Q1, 2018 News & Reports – January to March

March

AAI Juvenile Indoors – day 2

The best way to sum up the second day of the AAI Juvenile Indoors on Sunday 25th March in Athlone IT is to let the numbers speak for themselves – 11 athletes, 8 reached their finals, 5 won medals, 3 crowned All-Ireland Champions.

First into action was Shauna Leydon in the girls 200m u/17 but she didn’t qualify from the extremely competitive heats. For Awa Fane, her heat of the girls 200m u/18 was a mere formality, cruising around the one lap race to win her heat comfortably and earn her place in the final. On to the boys 600m u/12 where Conor Liston and Jamie Wallace were drawn in the same heat, which was won by Conor and Jamie finished very fast to take third and join Conor in the final. Aimee Wallace contested the girls 600m u/13 but just didn’t click on the day and was disappointed not to qualify for the final. Philip McCartan made short work of his heat of the boys 600m u/13, winning to qualify for the final, but Callum Costello made hard work of his heat where he finished 5th but qualified for the final as a fastest loser by a mere four thousandths of a second, less than an inch, but a place in the final nonetheless and a chance to make amends.

Over at the field events, Criostoir Ormsby was in 4th place after four jumps in the boys u/12 long jump, enough to earn him three more jumps and with his 6th and final attempt he leaped out to 4.40m to clinch the gold medal and All-Ireland title, Mullingar’s first of the day. Shane Ormsby impressed in the boys u/14 shot where he put together a very consistent series to take third place and win an All-Ireland bronze medal.

Eoin Quinn ran a fine race in his heat of the boys 800m u/18, finishing fourth and just missing a place in the final in a time that would have won the first heat, but that’s Championship racing. In the girls 800m u/18 heats, Aoife Darby measured her effort perfectly and did just enough to qualify and saved her strength for the final.

The programme then moved to the track finals. Drawing the outside lane in the girls 200m u/18 final, Awa Fane was simply too good for the opposition and blasting from the blocks she led from gun to tape to win in 24.95 seconds, a new PB, and Mullingar’s second All-Ireland title of the day.

The boys 600m u/12 final was run at a fierce pace from the start and Conor Liston and Jamie Wallace had to work hard to keep in contention. Both boys gave great accounts but had to settle for places out of the medals. In the boys 600m u/13 Philip McCartan led the chasing pack on the early leader, with Callum Costello looking much more comfortable than in his earlier heat following close behind. Down the back straight for the final time, the long time leader began to fade and Philip surged past him to the front and powered his way around the final bend into the home straight and crossed the line first to win Mullingar’s third and what was be final All-Ireland title of the day. The race wasn’t over yet though, and coming off the final bend, Callum moved from 5th to 3rd with a phenomenal turn of pace and held his place to the finish to win the bronze medal. We ended the day with Aoife Darby in the final of the girls 800m u/18 where she put in a very strong performance but is still only recovering from recent illness and had to settle for 6th place, out of the medals this time.

For most, this ends the indoor season and they’ll now settle into a new training block to prepare for the schools T&F in early May but not finished yet is the Mullingar boys 4x100m u/12 team that will compete on the final day in Athlone IT looking to add All-Ireland gold to Leinster gold!

Wicklow Half Marathon

In stark contrast to the Mullingar Half Marathon the week before, there was nothing remotely flat about the Wicklow Half Marathon on Sunday 25th March that started and finished in the courtyard of the historic Wicklow Gaol. The course has a mix of town, harbour, countryside and coast and is described as one of the most scenic races in Ireland, probably explaining why it attracted an entry of over 650, among them Tommy Archbold, the Club’s sole representative in the event. At least the weather was nice, cool dry and sunny, but even though the course was changed a few years ago to make it flatter, according to Tommy the hills were the worst he ever ran and he was more than happy to have survived the ordeal. That said, Tommy still recorded a very respectable 1:54:50, which placed him 3rd in his master category, so it was well worth the pain and effort in the end!

Dunboyne 4 Mile

A huge entry of 600 in the Dunboyne AC 4 Mile Road Race on Sunday 25th March were treated to a very nice change in recent weather and could run the two lap race in lovely dry sunny conditions. Among them, Mullingar’s sole representative Padraig Moran impressed with a fine 20th place finish in 20:17 to make another mark on his welcome return to competitive racing.

European Masters Indoors

Sean McMullin got off to a medal winning start at the European Masters Indoors in Madrid on Wednesday afternoon 21st March when he won the silver medal in the 3,000m track walk at the magnificent Gallur Municipal Sports Centre. Race walking is a very technical event and not without its pitfalls; of the 15 starters, 2 were disqualified and 4 others given a warning during the course of the race, but Sean kept a clean sheet and put in a sterling performance to take the silver medal behind Ettorino Formentin (Italy) and ahead of Ludwig Niestelberger (Austria) who had kept close to Sean in what was a tactical race but Sean kept to his task and pulled well clear in the closing stages to secure second place, to the delight of the very big 126-strong Irish team.

Even though it is an indoor Championships, there is also a race walk on the road and even a cross country, so Sean’s attention turned to the 5k road walk on Friday morning 23rd March at nearby Casa de Campo where in perfect 14degC but cloudy and damp conditions he put in another great performance and avoided any distracting warnings to win his second silver medal of the Championships, finishing behind Formentin of Italy and ahead of Niestelberger of Austria again, to give the same 1-2-3 result as in the 3,000m track walk two days earlier. Congratulation to Sean on winning double silver in European masters race walk.

Sean rounded off his trip to Madrid early on Saturday morning 24th March when he competed in the 5k cross country in the Cuña Verde Park beside the Indoor Stadium where in cool but very windy conditions and despite only a day’s recovery from the 5k road walk, Sean put in a strong performance to finish well up with the pack, out of the medals but pleased with the run nonetheless.

AAI Juvenile Indoors – day 1

The Glennon underage race walking siblings, Andrew, Matthew and Sarah all took gold on the first day of the AAI Juvenile Indoors on Sunday 18th march in Athlone IT. Young Andrew Glennon was just too good for the opposition in the boys 1,000m u/14 race walk and swept to victory, pulling clear on the final lap with an impressive turn of pace to win his first All-Ireland title. Matthew Glennon also impressed in the boys 1,500m u/16 race walk, dominating the race from the start and winning by a big margin, well over half a lap ahead. To make it three for three for the Glennon family, settling in to the early pace in the girls 1,500m u/18 race walk, Sarah Glennon bided her time but with two laps to go surged into the lead, pulling clear and opening a gap that was just too big to close and she raced to victory with over thirty seconds to spare to win a third gold for Mullingar and reinforce the Club’s reputation in race walking. Our final walker, Jayne Walsh competed in the girls 1,500m u/16 where she battled well but finished out of the medals in sixth place.

On to the metric mile where Bea Drummond competed in the girls 1,500m u/16, putting in a solid performance but had to settle for seventh place, out of the medals. In the boys 1,500m u/16 Colin Smith put in a good performance but just couldn’t match the pace in the closing laps and finished out of the medal places. There were two heats of the boys 1,500m u/17 and Eoin Quinn was unlucky not to advance to the final, missing a place by a narrow margin after a brave effort in his heat. Aoife Darby cruised through her heat of the girls 1,500m u/18 to earn her place in the final. Normally a certainty for a medal at this level, a bout of illness only a week before had clearly taken its toll and while she had enough in the tank for one race, the heat, there just wasn’t enough for two races in one day and she was very disappointed not to win a medal but she certainly gave it every effort.

