Q3, 2020 News & Reports – July to September

SEPTEMBER

Six month race famine to end on Sunday 4th October

If it wasn’t for cancellations due to Covid-19, we would have enjoyed a fine day on Wednesday 23rd September for the Westmeath Schools Cross Country in Belvedere – nicely slotted in between two wet days, and we would have been nearly sunburned on Sunday 27th September in Greenanstown, Co. Meath at the Star of the Sea AC Open Cross Country, so we can only hope the weather is as kind this time next year for these two extremely popular events. The last race for many of our underage members was over six months ago, at the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country in early March or the Leinster Juvenile Indoors in February, so they should be very eager to end their race famine on Sunday 4th October and get back to competition again at day one of the Westmeath Cross Country Championships in Belvedere, with races for girls and boys under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years of age.

However, In line with Covid-19 requirements, there is a limit of 200 people allowed at outdoor events, so things will have to be done differently this year. One of the most important changes is that there will be no spectators. Every underage entrant may be accompanied by only one parent or guardian to make sure we keep under the 200 person limit at any time. If more than one parent arrives with an underage athlete, only one parent will be admitted and non-competing siblings or friends will not be permitted either. We wish it was a family outing like in previous years, but it won’t be, and every extra person on the course reduces our capacity to hold the event. Anyone not allowed entry must return and wait in their car.

Also, this year entries will be taken online only and there will be no entries allowed on the day. The link for online entries will be posted this Wednesday on the Club’s website and on social media and entries will close on Thursday night. Everyone that has entered will receive an e-mail before Sunday with a timetable showing admission times and start times for each race. Athletes must not arrive before the designated admission time and anyone arriving too early will be directed back to wait in their car. The e-mail will also advise everyone of the arrangements for cashless payment on-the-day, a reminder to all entrants and parents with them to bring hand sanitiser and practice social distancing, and once their race is over they must promptly leave the course so the next race can take place. When finished, the athletes can cool down away from the course.

It might all seem very strange and with less of a crowd, quieter and more subdued than previous years, but we’re appealing to everyone to please abide by the rules so we can hold the event safely for competitors, officials and parents. Everyone must take personal responsibility for their own behaviour and that of those they are responsible for, and do everything that they can to make the event safe for everyone present. The grounds in Belvedere are in excellent shape and we just hope for a fine day so everyone can enjoy it as much as possible. Day two will take place the following Sunday with races for juvenile uneven ages and for junior, novice, senior and masters.

“Virtual” Mullingar Half Marathon

After being postponed just days before it was due to be held on its traditional date of St. Patrick’s Day, the Mullingar Half Marathon eventually became a “virtual” event due to the Covid-19 social restrictions, so runners could run the 21.1km distance any day between Sunday 13th and Sunday 20th September, time themselves with a GPS device and submit proof of their times online. A group of Mullingar Harriers AC athletes ran the half marathon distance on Saturday morning 19th September to coincide with the virtual event, covering much of the original race course.

Leading the Harriers home were James Keegan in 1:19:19, Eddie Newman with 1:19:39 and Gerard Gavin who ran 1:21:21. Those times were also the three fastest times entered in the overall virtual event giving the club full occupancy of the podium. Shortly behind the leading men was Áine O’Reilly in 1:28:04, the fastest time for a lady and so she leads the female standings.

In the group of twenty six Harriers who ran the virtual event, a total of seven ran personal bests for the half marathon distance. Alan Crowley just missed a top three finish with 1:22:27, while Amy Mahony also had a very strong run finishing in 1:36:43. Other Harriers recording personal bests were Emer O’Hanlon (1:41:21), Mary Stuart (1:41:35), Máirtín Savage (1:41:39), Siobhan Farry (1:42:45) and Caroline Mullen (1:52:08).

During the week a number of Harriers ran the 21.1km distance on their own, bringing the total number of Harriers completing the virtual event to thirty two. Among those solo runs was Jenny Algar who ran 1:33:40 and Enda Seery who also recorded a personal best time of 1:29:20. Jenny’s effort was the second quickest recorded by a female runner and with Amy Mahony’s run being the third fastest the Harriers ladies also dominated the virtual podium.

