Mullingar Half Marathon 2017 (17th Mar)

The third edition of the Mullingar Half Marathon on St. Patrick’s Day attracted a huge entry of nearly 1,300, a significant increase on the nearly 900 last year and double the number that took part in the inaugural event two years ago, so it is clearly an event that has really caught the imagination and goes from strength to strength. This year’s event was a charity fundraiser for Temporary Emergency Accommodation Mullingar (TEAM), an extremely worthy cause. In contrast to last year, the weather was simply awful, being cold, windy and wet, absolutely what nobody wanted as they faced into a 13.1 mile long run, never mind anyone wishing to watch the race from the various vantage points along the route. It was fantastic to see such a throng of runners fill the street as they made their way from the start, cheered on by a good gathering of hardy supporters. Among the throng was over 50 from the Club, though with such a large entry it is easy to miss someone out of the results.

Even though it was a charity event, and for most the event was simply a chance to run the distance in company, for some a race is still a race and they ran hard from the start looking to record a good time on a fast relatively flat course.

First to finish was Peter Mooney (Inverse) in 1:13:21, which was a respectable time considering the conditions, especially the very strong headwind over the last few miles. First from the Club was Mal McDonnell 5th in 1:15:42, 1st in master age category, followed by Maurice Looby 6th (1:15:57), Andrew Nevin 10th (1:16:36), Eddie Newman 15th (1:17:24) 1st in his master age category, Elizabeth Carr having a particularly good run to finish 26th overall (1:21:06), 2nd woman to finish, Gerard Gavin (1:21:08), Kieran Nolan (1:22:26), Ian McCormack (1:23:23), Colm Walsh (1:24:42), Alan Crowley (1:25:29), Enda O’Carolan (1:26:06), Philip Burke (1:26:07), Nollaig McEntegart (1:28:56) 1st in his master age category, Joan Flynn (1:30:45), JP O’Brien, James Carton, David Fagan, James Cribbin, Doug Bates, Enda Seery, Michelle O’Halloran (1:37:06), Siobhan McCarthy (1:37:06), Sean Liston, Tommy Conroy, Sharon Bates (1:40:04), Aiden Rafferty, Gillian Walsh (1:41:40), John Callaghan, Michael O’Sullivan, Patricia Broderick, Dearbhail Gibney, Declan Costello, Mark Bate, Andy Quinn, Richard Ferris, Criona Reid, Brian Boyle, Tommy Archbold, Eamonn O’Reilly, Anna Redmond, Dara Feiritear, Olivia Cronin, Barry Hogan, Jane Creevy, Gerardine Martin, Frank Kavanagh, Liam Dalton, Marna Groenewald, Linda O’Driscoll, Shauna Kavanagh, Christy Creagh and Geraldine Walsh. A fantastic turn out from the Club in support of a local race for a good cause.