar team home in the u/15 girls 2,500m but despite the efforts of Emma Lagan, Muireann Reihill, Blathnaid Peters, Sadhbh Carey and Síofra O’Reilly, the team finished out of the medal places in what was a very competitive race. We got in the medal again in the u/15 boys 2,500m race where Conor Walsh raced to a fine 5th place finish and with Oisin Kehoe not far behind and supported by Conor Geoghegan, John Gilbride and Ronan Kelly, it was 2nd Club and team silver again for Mullingar.

Moving to the master races, in the 4,000m for the older master men, Sean McMullin worked hard and was very pleased to finish 3rd in his master category and win a National bronze. Paddy Boyhan also competed well but finished out of the medal places in his master category.

Mullingar had a very large squad of seventeen in the master women 4,000m and it was great to see so much maroon and white on the start line and as the race progressed they certainly made their presence felt throughout the big field of runners. Led home by Aine O’Reilly, and with Sinead Whitelaw right on her heels, closely followed by Jenny Algar and Michelle Bohan we were confident of team success for the younger master women. Next in was Maura Dervin, placing 2nd in her master category, leading the charge for our older master women. Aisling Corcoran, Aeilish McGovern, Claire Ross, Marie Louise Johnston, Linda Cunningham, Caroline Mullen, Terri Greene, Gemma Kelly, Joanna Tyrrell, Brigid McCabe (3rd in her master category), Pauline Troy (just missing an individual medal with a close 4th place in her master category) and Nuala Moran, all running so well and leaving nothing on the track, we were confident of team success for our older master women too. Our confidence was justified when the results were sorted after the race and it was announced that the team of Aine, Sinead, Jenny, Michelle, Aisling, Aeilish, Claire, Marie Louise, Linda and Gemma finished 2nd Club, and the team of Maura, Caroline, Terri, Joanna, Brigid, Pauline and Nuala finished 3rd Club.

In contrast to the master women, Mullingar had a small squad in the master men 6,000m and though we didn’t have any teams, that didn’t stop Patrick Muldoon, Liam McGlynn, James Carton, John Bannon and Aidan O’Donoghue turning in excellent performances and they can be very satisfied with their efforts.

The final race of the day, the Intermediate men 8,000m featured a strong Mullingar team bent on success. By the halfway mark, the early leader had opened a sizeable lead on the chasing group that included Vinny Connolly. Working his way carefully to the front of the chasing group, Vinny began to close the gap on the leader, and going into the final lap he made his move to the front and struck for home. The race really came alive then and Vinny kept up the pressure at the front but was slowly hauled in and was eventually passed inside the final kilometre. He kept working very hard and though he couldn’t retake the lead, his efforts saw him pull clear of third place and he rounded the final turn into the home straight in a comfortable second place, crossing the finish line to take the silver medal. Attention than turned to his team mates, who were all giving one hundred percent and with James Keegan finishing fast, closely followed by Andrew Nevin still gaining places in the home straight, and Ian McCormack providing the vital fourth score, and Kedagh Geoghegan and Brian Martin completing the team, the Mullingar men were delighted to finish 2nd Club to win National silver medals. Unfortunately John Whitelaw was unable to finish due to injury but having been a member of this team all season, he was on hand at the finish and joined in the celebrations after the race.

Armagh International 5k Road Race

The Armagh International 5k Road Race was held on Thursday evening 9th February and attracted athletes from the USA, UK, Finland, Poland, Belgium, France, Germany, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, among others. The men’s 5k race was stacked with talent and like previous years did not disappoint. On a flat fast course of 1km laps of the Mall in Armagh, under floodlighting and encouraged all the way by the commentator and the cheering crowds, the winner set a new course record of 13 minutes 37 seconds, there were 17 finishers under 15 minutes and 132 under 15 minutes. Jamie Battle finished well up in 36th place with 14:08, followed in by Vinny Connolly in 14:40 and Euan Lagan in 14:47, all pleased with their performances in a top class race. As an indication of the quality of the race, the last man to finish, in 173rd place, ran 16:17, a time that would place him inside the top twenty in most other 5k races around Ireland!

