Marathon Relay Fund Raising Day 2026 (19th Sept)
Marathon Relay Fund Raising Day sees sub-2-hour marathon
Young and not so young, past and present members and friends came to the Mullingar Harriers AC grounds on Saturday morning 19th September to witness the showcasing of the talents of our current juvenile, senior, and master athletes as they ran varying forms of a Marathon Relay. An overcast dry morning with a stiff breeze, but the sun emerging as the morning progressed, was ideal for runners and spectators alike. The centrepiece was the relay by the senior men and women who ran concurrently on the track, alternating with individual 400m runs by one athlete at a time. A total of 105 and a half laps of the track, with the men targeting a sub-2 hour time and the women targeting sub-2 hours 36 minutes.
The men team of Jack O’Leary, Michael Murphy, Kris Foster, Dan Morris, Luke Greene, Donagh Carey, Matthew Molloy, Euan Lagan, Vinny Connolly, Kevin Moore, Michael Moran and Cormac Dalton stuck to their schedule, watched closely by the timekeeper and lap counter. Excitement grew as the laps counted down and when the last handover took place it was clear we were going to witness a first sub-2 hour marathon on our track. The clock stopped at 1 hour 57 minutes 19 seconds, a well-executed and evenly paced run by the team, with the men averaging an impressive 66.50 seconds per lap.
With the senior men finished, our full attention turned to the women team who were still running with great pace. Having passed halfway in 1 hour 12 minutes, it was clear that the team of Niamh McEntegart, Catherine McGlew, Orlaith Flanagan, Sinead Whitelaw, Blathnaid Peters, Lydia McDonnell, Lisa O’Brien, Eleanor Kiernan, Tianna O’Leary and Grace Byrne were determined to make their own significant mark with an extremely fast marathon relay. On handing the baton to the last athlete it was clear that the time would be well ahead of the target and so it proved, with the clock stopping at 2 hours 23 minutes 3 seconds, which incidentally is just 40 seconds outside the National women record for the distance. The average time per lap was also very impressive, at 81.50 seconds per lap.
Earlier in the morning, a team of master women and master men completed separate marathon relays in varying combinations. Not to be outdone, our younger juveniles aged 9 to 12, ably tutored by lead coach for the morning, James Carton, completed a two-lap course on the outside tarmac track, running one kilometre each, to marginally surpass the classic marathon distance with their combined efforts.
Throughout the morning there was music to entertain the spectators and motivate the runners, and there was tea, coffee and a range of home baking and confectionary treats available for young and old. It was wonderful to see former members travel from Galway, Dublin and further afield to join in a morning of celebration not only of the current running talent in the club but to witness and view the existing facilities, which have advanced significantly in the past five years, while also hearing of club plans to further enhance and upgrade the clubhouse as well as the track and field event facilities [MO’S].