While the road race calendar remains empty, the dedication of the Harriers towards their training is commendable. With so few targets to aim for the work rate of the club’s athletes is still paying off with personal improvements and great achievements.

AAI National Junior T&F – Day 2

A few months ago it was looking very unlikely that we would have any outdoor T&F competitions this year, but despite the cancellation of underage competitions, thanks to the sterling efforts of Athletics Ireland, we were fortunate to have some National Championships, the last of which, the AAI National Junior T&F, concluded on Sunday 13th September in a very warm and sunny Santry Stadium. As we’ve become accustomed to, there were no spectators allowed but despite the lack of atmosphere usually generated by a noisy crowd, the level of competition was excellent thanks to the large entries across all events.

Shauna Leydon competed in the triple jump where she got off to the best possible start with a new personal best of 10.83m in the opening round to put her in fourth place. She had no improvement in the second round and dropped to sixth place, but she bettered her personal best again in the third round with a leap of 10.85m to consolidate her sixth place position. This proved to be her best jump of the day to finish an excellent sixth place and expressed great satisfaction with her performance after. She hadn’t much time to rest though and quickly had to turn her attention to the 400m hurdles. As the final declaration of athletes would require more than one race, the event was run in seeded heats, with the overall positions decided on fastest times, and Shauna was drawn in the faster of the two heats. Running in the difficult outside lane Shauna put in a great effort to finish sixth in her race, and using the times from both races, a fine eighth place overall in a National final in what is still a new event for her.

There were three heats in the 800m where only the first two in each heat were guaranteed a place in the final, along with the next four fastest times, so competition was fierce. Andrew Daly and Brian Martin were drawn together in the first heat where they kept well in touch through the bell but with 200m to go Andrew began to drop back but Brian found an extra gear to move into fourth place, holding it to the finish comfortably qualifying for the final as one of the four non-automatic qualifiers, in fact his time would have been enough to actually win the other two heats. Unfortunately despite finishing well, Andrew did not advance to the final with Brian. As expected, the final set out at a fast pace and Brian went through the bell in the middle of the pack and full of running. Down the back straight for the final time he began to move through the field and with a terrific surge of pace began to quickly close down on fourth and third place, slowly winding them in and it looked like he might take fourth place in the finish straight but he was held off and had to settle for fifth place but was still extremely happy with his race after.

It was always going to be difficult to match the medal haul of day one but Shauna, Andrew and Brian are to be commended for their excellent efforts against the very best Junior athletes in Ireland, getting themselves into the best possible shape despite the lack of optimal training facilities for several months and the lack of competitions to prepare due to Covid-19, which they would have enjoyed in any other year.

AAI National Masters T&F

It was cool but dry and bright in an eerily quiet Santry for the AAI National Masters T&F on Sunday 6th September. Colm Walsh went out strongly from the start of the 5,000m walk, tracking the early leader and keeping within striking distance but careful not to fall foul of the ever vigilant judges and risk picking up penalties. Meanwhile, Sean McMullin worked away steadily further back, dominating his own category as expected. Both Mullingar men continued to drive on as the laps counted down. With two laps to go the long time race leader was disqualified putting Colm in the lead and he held it all the way to the end, arms aloft as he crossed the line in first place. Finishing strongly behind him in third place overall was Sean, comfortably winning his category and even beating all but one man fifteen years his junior, such is Sean’s prowess as a race walker.

Pauric Brady and Gerard Gavin contested the very competitive 1,500m where both men put in great efforts in their races but the relatively short distance wasn’t to their liking on this occasion and they had to settle for places out of the medals but top marks for their competitive spirit against the best masters in Ireland.

Over at the 35 pounds weight for distance event, Tom Walsh was in second place by just one centimetre with 7.05m after two attempts but on his third of four attempts, he launched the weight out to 7.21m to take the lead, which proved the best of the day and he was delighted to win the National title and add to Mullingar’s medal haul.

