European Masters Indoors 2024 (18th to 23rd Mar)
3k walk BRONZE 5k Road Walk SILVER
On Monday lunchtime 18th March, at the European Masters Indoors in Torun, Poland, twenty one men toed the line for the 3,000m race walk. The race included athletes across four master categories, among them Sean McMullin (competing in the M75 category). Everyone battled for places in the early laps but as the race settled down, the pre-race favourite, the very fast Ian Richards (GB) opened an early lead but Sean was locked in a great battle with Boguslaw Seidel from Poland for second and third, with Sean positioned nicely in third place, clear of the chasing pack. Continuing to maintain a steady pace over the closing laps, Sean kept up the pressure but was unable to close on the silver medal, though was still very happy to win the bronze medal. Congratulations to Sean on his European Masters bronze medal.
On Tuesday morning (19th Mar), Aidan O’Donoghue competed in the Javelin competition. He threw close to his best in the first round but in the second round he launched the javelin out to 34.25m, adding a massive 2m to his personal best and earning him a great 10th place overall in the competition.
Meanwhile, also on Tuesday morning, the 6k Cross Country race took place in a pine forest adjacent to the Indoor Arena. The ground was very firm and many chose to race in runners rather than spikes. Team places were calculated on combined times rather than places and despite it being only a day after taking bronze in the indoor 3,000m race walk, Sean McMullin was back in action and ran a great race to finish 9th place, the third score for the strong Ireland team that included Martin McEvilly (Galway City Harriers AC) and Richard Mullins (St. Abban’s AC), to take team Gold for Ireland.
Aidan O’Donoghue returned to competition on Wednesday (20th Mar) for the Indoor Pentathlon, where his goal was to improve on his personal best score of 2,464 points. This he achieved with personal bests in both the 60m Hurdles and Long Jump, and with good results in the shot put, high jump and 1,000m run, he accumulated a total score of 2,535 points, a new personal best, to finish a fine 11th place overall.
Sean McMullin rounded off his Championships with individual silver and team gold in the 5k Road Walk on Friday morning (22nd Mar). With an excellent fault-free effort in this highly technical event he finished second in his master age group to take individual Silver. The excitement didn’t end there though, as Sean dropped down an age group to make up a team with Michael O’Connor (Farranfore Maine Valley AC) and David Kissane (St. Brendan’s AC Kerry). Sean was the second finisher on the Ireland team that had a great battle with a strong German team for the Gold medals, beating them by only 29 seconds in an exciting race.
As always, the Championships finished with the relays on Saturday 23rd March. Aidan O’Donoghue ran the lead leg for Ireland in the 4 x 200m Relay in his age group. There were two heats, with the medals decided on the fastest times over the two heats. Ireland was drawn in heat one and Aidan had a great start from the blocks, powering around the tight indoor bends with a very fast split time to set the team up nicely but unfortunately the team was disqualified for a lane infringement, always a risk with indoor sprints, but Aidan was still very pleased with his performance and it rounded off a memorable European Masters Indoors for him [AO’D].