We had two young sprinters in action in the 60m. Criostoir Ormsby impressed in his heat of the boys 60m u/12 where he finished second to earn a place in the final and though he ran quicker in the final he finished out of the medal places but has to take great satisfaction from making his first individual All-Ireland final. Callum Costello couldn’t quite match the performance that saw him take silver in Leinster and didn’t advance from his heat of the boys 60m u/13, but still put in a strong showing against top quality opposition. In the field events, Shauna Leydon contested the girls u/17 long jump but struggled a bit with her mark and finished out of the medal places.

Mullingar Half Marathon

The fourth edition of the Mullingar Half Marathon on St. Patrick’s Day attracted a huge entry of nearly 1,600, of which nearly 1,200 took to the start line and competed, a big increase on last year, so it is an event that continues to go from strength to strength. The event was a fundraiser for TEAM (Temporary Emergency Accommodation Mullingar), a very deserving local cause. To say conditions were harsh is an understatement with temperatures barely above freezing and a strong wind that added a significant wind chill factor, a headwind for the first half and tailwind on the second half, so far from ideal for the runners facing into the 13.1 mile race. Despite the weather, it was great to watch the huge mass 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 were 40 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 mostly flat course.

Race winner was Johnny Daly (Longford Road) in 1:12:21 and first woman was Maria McCambridge (Dundrum South Dublin AC) in a very strong 1:18:59. First finisher for Mullingar Harriers was Andrew Nevin in 8th place (1:15:10), followed by Tom McGrath 14th overall and 1st in his master category (1:18:16), Eddie Newman 17th overall and 2nd in his master category (1:19:03), Aidan Daly (1:19:47), Enda O’Carolan (1:21:09), Aine O’Reilly an excellent 42nd overall and finishing third woman (1:23:41), Eoin Clarke (1:23:59), Alan Crowley (1:24:15), James Keegan (1:24:20), Eoghan Bracken (1:26:40), Nollaig McEntegart 1st in his master category (1:26:44), Liam Woods (1:26:59), Enda Seery (1:30:57), Paul Ginnell (1:31:40), Sean Liston (1:31:54), Brian Collentine (1:32:41), Michael O’Sullivan 3rd in his master category (1:37:50), Michelle O’Halloran (1:38:06), Gillian Walsh (1:39:31) expertly paced by husband Mal McDonnell, Aidan Rafferty (1:40:23), Ray Daly (1:41:13), Jane Creevy (1:42:03), Eva McMorrow (1:42:13), Criona Reid (1:43:32), Declan Costello (1:43:34), Colm Walsh (1:43:52), Andy Quinn (1:45:24), Mark Bate (1:45:45), Terri Greene (1:45:54), Brian Boyle (1:46:16), Joanna Tyrrell (1:50:18), Emer O’Hanlon (1:51:34), Richard Ferris (1:53:01), Tommy Archbold (1:53:10), Ruth Greene (1:53:57), Olivia Cooney (1:55:14), Ronan Bracken (1:55:28), Michelle Kavanagh (2:07:08) and PJ Ballesty.

Leinster Juvenile Indoors – day 3

The third and final day of the Leinster Juvenile Indoors took place in Athlone IT on Sunday 11th March where Mullingar had a very big squad of underage talent competing in 200m, 600m, 800m, 60m hurdles, long jump, high jump and shot putt over a very long day of competition.

The day stated with the 200m where Mullingar had three entered in the girls 200m u/18, which needed three heats to whittle the numbers down for the final. Whitney Imafidon gave a good account in her heat, as did Eve Wallace in hers, only missing a place in the final by just one hundredth of a second, but no problem for Awa Fane who won her heat comfortably in the fastest time of all the heats. Running from lane three in the final later in the day, Awa blasted from the blocks quickly making up the stagger on the girls outside her and entered the home straight in the lead, holding off a late challenge to win in 24.98 seconds, her first time under 25 seconds, a massive PB and a new Championship Best Performance by a distance. This was a brilliant result for Awa. Rachel Cornally ran her heart out in the girls 200m u/19 to place 4th in a very fast and competitive race and was very satisfied with her performance.

The number of entries in the 600m races was huge, needing a lot of heats and therefore qualification for the finals was extremely keen. There were five heats in the girls 600m u/12 where despite running well in their heats Orla Manning, Ellen Daly and Muireann Donohue didn’t qualify for the final to join Morgan Corcoran who placed second in her heat to qualify for the final. The final was a very swift race and though Morgan battled well finished out of the medal places but can take great satisfaction from qualifying for her first Leinster indoor final.

It took four heats of the boys 600m u/12 to reduce the numbers down for the final. Jamie Wallace, Conor Liston, Luke O’Leary, James Flynn and Criostoir Ormsby made it safely through their heats, but not so for Hugo Sleator, Alex Lynch or Darragh Weblin though they ran well in their heats, but such was the standard of competition. The final was run at a ferocious pace from the gun and running out victor was Conor Liston, with Jamie Wallace on his heels hurling himself at the line to take silver in a very close finish, followed in by Luke O’Leary, Criostoir Ormsby and James Flynn finishing very strongly. A measure of the class of the Mullingar boys is that they all ran quicker in the final, which is a sign of true Championship performers.

There were four heats too in the girls 600m u/13 where Síofra O’Halloran, Aimee Wallace, Leah Geoghegan and Adele Geoghegan advanced to the final but unfortunately were not joined by Caoimhe Kilmurray, Jessica Cunningham or Anna May Flannery. In the final, the four Mullingar girls competed strongly but only Aimee got in the medals, a bronze, but just missed silver by a mere two hundredths of a second, with Adele, Leah and Síofra finishing strong but out of the medal places.

There continued to be big numbers of heats, four in the boys 600m u/13 where Callum Costello, Philip McCartan and Daire McDonald laid down markers in their heats to qualify comfortably for the final, but unlucky for Darragh Smith and David Burke who didn’t advance from the competitive heats. The final quickly came down to a straight contest between Philip and Callum as they moved clear of the field and opened a sizeable gap on the rest going into the final lap. With 100m to go, Callum demonstrated why he won silver in the 60m some weeks before as he surged past Philip to lead around the final bend and into the home straight, but Philip wasn’t giving up without a fight and pushed Callum all the way to the finish, Callum winning in 1:39.11, a new Championship Best Performance, Philip in 2nd place only hundredths outside the old record, and Daire finishing much faster than in his heat but out of the medal places this time.

Eve Farrell was our sole representative in the girls 800m u/14 and was unlucky not to advance from her heat. The heats of the boys 800m u/14 were just as competitive where John Ryan, Matt O’Leary, Adam Brady and Eoin McGrath gave good accounts but didn’t advance to join Ross Killalea in the final, though Ross was unwell later and was unable to take part in the final.

Phoebe Bate and Amy Geoghegan safely negotiated the heats of the girls 800m u/15 but Aoife McGouran must still have been feeling the effects of a nasty fall and cuts in the Schools cross country the day before and didn’t qualify from her heat. One who should have made the final was Meghan Bates. Meghan took the lead and looked full of running going into the third lap of her heat, looking certain to qualify for the final but was bumped from behind on the bend and she fell, knocking her head and receiving nasty track burns but she got back on her feet and rejoined the race but despite a great effort finished 5th and outside the qualifying places, which is a terrible shame as she has been running so well and deserved a place in the final. Amy and Phoebe battled well in the final but like Aoife, the legs were heavy from their great efforts in the Schools cross country and they finished out of the medal places.