The day finished with the 5,000m where there were so many entries that they were split into five separate races with Patrick Muldoon running in the first race where he stuck gamely to his task but despite his best efforts he finished out of the medals.

AAI National Junior T&F – Day 1

In these Covid-19 times, we’re growing accustomed to a Santry stadium empty of spectators and only athletes and officials allowed in, and that’s how it was for Day 1 of the AAI National Junior T&F on Saturday 5th September. Originally scheduled for just one day, to cope with the very large number of entries and keep within the 200 limit at outdoor events, Athletics Ireland had to add a second day, which will be Sunday 13th September. Athletics Ireland is to be congratulated on ensuring the event went ahead in spite of the significant challenges presented in complying with the Covid-19 health requirements.

Unable to finish the senior walk the week before, Sarah Glennon was looking to make amends in the 3,000m walk. Suffering no problems this time, though she was still not at her best, Sarah put in a better performance but was unable to keep in touch with a surge in pace after one kilometre but pushed on and had to settle for a place out of the medals in fourth place. Leading from the start of the 5,000m walk, Matthew Glennon set a cautious early pace to settle into the race but at the one kilometre mark he injected a bit of pace to open a gap on the field, increasing it with every lap until after a consummate display of race walking he had a commanding lead of half a lap at the bell to come home in first place in 23:23.66. This was a fine display by Matthew and will help him erase the memory of the disqualification he suffered in the senior walk the week before.

Winning his heat of the 100m with ease in a time very close to his best, Charles Okafor lined up in the final as a serious contender for honours and did not disappoint. With a relatively slow start by his standards, Charles trailed in fourth at the halfway point but then got fully into his running and absolutely surged through the field to take the lead and win his first National Junior title in a new PB of 10.92 seconds into a noticeable headwind of 1.3m/s. This was his first time under 11 seconds and there’s no doubt but there is plenty more to come.

The rain came down heavy for the 200m heats but that didn’t bother Charles who won his heat with ease to advance to the final. The final was run in pouring rain and with a stiff headwind on the home straight, so far from ideal for sprinters. Blasting from lane three, Charles quickly made up the stagger on the outside lanes and came into the straight in the lead and continued to drive on to win in 22.16 seconds into a noticeable 1.2m/s headwind to take his second National Junior title of the day.

As the final declaration of athletes in the 1,500m would require more than one race, the event was run in seeded heats, with the overall positions decided on fastest times. Andrew Daly ran in the first heat where he kept in contention and drove hard to the end to finish a very creditable fifth. That left Colin (P) Smith and Brian Martin flying the flag for Mullingar in the second heat. Knowing the times of the first heat meant that those in the second knew what they had to do to get in the medals. After a cagey opening lap, the pace suddenly ramped up and it was race on for the leaders, with Colin and Brian keeping in close contact. By the bell, the pace was so quick and the gap to the front runners too much that both Mullingar men knew they were not going to get in the medal places but pushed on to finish strongly. When the results were combined, the three Mullingar men finished out of the medal places but all gave very good accounts.

Morton Juvenile Live

The Morton Juvenile Live on Friday evening 4th September in Santry was an open juvenile T&F meeting aimed at younger athletes that had their Regional and National Championships cancelled due to Covid-19. Great credit is due to the Dublin County Board and David Matthews the Athletics Ireland Development Officer for the Dublin Region, for organising the event in these very challenging times. Given his ranking in the sprints, Kyle Faherty was drawn in the faster of the two races of the 80m u/14 and despite cool, showery conditions, which are not conducive for sprinting Kyle finished a very close second in 10.49 seconds into a stiff 2.2 metres per second headwind, only four hundredths of a second behind the winner. This was Kyle’s first and only outdoor race this year, so he was very happy to have run so well.

AUGUST

AAI National Senior T&F – days 3 & 4

As on days one and two, only athletes and officials were allowed into a cool and windy Santry stadium for days three and four of the AAI National Senior T&F on Saturday and Sunday 29th and 30th August. Due to Covid-19 restrictions on numbers attending, this year the Championships had to be stretched out over four days, in nine distinct sessions, in a very quiet spectator-free Stadium, but Athletics Ireland is to be congratulated on ensuring they went ahead in spite of the significant logistic headaches thrown up by the Covid-19 health requirements.