East Munster Schools Cross Country

Tianna O’Leary and Eleanor Kiernan (Ursaline Convent, Thurles) were 1st and 3rd in the Junior Girls 2,000m at the East Munster Schools Cross Country on Tuesday 7th February in Waterford, leading Ursaline Convent to a clear 1st team by a distance. They now qualify for the Munster Schools XC on Friday 24th February at the same SETU Waterford venue.

National Masters Indoors

We only had four master men compete at the National Masters Indoors in Athlone on Sunday 5th February, but while the number was small, the quality was huge and all of them won medals, four gold and one silver. Aidan O’Donoghue started the day with the High Jump, taking the silver medal in his category with a fine jump of 1.40m. Aidan returned later in the day for the 60m Hurdles and was delighted to win gold in a new personal best time of 12.40 seconds. After that it was gold all the way for Mullingar Harriers. Sean McMullin was simply in a class of his own in the 3,000m race walk, winning his category with ease, and in his 3,000m race walk, though Colm Walsh had to work hard all the way, finishing third overall in a close race, he easily won his category. The day ended with gold again courtesy of Tom Walsh in the 28 pounds Weight For Distance, his best effort coming in the last of four rounds and in fact such is his strength in the event, he would have taken silver against men 5 years his junior. Congratulations to our master men on their great achievements.

Trim 10 mile

An early morning sharp frost gave way to a lovely bright sunny morning on Sunday 5th February, and even though still cool, conditions were perfect for an annual favourite, the Trim 10 mile road race. The large contingent of twenty two Mullingar Harriers battled it out against over 1,700 others, recording some outstanding results including personal best times for most of them.

Leading the Mullingar athletes home was Eoin Clarke, finishing well up in 58 minutes 53 seconds, and with support from Kris Foster (59:08), Alan Crowley (59:33) and Andy Boyhan (60:21), the men finished a very creditable 6th Club. The Mullingar women were led home by Susan Glennon (66:20) and with great team support from Mary Stuart (68:31), easily winning her master category, Emer O’Hanlon (72:54) and Aeilish McGovern (73:53), the women were very unlucky to finish just out of the team prizes in 4th place, on the same points as third but losing out on countback, in fact just 13 seconds made the difference, so it was very close.

Also competing in the maroon and white was James Cribbin (61:35), Enda Seery (65:44), Tommy Byrne (66:21), Murty Hanly (68:43), Dara O’Shea (69:24), Pablo Byrne (73:18), John McNamara (75:53), Darren Carroll (77:12), Shaun Mills (77:55), Gemma Kelly (77:58), Linda Cunningham (78:16), Terri Greene (80:11), John Bannon (80:20) and Tommy Archbold (1:47:12) delighted to win third prize in his master category.

Rathcoffey 10k

Enda O’Carolan competed in the Rathcoffey 10k near Clane, Co. Kildare on Saturday morning 4th February, finishing well up in twenty fourth place of the 340 finishers in 36 minutes 55 seconds, placing a very creditable sixth in his master category.

Kinnitty Castle 10k Knight Run Challenge

A race with a difference, the Kinnitty Castle 10k Knight Run Challenge took place on Friday evening 3rd February. The 10k trail run started at Kinnitty Castle Hotel from where the runners ascended the first 5k up to the top valley of the Slieve Bloom Mountains before running back downhill again, picking up great speed, and returning to Kinnitty Castle. Needless to say, it was night time, so it was very dark and while there were some mobile floodlights on the mountains, the competitors had to wear head torches, so it was very different from a normal road race indeed! While it was intended as a fun run, there was still a prize for the first man and woman to complete the course. Finishing well up in 9th place overall of over 200 that took part, Michelle Bohan (42 minutes 55 seconds) finished 1st woman to take the prize, closely followed by Jenny Algar (43:35), 12th overall and the second woman home.

JANUARY

Raheny 5 Mile

One of the most eagerly awaited events on the road race calendar, the Raheny 5 Mile took place on Sunday afternoon 29th January. A measure of the popularity of the race is that just over 3,800 finished the race, and the widely recognised fast course attracted some of the best road runners in Ireland. Mullingar was represented by a small group, but they made their mark with some excellent performances. Finishing in 27 minutes 38 seconds, Andrew Nevin led the Mullingar group home, followed in by Johnny Morrissey (28:10), Kieran Nolan (29:47), Enda Seery (31:05), Glenda Shaw (33:31) placing a very creditable ninth in her master category, then Liam McGlynn (33:57) and Marie Louise Johnston (38:59).