It took a determined performance by Colin McGee, running very close to his personal best, to qualify from his heat of the boys 800m u/16 and join Colin Smith who had qualified from his heat. Running quicker in the final, both Mullingar boys competed strongly but had to settle for places out of the medals. Aoife Darby was unwell and carried the effects of a stomach bug into the final of the girls 800m u/18, which robbed her of her customary kick and though she raced bravely finished out of the medal places.

Darragh Weblin returned to the track for the boys 60m hurdles u/12, safely making it through his heat and though he ran quicker in the final had to settle for a place out of the medals, but has to be happy to have made the final in his first time of asking. No stranger to finals, Shane Ormsby also qualified from his heat of the boys 60m hurdles u/14 and in the final ran very well to finish just out of the medal places in 6th in a very fast and competitive race.

It wasn’t all track of course and Mullingar athletes were very busy competing in the various field events too, including Morgan Corcoran (u/12 long jump), Aoife McGouran (u/15 high jump), Alicia Ripley (u/13 high jump), Shannon Liston and Alanna Costello (u/15 shot), Luke O’Leary and Darragh Weblin (u/12 long jump), Callum Costello, Shane Ormsby and Matt O’Leary (u/14 long jump), all competing well and enjoying their competitions but the best performances came from Criostoir Ormsby who finished 3rd in the u/12 long jump, with James Flynn not far off the medals in 5th place behind him.

Well done to all our underage athletes who competed with great determination and spirit and Mullingar will be very well represented in the upcoming All-Ireland finals.

Meath Spring Half Marathon & 10k

The Meath Spring Half Marathon & 10k on Sunday 11th March was a sell out and the host club Bohermeen AC was delighted with the success of the fixture. Good organisation, a relatively flat course with the potential to run a fast time and perfect calm conditions attracted over 1,300 competitors to the two events.

The day started off with the 10k race and among the 410 finishers was Miriam Walsh (48:53), Caroline Boyle (50:40) and Linda Cunningham (56:36) running well and thoroughly enjoying the race. The main event, the Half Marathon had a very big entry of 915 and finishing well up in 21st place was Kevin Baker in an excellent 1:15:08. Also running extremely well was Patrick Muldoon (1:21:36), followed closely by Gerard Gavin (1:23:37) and the Mullingar group was completed by John Bannon (1:47:13).

As with all Meath events the hospitality was of the highest order with lots of refreshments offered to the runners after the races.

AAI Masters Indoors

Victory for Sean McMullin in his category of the 3,000m race walk at the AAI Masters Indoors on Saturday 10th March in Athlone IT, in a time that would have won him a medal against men 30 years his junior, reinforced his reputation in master race walk circles and gave him an extra boost of confidence ahead of the upcoming European Masters Indoors in Madrid. Despite running as fast as he had to win the Leinster master 3,000m title two weeks before, Gerry Gavin had to settle for a place out of the All-Ireland medals this time, but top marks for effort. No problem for Christy Creagh in his category of the 3,000m to take the National title. Congratulations to our stalwart master athletes.

All-Ireland Schools Cross Country

We know from experience that it doesn’t take much for the cross country course in Waterford IT to turn into a mud bath and so it was no surprise that melting snow during the week and then heavy rain overnight turned the course into an absolute quagmire for the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Finals in Waterford IT on Saturday 10th March. Blue skies and very mild weather couldn’t make up for the mud bath and there were some big surprises in the results and in many cases the form book was thrown out and some well favoured athletes just weren’t able to perform up to expectations.

There were a number of Mullingar athletes competing for their school teams but the stand out individual performance has to be a brilliant 2nd place finish by Amy Geoghegan (Mercy Kilbeggan) in the Minor Girls 2,000m in a very close race and thrilling finish with only seconds separating the top places. After his runaway victory in the Leinster schools, hopes were high for Diarmuid Fagan (Colaiste Mhuire) in the Minor Boys 2,500m but despite great effort he just couldn’t quite match that performance, though 12th place was still excellent at an All-Ireland final given the dreadful conditions.

Best of the Mullingar girls in the Junior Girls 2,500m was Phoebe Bate (Loreto Mullingar), followed by Meabh Killalea (Loreto) who didn’t want to let the team down and ran despite suffering with a throat infection, Bea Drummond (Athlone CC), Meghan Bates (Loreto) who had to go home from school the day before with a vomiting bug but also ran anyway as she didn’t want to let the team down, and Aoife McGouran (Loreto). Aoife had been going great but fell in the mud on the second lap, hit a fence and got run over and spiked, but being the determined girl we know she is, she jumped up and finished anyway, so as not to let the team down. The Loreto team finished a great 4th place, just out of the medals, but if Aoife hadn’t fallen and Meabh and Meghan had been in top form, the team would surely have finished in the medals, but they’re the trials of cross country racing! Lorcan Mullen (Cistercian Roscrea) had a great race in the Junior Boys 3,500m and finished an excellent 17th place for his efforts.

Among the Loreto Mullingar team that finished just out of the team medals in 5th place in the Intermediate Girls 3,500m was Caoimhe O’Brien, Karla Cunningham and Ciara Smith, all running very well and finishing strongly. Jennifer Fidgeon started but had to stop on the second lap due to illness and we wish her a speedy recovery. In the Intermediate Boys 5,000m there were good performances from Colin Smith (Colaiste Mhuire), Eoin Quinn (Colaiste Mhuire), Andrew Shaw (St. Finian’s College), Paul McCool (Colaiste Mhuire) and Kevin Martin (Colaiste Mhuire) but no individual or team medals this time.

The best team performance came in the final race, the Senior Boys 6,000m where a fantastic 4th place finish for Jamie Battle (Colaiste Mhuire) saw him lead the Colaiste Mhuire team to victory, thanks to great support and team packing that included fellow Mullingar Harriers members Ciaran Nolan, Jack Moran, Andrew Daly, Euan Lagan, John Whitelaw and Brian Martin.

Irish Universities Cross Country

The Irish Universities Cross Country hosted this year by Trinity College Dublin took place on Saturday 10th March at the Santry Playing Fields on Santry Avenue where underfoot conditions were very soft but the cool dry weather conditions were good for the spectators. Elizabeth Carr (running one year down for DCU) in 5th place was the second scorer on the gold medal winning DCU team in the women’s race. The DCU team included Claire Fagan (11th) and Laura Whitelaw (17th), so congratulations to them too. DCU also won the men’s race, led home by Padraig Moran (6th), with great team running and support from Cormac Dalton (10th) making a great comeback after too long out of action with injury, and Oisin Quinn and Michael Moran. No surprise that DCU was also the best College overall on the day.

Bundoran 10 Mile

Possibly better known as a great spot for surfing, attention however was firmly landside in Bundoranon on Saturday morning 10th March when a record entry of nearly 1,200 runners, joggers and walkers competed in the Bundoran 10 Mile in damp misty conditions, an impressive entry in this ever-popular race that continues to grow year on year. Among the runners was Eddie Newman, finishing well up in 15th place overall in 59:27, winning his master category by a long way. All the more impressive is that it is only two weeks since Eddie ran a personal best in the Tokyo Marathon, so is still technically in his “recovery” phase!