Mullingar interest was confined to Saturday and opened with Shauna Leydon in the triple jump, where she was one of the youngest competitors but the experience of competing at this level is invaluable and will stand to her ahead of the upcoming National Juniors. Overcoming a foul in the opening round, Shauna put together a good series of jumps, her best effort of 10.42m coming in the fourth round, to place a very creditable sixth place, which will give her confidence for the National Juniors.

First Mullingar athlete on the track on Saturday was Colin (D) Smith, running in the third of four heats of the 800m, where only the first two in each heat plus the next two fastest finishers would advance to the final, so qualification was very tough, which reflected in the standard of racing in the very competitive heats. Despite having to check his stride as the lead group bunched approaching the bell, Colin kept nicely in touch down the back straight and made his move with 200m to go but despite a great finish on the home straight, he was run out for fourth and unfortunately his time wasn’t quick enough to advance to the final as a non-automatic qualifier.

After a cautious start, an injection of pace a few laps into the 5,000m race walk saw the field quickly reduce to four with Sarah Glennon in a battle to hold on to third. Hampered by calf problems, Sarah battled on but was forced to drop back to fourth by the 2k mark and not long after that she knew she would be unable to carry on and was forced to withdraw. A huge disappointment for Sarah but hopefully it’s nothing serious and we’ll see Sarah in action again in the walk at the National Juniors.

Moving to the longer 10,000m race walk, the focus for Mullingar was on Matthew Glennon and Colm Walsh. Matthew is no stranger to the distance, but for Colm, this was his first time to race walk over 10k, so he was in uncharted territory. Matthew was in fifth place when he received his third red card warning and was stopped and directed to the penalty zone for a one minute time penalty. When he resumed, while he had obviously lost valuable time, he hadn’t lost his position and was still in fifth place but a further red card saw him disqualified and his race was over, which is always a risk in this very technical event. Meanwhile, coping admirably with the unfamiliar distance, Colm stuck to his task and was very satisfied to come home in an excellent fifth place in a National Senior race walk.

AAI National Senior T&F – days 1 & 2

Despite a large field the women’s 5,000m at the AAI National Senior T&F in a very wild and windy Santry on Saturday 22nd August, the first of four days this year, was a straight final and included Claire Fagan who was one of the pre-race medal favourites. Due to strict Covid-19 restrictions and limitations, Santry stadium was empty of spectators and only athletes and officials were allowed, so it was eerily quiet for a National Championships but that didn’t take from the quality of the competition. Choosing to ignore a break at 2k by eventual race winner, Leevale AC’s Michelle Finn, Claire kept with the main group maintaining a steady 3:20 per kilometre pace through 3k but with three laps to go she made her move and was soon among a small chasing group of just three, leading it through the bell. Passed on the back straight, Claire kept her form and chased hard, closing slightly on second place in the home straight but the line came too soon and she finished third in 16:48.26 reinforcing her ranking as one of the top distance athletes in Ireland. Claire also won the u/23 title in her final year in the category.

Earlier in the day, first into action for Mullingar was Euan Lagan in the second of three heats of the men’s 5,000m where a very slow opening few laps did him no favours and when the pace suddenly increased with 2k to go, lacking races due to Covid-19 showed and Euan initially struggled a bit to find a response but rallied and pushed on to finish well in 16:18.80 but it wasn’t enough to advance to the final. Colin (P) Smith ran in heat 3 of 4 of the men’s 1,500m heats late on Saturday evening and after seeing the first two heats knew he needed a big performance, definitely a personal best and possibly even running under 4 minutes to advance to the final. However, a very pedestrian opening lap put paid to a fast time and even though Colin ran a really good race and finished sixth, 4:13.37 was too slow to advance to Sunday’s the final. Colin really needed to be in the fast first heat to have any chance of a personal best but the experience of competing at this level will certainly stand to him.