Irish University Indoors

The Irish University Indoors were held in the NIA Dublin on Saturday 28th January. Odhran Cully (TCD) ran in the very competitive heats of the 200m but despite a good effort, he didn’t advance to the final. He returned at the end of a long day for the final event and helped TCD to third place in their timed heat of the 4x200m relay, placing a very creditable fifth overall on time. Shauna Leydon (UCD) comfortably won her heat of the 800m and in a tactical final, had just enough in reserve in the finish straight to win. Shauna also returned later in the day to help UCD win the 4x200m relay, earning maximum points in her two events to help the UCD team to finish third place in the women’s competition. Eoin Quinn (DCU) easily won his heat of the 800m and in the final, looked very strong and dipped nicely under two minutes to win in a close finish. Charles Okafor (DCU) easily won his heat of the 60m and though he ran quicker in the final, finished just out of the medals but earned valuable team points for DCU. Little surprise that Matthew Glennon (DCU) was simply in another class in the 2,000m race walk and won by a big distance, nearly two laps ahead, to earn maximum points for DCU. The points won by Charles, Eoin and Matthew helped DCU to win the men’s competition.

North Leinster Schools Cross Country

The schools cross country season got underway for Mullingar athletes on Friday morning 27th January when the North Leinster Schools Cross Country was held at a very cold “Fifteen Acres” in the Phoenix Park. Despite having hosted the West Leinster Schools and the East Leinster Schools in the two days previously, underfoot conditions were surprisingly good. Competing for their schools and colleges, as expected, the Mullingar athletes were in terrific form, returning home with three individual wins, another eleven top 12 finish places and three sets of team medals too. The top twelve individuals and top three teams in each race qualify for the Leinster Schools Cross Country to be held in Santry next week.

Emma Lagan (St. Finian’s College) raced to a fine 11th place finish in the Minor Girls 1,200m, and with support from Blathnaid Peters, Lisa O’Brien and Sadhbh Carey, the St. Finian’s team was unlucky to finish out of the medals in 5th place, but not too far off the medal places. The Minor Boys 1,600m saw another St. Finian’s team chasing honours but it wasn’t to be for Daniel Glennon, Aaron Conroy, Ciaran Mulvany or Ronan Kelly, who together with Cian Hyland (Colaiste Mhuire) ran well but finished out of the individual and team medal places.

Lydia McDonnell (Loreto Mullingar) had an excellent race in the Junior Girls 2,000m where she worked hard all the way and was rewarded with a 12th place finish. There were plenty of Mullingar athletes in the Junior Boys 2,200m, led home by Conor Walsh (Colaiste Mhuire) in 12th place to book his place in the Leinsters, followed by Oisin Kehoe (St. Finian’s College), Conor Geoghegan (Colaiste Mhuire), Txema Lozano (St. Finian’s College), Adam Feery (Mercy Kilbeggan), Dylan Feery (Mercy Kilbeggan) and Conor Mulvany (St. Finian’s College), but there were no team honours won.

The Intermediate Girls 1,600m is an extremely short distance for girls this age and proved no problem for Caoimhe Kilmurray (Loreto Mullingar) who finished 3rd, just ahead of Grace Byrne (Loreto Mullingar) in 4th. Ailbhe O’Farrell (St. Finian’s College) had a terrific race to finish 8th, just ahead of Jessica Cunningham (Loreto Mullingar) in 9th, also having a great race. With great support and team packing from Loreto’s Siofra O’Halloran, Muireann Donohue and Siofra O’Reilly, the Loreto Mullingar girls placed 1st team. Conor Sherwin (Colaiste Mhuire) was in flying form and won the Intermediate Boys 3,800m with ease. David Burke (St. Finian’s College) stormed through in 9th place, with Conor Liston (Colaiste Mhuire) in 12th, just ahead of Pablo Lozano (Colaiste Mhuire) in 13th. Thanks to great team support from Luke Greene, Niall Brady, Jorge Martin and Daniel Hickey, Colaiste Mhuire finished 1st team. Despite the efforts of Matthew Molloy, John Glennon and Barry Walsh (St. Finian’s College), there were no team honours for St. Finian’s.