Weather plays havoc with fixtures

We should be reporting on how Mullingar athletes fared on the final day of the Leinster Juvenile Indoors on Saturday 3rd March and at the AAI National Masters Indoors on Sunday 4th March, but of course the snow that hit on Tuesday evening 27th February just before training followed quickly by Storm Emma put paid to those fixtures and they had to be postponed.

The AAI Masters will now take place on Saturday 10th March in Athlone IT and the final day of the Leinster Juvenile Indoors will take place on Sunday 11th March, also in Athlone IT when over 65 of the Club’s underage members will compete in nearly 80 events, the biggest entry by any Club. The names of those entered for Sunday are displayed on the notice board in the Clubhouse. As it is Athlone, we expect that everyone will make their own travel arrangements but if anyone needs a lift, please let Club officials know. This is a Championship event, so you must wear your Club vest. Don’t forget to bring four pins for your race number and remember the maximum length of spikes allowed is 5mm but you can also wear runners. Everyone must collect their own race number and make sure they are checked-in for their event.

As a consequence of these date changes, day one of the AAI Juvenile Indoors for relays and some older age field events that was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday 10th March has moved a month to Saturday 7th April.

On Saturday 10th March too of course cross country eyes will be on Waterford IT where the All-Ireland Schools cross country finals take place and nearly 20 Mullingar athletes will be action competing for their schools and colleges hoping to win national honours.

Indoors or outdoors, we wish all Club members the very best of luck in their competitions.

February

Leinster Juvenile Indoors – day 2

Day two of the Leinster Juvenile Indoors took place in the NIA Abbotstown on Sunday 25th February where Mullingar had three teams in action. We started the day with a runaway victory in the 4x200m u/19 where Awa Fane, Whitney Imafidon, Eve Wallace and Rachel Cornally were in a class of their own and led from gun to tape to win with a whopping 9 seconds to spare, well over 50m in distance. Later in the day, Awa, Whitney and Eve combined with Shauna Leydon for the 4x200m u/18, which was a much closer affair. Mullingar was right in the mix from the gun but had to settle for 2nd place in a close finish, but the girls were still delighted with their medals.

Shauna Leydon was also busy in the field events where she took silver in the u/17 triple jump, a new event for her but once she got her mark in the first round, jumped consistently over 9m and missed gold by just 5 centimetres in a close competition. Shauna then moved to the u/17 shot where she put together a very consistent series to take the silver medal.

Having four boys in the final of the 60m u/12 two weeks before made the Mullingar team of Criostoir Ormsby, Conor Liston, Jamie Wallace and Kyle Faherty the clear pre-race favourites in the 4x100m u/12 and they didn’t disappoint. Winning their heat comfortably in a new Championship best time placed them in the favoured lane six for the final, where they took full advantage and with a faultless display ran even quicker, leading all the way and Kyle carried the baton safely across the line to win and improve the Championship best time again, down to 56.43 seconds. This team will be one to watch in the All-Ireland finals in March.

Tokyo Marathon

Having completed the London, New York, Boston, Chicago and Berlin Marathons in recent years, Eddie Newman needed to complete the Tokyo Marathon to earn the commemorative medal given to anyone who completes all six Marathon Majors. Having spent last summer out of competitive running due to a tendon tear, the odds were against him but Eddie worked his way back and on Sunday morning 25th February finished the Tokyo Marathon in his best time yet, 2:45:48, eleven years after completing London, proving that age is no barrier and there is no substitute for hard work and determination. Congratulations from everyone at the Club to Eddie on his great performance in Tokyo.

Leinster Junior, Senior & Masters Indoors

A fall in training some time ago that dislocated his shoulder followed by surgery on his rotator cuff kept Paddy Kelly side-lined for a long time. However, he put that behind him on Saturday 24th February at the Leinster Junior, Senior and Master Indoors in the NIA Abbotstown with a great run in the Masters Men 800m to take the silver medal in his category in a very close finish that came right down to the line. Competing for the first time indoors, Gerry Gavin was delighted with a clear cut victory in his category of the Master Men 3,000m and is now looking forward to competing indoors again at the next opportunity. In the Masters Men 1,500m Pauric Brady just couldn’t hit the top form needed to defend his title and was disappointed to finish out of the medal places this year but still put in a strong performance.

Vicky Harris made short work of the Senior Women 60m, winning comfortably by a distance and added to her medal tally later in the day with a silver medal in the Senior Women 200m to finish a very good indoor season and she can look forward with confidence to the outdoor season. Declan Brady (Senior Men 800m) and Ian McCormack (Senior Men 3,000m) also competed well and were satisfied with their performances.

In the field events, Shauna Leydon took a few jumps to get her mark in the Junior Women long jump but when she did she built on it nicely to take third place and earn a bronze medal, the fifth for Mullingar to round off a very good day.

Manx race Walking Festival

At the annual Manx Harriers AC Open Race Walking Festival at the National Sports Centre in Douglas, Isle of Man on Saturday morning 24th February the Mullingar race walkers really made their mark by turning in great performances in very good times. Oisin Lane was in fantastic form and raced to 2nd place in the open 10k in a brilliant time of 47:59, which is inside the qualifying standard set by European Athletics for the European Youth Championships in July. In the open 5k, Sarah Glennon finished 2nd in 24:5, not far off her PB but more importantly also inside the qualifying standard set by European Athletics for the European Youth Championships in July. Sarah was followed home by Jennifer Fidgeon in 3rd place in 25:53, which is a huge improvement for her and she continues to make rapid progress in this event. Following in 4th place was Rachel Glennon in 26:05 to really put Mullingar on the scoreboard. The event includes the Paul Nihill Shield, a competition between Irish and British juvenile race walkers and it was no surprise that Ireland comfortably won the Shield. Congratulations to our race walkers, under the expert guidance of Michael Lane, in performing so well and achieving these magnificent results.

Westmeath Examiner Sports Stars Awards for 2017

At a magnificent Gala Dinner in the Mullingar Park Hotel on Friday evening 23rd February, Sean McMullin was presented with the Westmeath Examiner Sports Stars Award for January. This comes on foot of a spectacular year for Sean in 2017 when he won three World Masters T&F Games gold medals in New Zealand, two World Masters Indoors silver medals in South Korea, and two European Masters T&F bronze medals in Denmark. Sean was interviewed by the host Robbie Irwin of RTE watched by family and a good group of supporters from the Club before receiving his Award. Congratulations to Sean from all at the Club.

AIT International Grand Prix

The capacity crowd for the AIT International Grand Prix on Wednesday evening 21st February was treated to an action-packed evening of World-class athletics, helped by some tremendous performances by some of the Irish athletes taking part.

The highlight of the evening from an Irish perspective was John Travers (Donore Harriers) creating history by becoming the first Irishman to run a sub-four minute mile indoors on Irish soil, clocking 3:59.40 to take third behind winner Ryan Gregson of Australia (3:57.86) and Poland’s Grzegorz Kalinowski (3:59.19). Other highlights were Ryan Shields (Jamaica) setting a new stadium record of 6.63 seconds in the 60m final and one to please the home crowd was an impressive 46.94 seconds by Thomas Barr (Ferrybank) to win the 400m.