A very large entry meant there were six heats of the men’s 100m on Sunday afternoon, so qualification was extremely tough, with only the winner of each guaranteed to advance along with the next four fastest times to fill the ten lanes in the final. A strong headwind added to the challenges for the sprinters. Charles Okafor ran in the second heat and after a terrific start settled quickly into his running and sprinting hard all the way to the line finished a close third in a season’s best of 11.13 seconds into a noticeable one metre per second headwind, putting him in the mix for a non-automatic fastest time place in the later final but unfortunately he just missed out by two places or a mere three hundredths of a second. This was an excellent performance by Charles in his first outdoor National Championships and he’ll draw on it for the 200m on Sunday 30th August.

Irish Life Health Mile Challenge

The Irish Life Health Mile Challenge was set up to see what County and Club could take the prize as the fastest and fittest. The week long challenge started on Monday 17th August, the 35th anniversary to the day, when four of Ireland’s top milers (Frank O’Mara, Ray Flynn, Eamonn Coghlan and Marcus O’Sullivan) ran the World record at the time for the 4 x 1 mile relay in Dublin. For athletics clubs nationwide, there was €1,000 on offer for the fastest 4 x 1mile relay, male and female.

To coincide with the challenge, Mullingar Harriers AC members ran a mile race at training on Wednesday evening 19th August. Weather conditions were far from ideal with Storm Ellen on the way and the most recent Government Covid-19 restrictions required the athletes to run in groups no greater than 15 in size. The first group of runners set off under a downpour but recorded some impressive times with James Keegan leading the field across the line in 4:58 followed closely by Andrew Nevin in 5:05. Áine O’Reilly was quickest woman in that group recording 5:51 but it was Catriona Kennedy, running in the second wave, who ran the fastest woman time of the night in 5:41.

On Thursday morning 20th August a number of Club members who missed the Wednesday night challenge ran their own timed mile. When Sinead Whitelaw (5:51), Jenny Algar (5:59) and Amy Mahony (6:02) submitted their times, the Mullingar Harriers women had taken the lead in the National challenge. The lead was short lived though and it wasn’t long before Mayo AC took the lead, so calls went out for help. Elizabeth Carr included a flying mile of 5:46 during a triathlon training session, which included a cycle followed by a number of running intervals. Then Joan Flynn’s rest week was disrupted when asked to throw in a surprise time trial but she produced a great solo effort of 5:41 bringing the Club within touching distance of victory.

Our last hope lay with Claire Fagan who was busy racing at the National Senior T&F Championships on Saturday 22nd August. Following a tough 5,000m race, where Claire won a National bronze medal, she still produced a mile in 5:30 which put the Mullingar women in the lead. Unfortunately, Dublin City Harriers (DCH) kept the best for last and on the final day of the competition had their athletes out, determined to make their mark. Just like being passed on the finish straight, the DCH women jumped ahead of the Mullingar team and stole the victory with a last gasp effort.

A similar week played out for the men. When Pauric Brady’s solo mile of 5:01 was added to the team’s scores from Wednesday, the Mullingar men were well represented at the top of the overall leader board. A few late additions were submitted but it was Club-leading time of 4:41 by Maurice Looby which made the biggest difference. The overall score wasn’t quite good enough for victory though and by Sunday evening 23rd August the Harriers men placed third in the National challenge.

This is the second virtual event organized by Athletics Ireland this summer and the second time both the Mullingar women and the Mullingar men have made an appearance on the National virtual podium.

Kilkenny Athletics Meeting

With so many fixtures cancelled and strict limitations on numbers competing, it’s proving difficult to get a quality sprint race at the moment, so Charles Okafor made the relatively long journey to Kilkenny on Sunday morning 16th August for the Kilkenny Athletics Meeting. It was warm, overcast and very calm, so conditions were perfect for sprinting. Charles lined up as one of the top seeds in the 100m A race and didn’t disappoint with a terrific second place finish against some top class athletes that should feature in the upcoming National Seniors. His time was 11.18 seconds, close to his best, which is very encouraging given that he hasn’t run a 100m race since last summer, so is coming nicely into form.