Continuing her excellent return to competition, Aimee Wallace (St. Finian’s College) led the Senior Girls 2,200m race home to take the gold, with Caoimhe Donohue (Loreto Mullingar) finishing strongly in 10th place, booking their places in the Leinsters. The final race of the day, the Senior Boys 4,200m saw another individual victory go to Mullingar as Diarmuid Fagan (Colaiste Mhuire) romped home, followed by Ross Killalea in 4th and with support from Adam Brady, the team clinched the title too as Colaiste Mhuire finished 1st team. Andrew Glennon and Conleth Mullen (St. Finian’s College) also competed well but finished out of the individual places and didn’t have a team.

Ballyroan 10 Mile

The Ballyroan 10 Mile, organised by Ballyroan, Abbeyleix & District AC in Co. Laois, returned to the race calendar on Sunday morning 22nd January and among the entries was Tommy Byrne, the sole representative from Mullingar Harriers. The weather was ideal for running, dry and little or no breeze. The two lap course took a scenic meandering route, starting in Ballyroan before heading towards Abbeyleix and finishing back in Ballyroan again where the runners were greeted with music and commentary to give them the final push across the line. Tommy was very happy to finish well up in 66 minutes 29 seconds.

National Indoor Combined Events

A very busy day of competition got underway early in Athlone on Saturday morning 21st January at the National Indoor Combined Events. Aidan O’Donoghue competed in the master men pentathlon, starting in the morning with the  60m hurdles and long jump, followed in the afternoon with the shot putt and high jump and the final event was a 1,000m run. Competition was very strong and led to some very close and exciting events. After a long grueling day, Aidan was very happy to finish on the podium and was rewarded for his efforts with a bronze medal in his master category.

2023 Annual General Meeting

The 2023 Annual General Meeting was held on Friday evening 20th January in the Greville Arms Hotel, Mullingar. Given the current membership, there should have been more there, but it was still well attended, which shows the interest among members on how the Club is managed and organised on their behalf.

Chairperson, Margaret Daly opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and introduced the Secretary’s report by Colm Walsh, the Treasurer’s report by Joanna Tyrrell and Competition Report by Greg Duggan. These were followed by Margaret’s own Chairperson’s Address. Like every Club in Ireland, membership increased dramatically last year and interest in joining again this year is very strong, so the foundations in Mullingar Harriers are good. However, the Club continues to face challenges in managing the increase in membership, due in no small measure to the completion of the all-weather track, which is proving a fabulous asset to the Club, and a renewed call was made for more help for coaches, particularly with the younger underage members that train at the 6pm sessions. There was excellent uptake on coach education and training towards the end of last year, and the Juvenile Training Officer will be following up with all the newly trained people on how best to use their training in practice in assisting the current experienced coaches. An effort will also be made to identify those that might wish to coach field events.

While Covid hasn’t gone away, thankfully, the worst of the Covid pandemic seems to be behind us and Club activities and competitions returned in 2022 and there was a full indoor, outdoor and cross country seasons, and there were plenty of road races too, both Championship and casual. On the International front, two stand-out highlights are Aisling Lane, Andrew Glennon and Diarmuid Fagan competing at the European u/18 T&F in Jerusalem in July and Jamie Battle and Cormac Dalton competing at the European Cross County in Turin in December, where Jamie took home a bronze medal with the Irish u/23 team. Domestically, top highlights were the string of cross country team successes for the Mullingar senior men, winning team medals at Leinster Novice, National Novice and Leinster Intermediate and placing third Club at the National Senior cross country, showing that cross country success for Mullingar isn’t confined to our juvenile section.

In recognition of his tremendous contribution to the Club from a very young age right up to Senior International level, it was unanimously agreed to bestow the honour of Life Vice-President on Mark Christie. Mark was always a dedicated and focussed athlete, fiercely loyal to Mullingar Harriers, and is a very worthy recipient of this honour.

