AAI National Masters T&F 2022 (13th Aug)

Mullingar Medals Glint in Tullamore Sunshine

The AAI National Masters T&F Championships took place in Tullamore on Saturday 13th August in blistering heat under clear blue sunny skies and by the end of the day, all the Mullingar Harriers athletes had won a National medal, one of them actually won three, to bring plenty of shiny hardware home to Mullingar.

By mid-morning, when Colm Walsh lined up for the 5,000m Race Walk, the temperature was already 25degC and climbing quickly, though feeling a lot hotter in near calm conditions, making it very difficult for a distance event. Going out fast from the gun, Colm quickly settled into his rhythm and as the laps wound down he slowly built a considerable lead on his rivals in his age category to come home strongly despite the heat and win the National title by a distance.

Aidan O’Donoghue had a very busy day, starting with the Shot Putt where he secured the bronze medal on his final attempt and was very pleased to take a medal against stiff opposition. Moving to the Javelin, Aidan was happy with his efforts and they were enough to win his second bronze medal of the day. Aidan ended the day with his favourite event, the High Jump, and was delighted to win the silver medal in a close contest, taking his medal tally to three for the day.

The sun was high in the sky and the temperature was close to 30degC by the time Maura Dervin took to the start of the 3,000m. Sticking to her own race plan and not tempted to chase the younger athletes in the mixed age groups race, Maura put in a determined effort to finish in the middle of the pack and was delighted when it was confirmed that she had won her category and earned a National title and gold medal. Tom Walsh had to wait until the late afternoon to compete but that meant it was a little cooler for the Weight for Distance event where he put in an excellent series of attempts throwing the heavy 28 pound weight, his best coming in the last round, to win the National title and add to his collection of All-Ireland medals.

Congratulations to the small but very talented group of Mullingar masters on their medal successes against the best in Ireland.