Dublin Graded T&F Meeting #3

The third and final Dublin Graded T&F Meeting this year took place in Tallaght on Wednesday evening 12th August where Patrick Muldoon ran in a competitive 5,000m and was satisfied with his time of 17:37.13. Dublin Athletics is to be congratulated on putting together a very successful graded series this year under extremely challenging circumstances, earning the gratitude of the wider athletics community.

AAI National Field Events Festival

Looking to build on a great performance in Cork the week before, taking full advantage of the beautiful warm and sunny weather for the AAI National Field Events Festival in Santry on Saturday morning 8th August, Shauna Leydon put together another great series of jumps in the Triple Jump, five of them near her best, and is coming right into form in this very challenging technical event.

Le Cheile AC Senior Summer Meeting

The Le Cheile AC Senior Summer Meeting took place in warm dry but quite windy conditions in Leixlip on Friday evening 7th August where the 5,000m clear pre-race favourite, Claire Fagan stamped her authority on the race after a few kilometres, turning the screw and increasing her lead with every step and going on to win in a very good 16:59.39, lapping everyone else in the field, except one, and finishing nearly a full lap ahead of second place demonstrating her class and will be one to watch in the National Senior T&F. Colin Smith (the older one), learning from the Dublin Graded just days before, put in a more measured performance in the 800m. He was nicely positioned at the bell and stayed in contention for most of the race, and even though he came home in 1:57.07, allowing for the windy conditions, this was a better race for him and he continues to hone and improve his racing tactics with every outing.

City of Lisburn AC T&F Meeting

Looking for a quality metric mile race, Jack Moran and the younger Colin P Smith headed to Northern Ireland on Thursday evening 6th August to compete over 1,500m at the City of Lisburn AC T&F Meeting at the Mary Peter’s Track in Belfast. Both competed in the B race and working hard with great strength and determination stayed in touch with the leading group throughout, giving great accounts, Jack finishing fifth in 4:01.00 in his first race over the distance in quite some time, closely followed by Colin in seventh in 4:03.59, a great PB for him coming on the back of some recent breakthrough performances over 800m.

Dublin Graded T&F Meeting #2

It was warm and dry in Tallaght on Wednesday evening 5th August, lovely conditions for running, at the second Dublin Graded Meeting. Charles Okafor competed in the 200m A race, his first race since the National Senior Indoors at the end of March, over 4 months ago. Running in lane 8 he powered around the bend to put himself in contention coming into the straight, keeping his form and pace reasonably well into a headwind on the home straight to finish third in 22.50 seconds, below his best but no surprise in his first race after such a long layoff. Charles was upbeat after the race, delighted to finally get an outdoor track race under his belt this year, and looking forward to sharpening up with further competition in the coming weeks. The 800m A race was extremely competitive and the two Mullingar Colin Smiths were in action. The elder Colin ran a very aggressive opening lap but paid for it somewhat in the final stages to finish in 1:56.32, off his best but this was his first 800m in a long time and he badly needed to race again. The younger Colin ran a conservative first lap and was full of running in the closing stages, finishing strongly in a new PB of 1:58.09 and will certainly improve on this as he grows in confidence and runs more aggressively in the early stages. Brian Martin has been nursing a recent ankle injury, so he elected to run in the 800m B race where he won comfortably, pulling away to finish in 2:00.75, which will give him confidence for his next outing.

JULY

Day of Irish PBs

At the Day of Irish PBs at the Le Cheile AC grounds in Leixlip on Friday evening 31st July, Lorcan Mullen competed over 5,000m in the final race of the seven on the evening, the quickest one, and was satisfied with his time of 16:28 in a very competitive race.

Leevale 2020 Summer Evening T&F #2

Making the long trip to Cork for the second evening of the Leevale 2020 Summer Evening T&F at Cork IT on Thursday 30th July, despite not having jumped in competition since the indoors, Shauna Leydon was delighted to post a new personal best of 10.69m in the triple jump.

Leevale 2020 Summer Evening T&F #1

At the Leevale 2020 Summer Evening T&F on Tuesday 28th July at Cork IT, competing in the third of three heats of the Senior Women 100m, Shauna Leydon was satisfied with her third place finish, continuing her build up to the National T&F Finals in August.