The following were elected as officers and committee members for the coming year: Sean McMullin (President), Breda McDonnell (Vice-President), Margaret Daly (Chair), Catriona Duffy (Vice-Chair), Joanna Tyrrell (Treasurer), Greg Duggan (Secretary, and will take on the roles of PRO coordinator, Registrar and competition entries), JP O’Brien (Assistant Secretary, Philip Burke (Juvenile Training Officer), Tom McGrath (Minute Secretary), Pauline Quinn, Margaret Daly and Greg Duggan (Child Officers), Cormac Finnerty, Pat Muldoon Senior, Vera McCool and John Shaw (Trustees). The officers and trustees are automatically on the new committee, as are Life Vice-presidents Seamus Gibney, Cormac Finnerty, Martin Fagan, Bobbie Begley, John Mulvihill, Christy Creagh and Mark Christie, and will be joined by James Carton, Declan Costello, Amanda Dalton, Paul Ginnell, Sean Liston, Joe Ryan, Alan Sherwin, Tom Wallace and Sinead Whitelaw who were elected to the committee, and by Club Captains Aine O’Reilly and Ian McCormack who were also elected.

Several important issues were discussed and debated with plenty of lively contributions from those in attendance. Concluding the meeting, Margaret Daly thanked all present for their attendance and input, closed a successful AGM and invited everyone to stay for the light refreshments that were served after the meeting, which gave everyone a nice chance to stay and chat for a while.

Athletics Leinster Inter & Masters XC and Juvenile XC Relays (Avondale)

Avondale Forest Park in Co. Wicklow again proved itself as an excellent venue for cross country when Athletics Wicklow hosted the Athletics Leinster Intermediate & Masters Cross Country and Juvenile Cross Country Relays on Sunday 15th January. Despite the forecast of wind and rain and freezing temperatures, the day actually turned out dry and calm, though it was still cold. Athletics Wicklow is to be commended for the huge amount of work and effort put in to preparing the course, a hilly parkland course with enough mud and hills to make it a tough but fair test for the runners, and it was met with universal approval by the runners.

The highlight of the day for Mullingar came in the final race, the Intermediate men 8,000m which was won by Vinny Connolly, leading the Mullingar and Westmeath teams to gold. The day started with the juvenile relays where Mullingar fielded a team in the 4 x 250m girls relay, and with great running by Penny Bohan, Liadan Gavin, Amelie Kelly and Clodagh Keane, the girls finished well up in the large entry of nineteen teams, unluckily out of the medal places but not for the want of superb efforts.

When the programme of relay races was finished, we moved to the master women 4,000m where Mullingar fielded a very large squad, all running for individual category medals but also team honours. Finishing very strongly after an excellent race, Jenny Algar had the honour of leading the Mullingar women home, closely followed by Michelle Bohan and providing great support and packing well behind them was Aisling Corcoran, Maura Dervin, Aeilish McGovern, Marie Louise Johnston, Linda Cunningham, Claire Ross, Emer O’Hanlon, Caroline Mullen, Terri Greene, Brigid McCabe, Gemma Kelly, Patricia Broderick, Pauline Troy and Nuala Moran, all racing hard to the finish. As a measure of the performances by the Mullingar women, ten of them finished in the top ten in their master categories, with individual gold medals for Maura Dervin and Brigid McCabe. Of course teams are vital in cross country and the younger team of Jenny, Michelle, Aisling, Aeilish, Marie Louise, Linda, Claire and Gemma finished an excellent fifth Club and sixth County, very close on points to the medal places in a very competitive race. It was better for the older master women team of Maura, Emer, Caroline, Terri, Brigid, Patricia, Pauline and Nuala who were delighted to finish 1st Club and 2nd County.

In the 4,000m for master men over 65, Sean McMullin, Nicky McCabe and Paddy Boyhan put in great efforts and were rewarded with top ten finish places for them all in their categories, no individual medals and extremely unlucky to finish 4th County, on the same points as third but losing out on count-back and you can’t get closer than that!

The master men 6,000m followed and two tough laps really tested everyone. The first man home for Mullingar was Patrick Muldoon, followed by James Carton, Liam McGlynn, John Bannon and Aidan O’Donoghue, all giving every ounce of effort and near-collapsing exhausted over the finish line. No individual or team medals were won but all can be very satisfied with their efforts.

We finished the day with the Intermediate men 8,000m where the in-form Mullingar team was the pre-race favourite for honours and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Vinny Connolly was in contention right from the gun and the leading group slowly whittled down as the laps unfolded, Vinny always pushing the pace until he made his final move with 1,000m to go, a move that proved decisive and he pulled clear to win by a comfortable distance, earning the Leinster title. Seeing Ian McCormack storming up the home straight to finish fourth, with James Keegan on his heels in fifth, it was down to John Whitelaw to provide the vital fourth score for the team and he did so in spades with a fantastic ninth place finish to ensure Mullingar placed 1st Club. We weren’t done yet though, and with Kedagh Geoghegan, Kris Foster and Brian Martin finishing strong and well up, it was 1st County too, giving the Mullingar men plenty to celebrate.