Running in the AIT colours, Vicky Harris was up against some top class International and domestic opposition in her heat of the 60m sprint, including Naomi Sedney (Netherlands), Tahesia Harrigan-Scott (British Virgin Islands), Joan Healy (Bandon AC) and the Irish indoor Champion over 200m, Niamh Whelan (Ferrybank). Even though it was only a heat, Sedney won in an impressive 7.31 seconds, which is just outside the qualifying standard for the World Indoor Championships. Undaunted by the class of the opposition and relishing the opportunity to compete alongside such competition, Vicky finished in 7.81 seconds, not far off her best for the distance and even though she did not advance to the final, was delighted to be part of such an event, the fifth year in succession that she has been invited to compete in the Grand Prix.

Leinster Schools XC

Conditions were very good for running on Wednesday 21st February in Santry Demesne for the Leinster Schools Cross Country Finals, where a number of Mullingar athletes were competing for their schools and colleges looking for qualification to the All-Ireland Schools Finals in Waterford IT in March. Amy Geoghegan (Mercy Kilbeggan) booked her place for Waterford with a 4th place finish in the minor girls 2,000m. In the minor boys 2,500m there was no beating Diarmuid Fagan (Colaiste Mhuire), delighted to win the Leinster title. Phoebe Bate (Loreto Mullingar) finished 7th in the Junior Girls 2,500m and with Meabh Killalea and Aoife O’Brien finishing strongly and packing well, the Loreto team finished 2nd team. Best of the Mullingar athletes in the Junior Boys 3,500m was Lorcan Mullen (Cistercian College Roscrea) with a fine 11th place finish to advance to the All-Ireland finals. Also running well and finishing strongly was Colin McGee (St. Joseph’s Rochfortbridge) and Matthew Glennon (St. Finian’s Mullingar).

Loreto placed 2nd team in the Intermediate Girls 3,500m thanks to Caoimhe O’Brien in 2nd place and great team support from Jennifer Fidgeon (10th) and Ciara Smith. Andrew Shaw (St. Finian’s Mullingar) booked his place in the All-Ireland finals with a 10th place finish in the Intermediate Boys 5,000m. Among the Colaiste Mhuire team that finished an excellent 2nd team was Club members Ruairi Fagan, Paul McCool and Kevin Martin. In the Senior Girls 2,500m Susan Glennon (St. Finian’s Mullingar), Andrea Brady (Loreto Mullingar) and Laura Shaw (Loreto Mullingar) ran well but won’t advance to the All-Ireland Finals. Leading the Colaiste Mhuire team to 1st team with a fine 2nd place individual finish in the Senior Boys 6,000m was Jamie Battle, followed by Ciaran Nolan (10th), Jack Moran (11th), John Whitelaw and Euan Lagan.

AAI Senior Indoors

Mullingar was represented by Sarah Glennon, Rachel Glennon, Claire Fagan and Jamie Battle at the AAI Senior Indoor Championships at the National Indoor Arena in Abbottstown on the week-end of Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th February. Sarah and Rachel were first into action on Saturday in the 3,000m race walk and put in strong performances to finish 5th and 6th respectively. Claire Fagan narrowly missed qualifying from the 1,500m heats but took satisfaction from finishing in a new PB of 4:43.26, a three second improvement on her previous best and will give her great confidence for the year ahead. On Sunday morning, Jamie Battle competed in his first National Senior Championship in the 3,000m and was rewarded with an excellent 6th place and a PB of 8:40.27. The race was a typical championship style affair with very tactical opening laps but Jamie still improved his personal best time by a margin of twelve seconds.

AAI Juvenile Star Awards for 2017

Oisin Lane was honoured Athletics Ireland when he was presented with the Roisin O’Callaghan Special Award for Walks at the Athletics Ireland Juvenile 2017 Star Awards in Tullamore on Saturday evening 17th February. The Award is in recognition of the outstanding year Oisin had on the track in 2017, winning at the Tailteann Games and the Schools International and winning the u/16 All-Ireland title with a new Championship Best Performance.

There was success too for Mullingar, as the Club was presented with the Kennedy Cup for the Best Juvenile Cross Country Club in Ireland in 2017, marking three years in a row that Mullingar has won this cup. This comes as a result of the 5 team gold and 1 team silver medals won by Mullingar in the autumn cross country championships in 2017. Leinster also won the Bishop McFeeley Cup for best juvenile cross country Region and with 14 Mullingar athletes scoring on Leinster teams we can take some of the credit for helping Leinster to win this cup too. These cups are a great testament to the hard work put in by our outstanding juvenile athletes and their coaches. They are all to be congratulated and can be very proud of themselves and their achievements.

For the record, the individual Westmeath Award went to Niamh Fogarty of North Westmeath AC who won the All-Ireland indoor and outdoor shot and won the All-Ireland discus with a new Championship Best Performance, and competed at the European Junior Championships in Italy. A very worthy winner from Westmeath!

AAI Masters & Juvenile “B” XC

The weather certainly took a significant turn for the worse on Sunday 11th February when snow showers and a bitingly cold wind made conditions very harsh for the AAI National Masters and Juvenile “B” Cross Country Championships in Clarinbridge, Co. Galway.

Leading the Mullingar women home in the master women 4,000m in an excellent 23rd place overall of nearly 170 finishers was Aine O’Reilly, followed by Jane Creevy, Patricia Broderick, Emer O’Hanlon, Eileen Kenny, Nuala Moran, Caroline Mullen, Terri Greene and Michelle Kavanagh. When the results were sorted after the race, the Mullingar team of Patricia, Eileen, Nuala and Terri finished a very creditable 6th Club and Eileen Kenny finished 1st in her master age category to win the All-Ireland title. In the master men 4,000m Christy Creagh put in a great performance and was initially given 1st place in his master age category, which would have given Mullingar two All-Ireland Champions, but the result was subsequently reviewed and Christy was placed 2nd, which is still a fantastic result. We had no team in the master men 7,000m race but Liam McGlynn put in a solid performance and was pleased with his race.

Earlier in the day Aoife McGouran competed in the u/15 girls 2,500m. Illness had robbed Aoife McGouran of her best for the All-Ireland uneven ages cross country in Waterford before Christmas but she more than made amends and can be very satisfied with her excellent 9th place finish in Galway.

Leinster Juvenile Indoors – day 1

The underage indoor season proper got underway on Saturday 10th February on day one of the Leinster Juvenile Indoors in Athlone IT and the Mullingar athletes turned in some excellent performances, winning 3 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medal, in addition, 4 others finished just out of the medal places in 4th place and we had a big number qualify for their finals, so excellent performances by them all. A particular highlight was four Mullingar boys in the 60m u/12 sprint final, so this will be a quartet to watch for in the relays in two weeks time.

Mullingar’s race walkers continue to blaze the medal trail with gold for Andrew Glennon (1,000m u/14 walk) in his first Leinster Championship, and it was gold too for Matthew Glennon (1,500m u/16 walk) and Sarah Glennon (1,500m u/18 walk) in a new Championship Record of 7:01.57. Finishing just outside the medal places in 4th place was Jayne Walsh (1,500m u/16 walk) but she still qualifies for the All-Ireland Finals. Staying with walks, this year Leinster held the Junior, Senior and Masters walks on day one of the Juvenile Championships and Sean McMullin was an easy winner of the gold medal in his master category of the 3,000m walk and it was gold too for Rachel Glennon in the senior 3,000m walk, so Leinster race walk titles for all the Glennon siblings.