Great Mullingar Run

The Great Ireland Run has played host to the National 10k Road Championships for a number of years, but the 20th annual running of the event, along with every other road race scheduled over the last few months, was postponed due to Covid-19. In an effort to keep athletes active and motivated over the summer months, the organizers of the event arranged a “virtual” competition, where runners time themselves over 10k with a GPS device and submit proof of their times online.

To coincide with the virtual event, Mullingar Harriers organized a 10k for club members on Saturday morning 25th July, dubbed the “Great Mullingar Run”, and almost 40 seniors and masters took part. The race was held on the Royal Canal Blueway and the Old Rail Trail Greenway, under strict social distancing measures, and it included a 5k event in which over a dozen of the clubs juvenile members participated. Ross Killalea led the 5k runners home with Grace Byrne first of the girls.

The Great Ireland Run has always been well attended by Mullingar athletes and with our senior women winning the team competition last year, along with both our over 50 men and women master teams finishing on the podium, there was a big effort by Mullingar athletes to feature in the virtual version of the event this year. James Keegan was first over the line on Saturday morning in 35:16 followed just a few seconds later by Gerard Gavin in second and Maurice Looby third. The effort invested by Harriers was soon evident with a number of race finishers gasping for air while lying on the ground exhausted and a handful more recording personal best times for 10k.

Liz Carr, who last year led our women home to the team title, was the quickest of the women on Saturday in 38:18 followed closely by Áine O’Reilly in second and Amy Mahony third. But racing at the Dublin Graded Meeting in Santry on Wednesday evening 22nd July it was Claire Fagan who recorded the most impressive time for a Mullingar athlete over 10,000m when she crossed the finish line in just 34:46.8. Joan Flynn was unable to run in the Great Mullingar Run but that didn’t deter her from recording the second fastest time of our women members, clocking a solo 38:08 ensuring that before our own Great Mullingar Run the women team was in contention for the win.

The cut-off to submit times for the Great Ireland Run was midnight Sunday and when the results were confirmed, Claire Fagan finished first woman, and with Joan Flynn (third), Aine O’Reilly (fifth) and Amy Mahony (tenth), led the Mullingar Harriers women to team victory, more than nine minutes clear of second place. The men’s team race was a closer affair, where Gerard Gavin (seventh man), Maurice Looby (twelfth), Tom McGrath (fifteenth) and Alan Crowley (sixteenth) combined to finish second men team, only two and a half minutes behind first place. These are fantastic results from the club for a competition that was open to all athletics clubs in the country.

After the race, runners and volunteers had the chance to share war stories and catch up over a cuppa at an outdoor socially distanced social morning back at the club grounds. With drinks provided by Bell Lane Coffee and more than enough treats to refuel after the race, the post event catch-up completed the structure of a typical road race, helping to fill a large void in the athletics calendar caused by the cancellation of so many races.

Moyne AC Summer Games

Moyne, near Thurles, Co. Tipperary was the venue for the Moyne AC Summer Games on Saturday afternoon 25th July where Shauna Leydon competed in the 100m. Running in the first of three races with the winner decided on times, Shauna ran well on her first outing of the season but finished out of the prizes on this occasion.

Credit to Moyne AC for live streaming the event on their Facebook page, as the limit of 200 in the grounds at any time meant spectators and coaches weren’t allowed in, but they could follow the action from outside. These are the innovative initiatives that these Covid-19 times are throwing up and it was great to see technology being used to such good effect.

Dublin Graded T&F Meeting #1

Normally taking place on eight evenings over the summer, but reduced to three this year, the first outdoor T&F fixture of the 2020 season, the Dublin Graded T&F Meeting, was held in Santry on Wednesday evening 22nd July.

In the women’s 10,000m, Claire Fagan put in a great effort to finish a close second in a magnificent 34:46.8, a massive PB by 1 minute 15 seconds, and as a measure of the quality of that time, it would have placed her just outside the top ten in last year’s European u/23 T&F Championships in Sweden, where Claire competed. In the men’s 10,000m Patrick Muldoon was very satisfied with his time of 37:22.8 to finish well up in his master category.