That finished the day’s racing, where the day belonged to Vinny Connolly and our triumphant Intermediate men, but we can’t forget the great results from our master women too, to make it a very memorable day for Mullingar.

AAI National u/20 and u/23 Indoors

The middle distance events at the AAI National u/20 and u/23 Indoors held on Saturday 14th January at the National Indoor Arena in Dublin produced some top class competition and Mullingar Harriers was very well represented.

First into action was Colin Smith in the u/23 men 1500m. Colin won the silver medal in the 800m last year and was confident of a good run, having just returned from a warm weather training camp with DCU. Colin ran a strong race, positioning himself on the leader’s shoulder and maintaining that place throughout the race. With a strong last lap, he secured second place and the silver medal in a time of 3 minutes 54.11 seconds, making it a great start to the day.

Eoin Quinn ran well in a very strong heat to win and secure his place in the final of a very competitive u/23 men 800m. In a tactical final, Eoin encountered a lot of positional challenges, as tactics really came into play. Despite this, Eoin finished really strongly but was just out of the medals in fifth place with a time of 1 minute 56.24 seconds. In the u/23 women 800m, Shauna  Leydon gave herself every chance of a medal putting herself among the medal contenders from the outset. Despite a great effort, Shauna had to settle for fourth place in a time of 2 minutes 18.51 seconds, a new personal best time. It was an encouraging start to the season and a very strong performance by Shauna.

In the heats of the u/20 women 800m, Aimee Wallace was competing at National level for the first time in over three years and despite being just shy of her seventeenth birthday, she ran with great confidence. Aimee was always positioned prominently and secured an automatic qualification position. In the final,  Aimee ran a really brave and aggressive race to break away with the two pre-race favourites. She remained in contention until the final 150 metres and finished well to comfortably take third  place and a bronze medal in a time of 2 minutes 15.08 seconds  This was a fantastic comeback to this level of competition by Aimee and will provide her with great confidence for her own age group championships in the weeks ahead.

Another young athlete tasting competition at this level for the first time was Kyle Faherty who competed in the u/20 men 200m. Kyle is still fifteen and doesn’t turn sixteen until July, but he looked very much at home and relished the challenge. The entry was so big it required seven heats and with only the six fastest times qualifying for the final, it was always going to be a very big task for Kyle, but he ran a great race to place second in his heat and even though his time was not enough to advance to the final, he will have learned a lot from the experience and remarkably he is underage for a further three years, so has plenty of time to progress.

The women’s 3,000m race walk was a combined race of u/20 and u/23 women. Aisling Lane was racing in the u/20 women category and lost no time by going straight into the lead from the start, and with an faultless display in this very technical event went on to absolutely dominate the race and win by a big margin of over a lap to secure another very well deserved National title. The men’s 3,000m race walk was also a combined race of u/20 and u/23 men and featured two from Mullingar, both polished performers and their class showed, as Matthew Glennon cruised to an easy victory in the u/23 race, and Andrew Glennon won silver in the u/20 race.

Ace AC 5k

Making a very welcome return after cancellation last year due to Covid restrictions, the Ace AC 5k in Drogheda, Co. Louth attracted more than 200 runners on a cold but dry bright morning on bank holiday Monday 2nd January, all delighted to toe the line and use the race to ring in the New Year. Conor Sherwin showed real class from the gun, staying right up with the leaders most of the way, with gaps in the leading group only appearing in the final closing stages, but he finished very strong and was delighted to cross the line in third place in a swift 17 minutes 1 second to bring 2023 in with a bang.

Tom Brennan 5k

Ian McCormack and Andrew Nevin rang in the New Year at the Liffey Valley AC “Tom Brennan” 5k in the Phoenix Park on New Year’s day. In very cold damp overcast conditions, Ian was very happy to cross the line in 16 minutes 15 seconds, finishing well up in fifteenth place of the more than 450 finishers, closely followed by Andrew Nevin (16:24) in seventeenth place.