Mullingar Half Marathon 2022 (17th Mar)
Mullingar Half Marathon and Fleadh 5k
Cancelled in 2020 and then moved to September in 2021, the Mullingar Half Marathon finally returned to its traditional St. Patrick’s Day date this year when a great entry saw nearly 1,200 finish an excellent race in lovely mild weather, though it was a bit breezy in places, especially along parts of the Royal Canal. Being local, needless to say that Mullingar Harriers was well represented with over forty taking part, delighted to be able to put all the hard work over months in training to good use. The race has a great reputation and continues to grow and attract huge interest from far and wide. The event was a fundraiser for TEAM (Temporary Emergency Accommodation Mullingar), a very deserving local cause. It was quite a sight 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 half marathon is a charity event, and for most the event was simply a chance to run the distance in company, a race is still a race and the more competitive runners ran hard from the start looking to record a good time on a fast mostly flat course.
Timmy Murphy was first Mullingar man home in a very strong time of 1 hour 11 minutes 47 seconds, which placed him third overall, and the first women home was Mullingar Harriers Elizabeth Carr in an excellent 1 hour 19 minutes 56 seconds, an impressive twenty fourth place overall. Following Timmy in was James Keegan sixth (1:14:42), Eddie Newman (1:18:33) first in his master category, Kedagh Geoghegan (1:20:42), Alan Crowley (1:22:24), Tony Doran (1:24:21), Johnny Morrissey (1:24:22), Kieran Nolan (1:24:44), Stephen Shanahan (1:24:46), Tom McGrath (1:29:10), Stephen Naughton (1:29:22), Mary Stuart (1:32:13) first in her master category, Rachel Glennon (1:36:33), Máirtín Savage (1:38:32), Eva McMorrow (1:41:33), Colm Walsh (1:41:32), Tommy Byrne (1:41:54), Joan Hickson (1:42:05), Stephen Olwell (1:43:22), Ciara Dillon (1:44:35), Criona Reid (1:46:34), Andy Quinn (1:49:26), Orla Ginnell (1:49:40), Caroline Mullen (1:49:42), John McNamara (1:50:04), Jane Creevy (1:50:21), Doug Bates (1:51:05), Gemma Kelly (1:51:37) a big six minute improvement for the distance, Terri Greene (1:52:20), John Bannon (1:52:25), Eithne Spellman (1:55:09), Garrett O’Brien (1:55:29), Kevin O’Brien (1:56:36), Linda O’Driscoll (1:57:22), Richie Kelly (1:59:26), Aidan O’Donoghue (1:59:30), Marna Groenewald (2:01:14), Ray Smyth (2:01:17), Martin Mullen (2:09:55) and Geraldine Walsh (2:21:57).
An event like this of course needs good pacemakers, and a good number of Mullingar Harriers members fulfilled this vital role, including Evan McCormack, Susan Glennon, Philip Burke, Joanna Tyrrell, Jason McCabe, Pauline Faulkner-Troy and Ger Langtry. Apologies if we missed anyone in the crowd!
This year there was also a 5k race on offer, with the proceeds going towards the cost of hosting the Fleadh in Mullingar this summer. The half marathon race 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 in, which contributed great entertainment to fill the gap in time while the half marathon runners went out into the countryside. The 5k attracted nearly 250 runners, fourteen from Mullingar Harriers, led home by Matthew Glennon in first place in 16 minutes 59 seconds, followed by Andrew Glennon fourth (19:18), Michelle Bohan fifth (19:26) second woman, Amy Mahony sixth (20:14) third woman, Aisling Corcoran eighth (20:39) fourth woman, Callum Costello (23:03), Bernard Groenewald (23:38), Brigid McCabe (25:15), Vera McCool (25:41), Nicky McCabe (26:10), Sean Liston (26:23), Declan Costello (26:24), Paul McCool (29:09) and Liam McGlynn (34:11).