There were five races in the men’s 1,500m and in the first race the two Colin Smith from Mullingar competed; two athletes with the same name from the same Club, truly a race commentator’s nightmare! The older Colin finished strongly in sixth place in 3:57.5, and the younger Colin ninth in 4:04.2, which is a big improvement of ten seconds on his PB for the distance. Some confusion on timetable start times meant that the athletes in the second race hadn’t as much time to warm up as they thought they had or would have liked. Brian Martin was the best of the Mullingar trio in second place in 4:12.0, Andrew Daly seventh in 4:19.4, just ahead of Lorcan Mullen eighth in 4:19.6. These times don’t do them justice but reflect the effects of a reduced warm up, but they were still happy to finally get a race on the track this season.

Well done to Dublin Athletics for organising the event under the restrictions of the current Covid-19 protocols, not least being numbers in the stadium limited to 200 people, which presented significant challenges in ensuring everyone vacated the stadium as soon as possible after their event to allow others to enter for their events.

Possible delay on return to competition (16th July)

The numbers everyone involved in athletics are familiar with are times run, distances jumped, distances thrown, personal bests, season’s bests, records etc, but in these Covid-19 times, we’ve also become very familiar with the R-number or reproductive rate, of the virus, which unfortunately is rising again. From Monday 20th July, we should have entered phase 4 of the Reopening Roadmap, and the increased limit of 500 persons at an outdoor event would allow the Leinster T&F competitions scheduled for the August 1st, 8th and 9th to be held. However, with phase 4 paused until Monday 10th August, if the events proceed, numbers attending will be restricted to only 200 persons, with obvious implications for the Leinster fixtures. Athletics Leinster is meeting to review the situation and consider the possibilities, which might include going ahead as planned but with a reduced programme, limiting the number of entries per event, rescheduling to later dates, or abandoning the fixtures altogether. Some of our older juvenile, junior, senior and master members should have been eagerly awaiting the return to track and field competition in two weeks time but unfortunately, we’ll have to await the decision of Athletics Leinster, so for now, entries are on hold.

Mullingar Harriers to fully reopen (12th July)

The Club Committee has decided that conditions are right to allow the youngest members aged 8, 9 and 10 years of age (born 2013, 2012 and 2011) to return to training at the Club on Tuesday evening 21st July. This will mark the final step of the Club’s re-opening and will see all Club members back training at the Club again. This youngest group has been out of action for nearly four months and it will be great to welcome them back again next week.

The phased return of members to training at the Club has gone very well so far, thanks to everyone adhering to the Athletics Ireland guidelines, including pre-booking training sessions, recording attendance at sessions, changes to training times of the various groups to stagger their arrival and departure to avoid congestion in the car park and around the grounds, hygiene, and cough and sneeze etiquette.

Current paid up members will receive an e-mail with a link to the booking system, which must be completed for each session. Don’t just turn up at the Club to train without pre-booking the session, because if you do you will be turned away.

AAI “Virtual” National 5 Mile Championships

Back in June 2019, Mullingar Harriers athletes won seven individual medals and two sets of team medals at the Irish Runner 5 Mile, which incorporated the AAI National 5 Mile Championships. Due to Covid-19, like the Irish Runner 5k a month before, this year the event was a “virtual” one and adhering to social distancing guidelines contestants ran 5 miles on their own any day between Monday 29th June and Sunday 5th July, recorded their run on a GPS watch and submitted their time online. Finishing well up in 10th place was Evan McCormack in 29:35. Also running really well was Mary Stuart (35:26) 7th woman, Joan Hickson (36:01) 9th woman, Linda Cunningham (36:53) 17th woman, and Criona Reid (37:05) 18th woman, to give four Mullingar women in the top twenty, which is impressive. They were followed by Michael O’Sullivan (38:08) and Kevin O’Brien (39:48). As with the Virtual 5k, it was good to see Mullingar athletes embracing the “new normal” with such enthusiasm.