Rachel Cornally ran her first indoor 400m when she competed in the girls 400m u/19 and was delighted to come away with the silver medal after a fine race. On to the 1,500m programme, where Bea Drummond competed well in the girls 1,500m u/16 but finished just out of the medals in 4th place. In the corresponding boys 1,500m u/16 race, Colin Smith came through strongly to take 4th place, just missing bronze by a narrow margin, with Colin McGee also finishing well. Andrew Shaw battled well in the boys 1,500m u/17 but finished out of the medals in a very competitive race. In the boys 1,500m u/18, Andrew Daly was unlucky to finish just out of the medals in 4th place, just missing bronze right on the line, but will still qualify for the All-Ireland Finals. We finally got in the medals again when Aoife Darby stormed through in the girls 1,500m u/18 to take the silver medal.

In the field events, Caoimhe Donohue (u/13) and Alanna Costello (u/15) enjoyed their long jump competitions despite not finishing in the medal places. Shane Ormsby got in the medals in the boys u/14 shot and with a fine series to finish third and take the bronze medal.

As always, entries for the 60m sprints were very big, so a lot of heats were required, making qualification for the finals extremely difficult. There were 7 heats in the girls 60m u/12 where Muireann Donohue, Aideen Langtry and Morgan Corcoran competed with spirit but didn’t advance to the semi-finals. Mullingar had nine competing in the 6 heats of the boys 60m u/12, where Hugo Sleator, Dara Smullen, Alex Lynch, Matthew Reynolds and Rory McDonnell ran well but didn’t advance with Criostoir Ormsby, Conor Liston, Jamie Wallace and Kyle Faherty to the semi-finals. All four safely negotiated the semi-finals and it was great to see four from Mullingar in the final where they all competed brilliantly, Criostoir taking the bronze, Conor Liston only hundredths of a second behind, and Jamie and Kyle also sprinting brilliantly. There were 8 heats in the girls 60m u/13 and Caoimhe Kilmurray, Grace Byrne, Caoimhe Donohue and Shauna Traynor competed strongly against stiff opposition but didn’t advance with Aimee Wallace to the semi-finals. Aimee ran quicker as the rounds progressed and made it safely thorough to the final where she ran another great sprint but was very unlucky to finish out of the medals in a very close race.

Callum Costello made short work of his heat of the boys 60m u/13, winning easily to qualify comfortably for the final. Lining up for the final as a real medal prospect, Callum didn’t disappoint and blasted from the blocks to take the silver medal in a very close finish, only a few hundredths of a second away from gold. Amy O’Donoghue (girls 60m u/14), Alanna Costello and Shannon Liston (girls 60m u/15) and Niamh Cully (girls 60m u/16) ran well in their heats but didn’t advance to their finals, but no problem for Awa Fane in the girls 60m u/18, cruising easily through to the final, running a PB of 7.83 second in her heat. The final was run at a blistering pace and it took close scrutiny of the photo finish to determine the winner of the bronze medal, with Awa placed fifth, only three hundredths separating third, fourth and fifth. This concluded a long but enjoyable day of indoor competition.

Irish Universities Indoors

A few of the Club’s third level students were in action on Friday 9th February at the Irish Universities Indoors in Athlone IT. Building on her excellent performances at the AAI u/23 Indoors two weeks previously, Vicky Harris (Athlone IT) ran even quicker and placed 5th in the 60m and later in the day took bronze for 3rd place in the 200m, earning valuable points for Athlone IT. Rachel Glennon (DCU) finished 4th in a competitive 1,500m race walk, and while Declan Brady (GMIT) was disappointed not to advance from the 800m heats, he can take satisfaction from setting a new record for GMIT.

AAI Indoor Games

Colin Smith had a great race in the grade A 800m at the AAI Games in NIA Abbotstown on Sunday 4th February and was rewarded with an excellent personal best time of 1 minute 53.68 seconds. This was an excellent result for an athlete in a rich vein of form following his bronze medal at the National Junior Indoors 800m last weekend. Colin is now ranked 8th on the Irish senior indoor rankings for 2018.

Trim 10 Mile

The fourth edition of the Trim 10 Mile Road Race on Sunday morning 4th February drew a terrific entry of over 1,300. Weather conditions were dry, calm and cold, which was absolutely perfect for a 10 mile race. Mullingar was represented by 25 athletes, and as many are planning to run the Mullingar Half Marathon on St. Patrick’s Day, they could use the Trim 10 mile as a test of how their training is progressing. First to finish from Mullingar was Kevin Baker in 2nd place (53:03) and with great support from Eddie Newman (57:30) 1st in his master age category and Gerry Gavin (59:52), the Mullingar men finished 3rd team. Following them in is was Enda O’Carolan (61:40), Alan Crowley (63:33), Joan Flynn (63:50) 5th senior woman, Kieran Nolan (63:55), Liam McGlynn (64:32), Nollaig McEntegart (64:36) easily winning his master age category by a distance, Enda Seery (67:51), Paul Ginnell (68:42), Sean Liston (68:56), Robin Jackson (69:02), Ollie Gaffney (71:56), Michael O’Sullivan (73:04) 3rd in his master age category, Gillian Walsh (74:00), Michelle O’Halloran (75:17), Jane Creevy (77:16), Declan Costello (78:55), Criona Reid (79:25), Jude Whelehan (79:25), Emer O’Hanlon (79:28), Terri Greene (79:49), Joanna Tyrrell (80:09) and Tommy Archbold (74:56). A team prize and four individual prizes was a good result for the Club. Well done to them all.

Westmeath Junvenile Indoors

Mullingar had a very big squad of over 70 young athletes in action at the Westmeath Juvenile Indoors on Friday evening 2nd February held in the magnificent AIT indoor stadium, which was the first time many of the younger 8, 9 and 10 years old boys and girls in particular had the opportunity to compete there.

Thanks to great organisation by AIT AC, nearly three hundred boys and girls from AIT AC, East Westmeath AC, North Westmeath AC and Mullingar Harriers, aged u/9 to u/16, competed in a range of events. Even though every event was competitive, the atmosphere was still relatively relaxed compared to a Leinster indoors and our youngest athletes in particular made the most of the chance to compete in the state-of-the-art facility, giving them a taste of what’s to come in a few years when they can compete at a Leinster indoors. Everyone could compete in two events each, so there was plenty of action on the track and in the field events to keep the big crowd of parents, supporters and coaches occupied following proceedings. Mullingar athletes were regular visitors to the medal podium throughout the evening and by the end of the evening 35 of them had won medals – 11 of them more than one – a great collection of 46 medals in total.

Medal winners on the night in u/9 were Maeve Shaw (60m and 300m u/9), Jake Bell (60m and 500m u/10), Katie Kilmurray (60m and 600m u/11), Aisling Whelan (60m u/11), Sean Byrne (60m u/11), Morgan Corcoran (60m and 600m u/12), Quyen Bartley (60m u/12), Conor Liston (60m and 600m u/12), Kyle Flaherty (60m u/12), Aimee Wallace (60m and high jump u/13), Anna May Flannery (60m u/13), Alanna Costello (60m and long jump u/15), Shannon Liston (60m and shot u/15), Martin Foran (60m u/15), Katie Glennon (500m u/10), Daniel Boyle (500m u/10), Lydia McDonnell (600m u/11), Matthew Molloy (600m and long jump u/11), Ellen Daly (600m u/12), Alex Lynch (600m u/12), Charlie Foy (600m u/12), Adele Geoghegan (600m u/13), Leah Geoghegan (600m u/13), Caoimhe Kilmurray (600m u/13), Aisling Lane (800m u/14), Eva Farrell (800m u/14), Diarmuid Fagan (800m u/14), Ross Killalea (800m u/14), John Ryan (800m u/14), Meghan Bates (800m u/15), Meabh Killalea (800m u/16), Arthur Drummond (long jump u/11), Hannah Boyle (long jump and shot u/12), Caoimhe Donohue (long jump u/13), Aoife McGouran (high jump and long jump u/5) and David Burke (long jump u/13).

Others that competed with great determination, very many making finals but just finishing out of the medal places, were Cian Traynor, Cathal Kilmurray (u/9), Eileen Farrell, Emily Farrell, Katie Glennon, Liam Weblin, Daniel Boyle, Matthew Weblin (u/10), Ava Cosgrave, Síofra O’Reilly, Eoin Donohue, Luke Greene, Luke Robinson, Sean Graham, William Scahill, Niall Brady (u/11), Sophia Webb, Katie Kearns, Aideen Langtry, Aimee Lynch, Muireann Donohue, Darragh Weblin, Ryan Bell, Alex Lynch, Cillian Traynor (u/12), Grace Byrne, Ellen Foran, Lucy Donnelly, Robyn Bates, Ciara Glennon (u/13), Laura Kearns, Adam Smyth, Adam Brady, Eoin McGrath, Ben Bose, Tadhg Sheridan (u/14), Meghan Bates, Jasmine Farrell,

Many thanks to the parents for bringing the children to Athlone or they wouldn’t have been able to take part in such numbers. Thanks also to the very many who also helped on the night providing encouragement, making sure everyone got to their event in time, or volunteering as officials at the various events. We hope it gives them the confidence to step forward at future events, as they now know what’s involved and that it’s not so daunting.

January

AAI Junior & u/23 Indoors

The 60m sprinters were first into action at the AAI Junior and u/23 Indoor Championships in Athlone IT on Sunday 28th January. It was great to see two Mullingar women in the 60m u/23 race, which was a straight final, and it was even better to see Vicky Harris power from the blocks and lead from gun to tape to win the title, with Maimouna Fane storming through the field behind to snatch the bronze medal right on the line in a very close finish. Awa Fane qualified well from her heat of the Junior 60m, dipping nicely under 8 seconds and in the final she ran faster again but finished out of the medal places, though set down an early marker for the juvenile indoor season ahead.

Mullingar race walkers continue to make their mark thanks to the expert coaching by Michael Lane. In the Junior Women 3,000m walk, Sarah Glennon raced to a fine 3rd place, with young Jennifer Fidgeon giving a spirited performance only a few places behind. Sarah is underage for two more years and Jennifer for another three, so no doubt they’ll both be challenging for honours over the next few years. Rachel Glennon stuck to her task in the u/23 women 3,000m walk and was rewarded with a silver medal for her efforts. Race walker of the day was Oisin Lane who took the early lead in the Junior Men 3,000m walk and with a blistering final lap pulled clear of his long time pursuer to win by a distance in a new PB of 13:01.10. Oisin is underage for three more years, so his sights will be on retaining the title a few more times.

The sprinters returned to the track for the 200m where Vicky Harris and Maimouna Fane qualified from their heats of the u/23 200m, Awa Fane qualified from her heat of the Junior 200m but Patrick Leydon was unlucky to miss a place in the final of the Junior 200m despite a strong performance in his heat. Come final time, Awa didn’t let the occasion overawe her and coming off the final bend into the home straight was in contention for the bronze medal but disaster struck when she stumbled close to the finish, ending her race early with a few scrapes and cuts, but thankfully doing no permanent damage to herself. Bitterly disappointed and wondering what if, Awa will have learned much from her first foray into the junior ranks. Maimouna was forced to withdraw from the u/23 final with a foot injury but Vicky powered around the tight indoor bends to win the silver medal to add to her 60m gold and round off an excellent day for the Mullingar sprinters.

Aoife Darby competed in the Junior 800m and in a thrilling race was unlucky to finish 4th, just out of the medal places. Aoife in underage for two more years, so has plenty of time to make amends. Declan Brady kept himself in contention in his heat of the 800m u/23 but was edged out of a place in the final on the last lap despite a great effort. Andrew Daly ran his first ever 800m when he lined up in his heat of the Junior 800m. The race was run at a very fast pace and it was certainly a baptism of fire for Andrew but he raced well and was unlucky not to advance to the final. No problem for Colin Smith as he qualified from his heat and in the final was in contention for the title until the final sprint on the home straight where he was edged into 3rd place in a close run race.

Congratulations to the dozen Mullingar athletes who competed with great determination, winning seven medals between them and they can look forward with confidence to further indoor competition in the coming weeks and months.

Raheny 5 Mile

Over 3,500 runners, joggers and walkers took to the roads around Raheny in Dublin on Sunday 28th January on a cool and windy morning for the annual Raheny 5 mile road race, expertly organised as always by Raheny AC and rightly regarded as one of the very best road races in the Country. Among the huge entry were four from Mullingar, led home by Timmy Murphy in twenty second place in 26:21, followed by Kieran Nolan (28:31) and Enda Seery (31:12), all satisfied with their performances, especially Kieran and Enda who improved significantly on their times from last year.

Annual General Meeting

The Club’s Annual General Meeting held on Friday evening 19th January in the Annebrook House Hotel was well attended and it gave everyone present an opportunity to be reminded of the many successes enjoyed by the Club over the last year on the road, at indoor and outdoor track and field and in cross country thanks to the performances of members from the very youngest juveniles up to our most senior master athletes.

Mark Christie continues to be standard bearer for the Club and the one that everyone looks up to and wishes to emulate and Mark’s participation at the European Athletics Team Championships in June was one of the fourteen times that Club members competed for Ireland in 2017, with International debuts by Bea Drummond in the Schools International Cross Country and Eileen Kenny at the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country. Among the many highlights was Sean McMullin wining multiple medals at World Master Indoors, World Masters Games and European Masters T&F in an extremely memorable year for him. Jamie Battle’s win in the junior men race at the recent Antrim International Cross Country was his first victory at International level and a testament to the great emerging talent that he is.

Chairperson, Joe Ryan, in his final AGM as Chair as he has served the maximum term of seven years allowed, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and introduced the Secretary’s report by Margaret Daly and the Treasurer’s report by Tom McGrath. These were followed by the Chairperson’s Address by Joe Ryan and the President’s Address by Sean McMullin, which was read by Joe Ryan as Sean was unable to attend the meeting in person. Club membership continues to grow and is currently at an all time high and the Club’s finances are in a healthy state. Some important issues and motions were discussed and debated, including the increasing pressure on the coaches due to increased membership and an appeal was made for more parents to step forward and assist the existing coaches, even if only occasionally. An extra pair of hands and eyes is really all that is asked for and no coaching experience is required though any that wish to gain a coaching qualification will be gladly assisted. The subscriptions rates for 2019 were also agreed and they will increase a little due to the increased cost of entries met by the Club in Leinster and National competitions, especially for our underage members. The new membership rates will not apply until 2019.

The following were elected as officers and committee members for the coming year:

Sean McMullin (President), Breda McDonnell (Vice-President), Margaret Daly (Chairperson), Caitríona Duffy (Vice-Chairperson), Tom McGrath (Treasurer), Colm Walsh (Secretary), Greg Duggan (Assistant Secretary – PRO, Registrar and Competition entries), Joanna Tyrrell (Minutes Secretary), Pauline Quinn, Margaret Daly and Greg Duggan (Child Officers), Cormac Finnerty, Pat Muldoon Senior, Vera McCool and John Shaw (Trustees). The officers and trustees are automatically on the new committee, as are Life Vice-presidents Seamus Gibney, Cormac Finnerty, Martin Fagan, Bobbie Begley, John Mulvihill, George Bell and Christy Creagh, and will be joined by Mark Bate, Declan Costello, Amanda Dalton, Joan Flynn, Nuala Moran, Karen McGouran, Clare O’Donnell, Aine O’Reilly, Joe Ryan and Tom Wallace who were elected to the committee. Excluding trustees and Life-Vice presidents who are automatically on the Committee, the more or less fifty-fifty gender balance in the Club membership in general is very well reflected in the elected Committee and Officers.

Concluding the meeting, Joe Ryan thanked all present for their attendance and input and closed a successful AGM.

Leinster Masters Cross Country

The Club’s master cross country athletes got 2018 off to a great start at the Leinster Masters Cross Country in Dunboyne, Co. Meath on Sunday 14th January, taking team gold in the men and women races, in addition to two silver and two bronze individual medals. Conditions on the day were dry, but a stiff breeze made it very cold. Well done to Dunboyne AC for hosting the Championships and laying out an excellent course. Wet weather in the days leading up to the event made the ground soft and mucky in places, especially in the outer field and on the tight corners but the course was generally in good condition and provided an ideal test for all the runners.

Aine O’Reilly returned to cross country running with a bang and had an excellent run to finish 6th place overall in the Master Women 4,000m and place 2nd in her category. Following her in was Maura Dervin (3rd in her category), Jane Creevy in her first cross country race, Nuala Moran, Patricia Broderick, Criona Reid also running in her first cross country race, Eileen Kenny (2nd in her category), Caroline Mullen, Emer O’Hanlon and Lorraine Brady, all finishing strongly. The team of Maura, Nuala, Patricia and Eileen combined to win gold for 1st Club and bronze for 3rd County in their category, to get the day off to a great start for Mullingar.

The Mullingar men were not to be outdone, and with Gerry Gavin finishing well up in the Master Men 6,000m, followed by Eddie Newman with a terrific final lap to move well up the field and finish 2nd in his category, then Kieran Nolan, Hans de Raeymaeker, David Fagan, Liam McGlynn, Mel Carthy and Paul Ginnell packing well in support, the team of Eddie, David, Liam and Mel won gold for 1st Club in their category by a big margin and won bronze for 3rd County, just missing silver by a single point.

Congratulations to our master athletes on their successes. Everyone was delighted with the medal haul that was taken home and plans were being made for the All-Ireland Masters Cross Country in Galway in mid-February.

Collinstown 5k and 10k

The Lough Lene Gaels “New Year Challenge” 5k and 10k races in a cold and windy Collinstown on Sunday morning 14th January attracted nearly 100 runners in each race. Over the shorter 5k distance, well up for the challenge was Christy Creagh finishing in 28:30 to place 2nd in his master category. Opting for the longer 10k distance, Enda O’Carolan was very pleased to finish 3rd in 37:32. Also happy with their performances was Alan Crowley (40:20), Enda Seery (41:10), Brian Collentine (41:40), Michael O’Sullivan (43:55) 2nd in his master category, and Ollie Gaffney (43:57). Well done to them all.

AAI National Indoor League – Round 1

Competing in the guest 800m in round one of the AAI National Indoor League at the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown on Saturday 13th January, Colin Smith placed third in a PB of 1:54.70 in a very competitive race. This was an improvement of over a second on his previous best time. Colin has been rapidly progressing and improving since starting the sport less than two years ago and this trend looks set to continue in 2018.

Munster Indoors

Sean McMullin dropped down a master age group in the 3,000m race walk at the Munster Indoors in Nenagh on Sunday morning 7th January but still had more than enough to win the race comfortably and get his 2018 season off to a great winning start.

Celtic International Cross Country

Congratulations to Jamie Battle who got 2018 off to a fine start with a superb victory in the Celtic International Junior Cross Country at the Antrim International Cross Country on Saturday morning 6th January. Jamie dominated the race to finish a clear winner in a field that included the best Junior endurance athletes from Scotland, Wales and Ulster and in the process helped Ireland secure second place in the team rankings. Jamie is one of the most improved young athletes in the Country over the past year and his first International victory is a fitting reward for his dedication and commitment to the sport. Caoimhe O’Brien was third scorer on the Irish Development Team in the u/17 race and will benefit greatly from the experience of representing Ireland again. Congratulations to Jamie and Caoimhe from everyone at the Club.

Leinster Star Awards for 2017

At the Athletics Leinster Star Awards Gala Dinner in the Bridge House Hotel in Tullamore on Saturday evening 6th January, Michael Lane was presented with an Outstanding Service Award by Athletics Leinster for his contribution to the sport over many years.

Michael Lane joined Mullingar Harriers in 1978 with the intention of being a long distance runner. It wasn’t long before he was introduced to the discipline of race walking and as the saying goes, the rest is history. Within a few months he had mastered the race walking technique to the point where he was in contention for National honours at the Irish Championships. It didn’t take too long more before he became an Irish International athlete, competing at various International events, culminating in his being selected to compete at the European Championships. All the time, Michael continued to be a valued member of Mullingar Harriers, not only as a competitive athlete but also serving on the committee for many years. Michael’s interest in coaching has seen him become one of the most respected race walking coaches not only in Ireland but in the World and he is among the pioneers of race walking in Ireland, helping hundreds of athletes, and is currently the National Event Coordinator. Michael has been an Irish Team Coach at European and World Championships and was a coach at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. His contribution to athletics in Westmeath both as an administrator and coach has been invaluable. Michael is certainly one of the unsung heroes of Irish athletics, especially to the race walking fraternity.

Michael was delighted to be given recognition and honoured by Athletics Leinster in this way and it was great that his wife Mary and children Oisin and Aisling were present at the award ceremony to see him receive his Award.

Other individual Awards were presented to Mullingar Harriers athletes Vicky Harris (senior athlete) and Shauna Leydon (juvenile girl) and joint Awards were made to the North Westmeath AC athletes Darragh Gaffney and Conor Fogarty (juvenile boy). Also winning an Award was Niamh Fogarty (North Westmeath AC) who received the Throwers Award for Leinster.

After the hugely successful cross country season where Mullingar won ten of the eighteen Club titles in cross country, there’s no surprise that our juvenile athletes retained the Morrissey Cup for best juvenile Club in cross country in Leinster. Mullingar has won this trophy every year since 2001. Westmeath also finished second County in the Foley Cup, behind Kilkenny, so congratulations to all our underage athletes that played a part in this success.

Mullingar came very close to winning the Leinster Shield for u/9, 10 and 11 Pairs, equaling the points of Boyne AC but Boyne edged it as they had more gold medals. A very close result! Mullingar also placed joint second in the Dew Shield for Junior and u/23 T&F and second Club in the Mick Byrne Cup for juvenile T&F, so perhaps we can target these trophies in 2018?