Q1, 2026 News & Reports – January to March

March

National Juvenile Indoors – Days 1 & 2

Days 1 & 2 of the National Juvenile Indoors were held in the TUS Athlone indoor arena on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th March. Finn Roddy was first into action on Saturday morning in the heats of the u/9 boys 200m, which as expected were extremely competitive. Despite a great effort, Finn finished outside the qualification places for the final.

Rather than the traditional heats and finals, the 800m events were decided on the fastest times over two timed races in each age group. Chloe Bell was in race one of the u/15 girls 800m and knowing the finishing time was critical she pushed the pace from the gun, winning in a new PB of 2:20.43. Race two had all the Provincial Champions and it ultimately resulted in a faster winning time, but when all the finishers were recorded, Chloe’s time put her in a fantastic 5th place overall.

Moving to the u/15 boys 800m, better known as a race walker, Gareth Glennon was in race one which went off very fast, too fast for Gareth’s liking and though he rallied in the closing stages finishing close to his personal best, he finished out of the top places. Running in race two was John McManus where he stuck with the pace in the initial stage but unfortunately got dropped by the leaders, ultimately also finishing out of the medal places.

Oisin Clarke went with the pace in race two of the u/16 boys 800m, taking on the challenge. The eventual winner ran a new Championship Record, which meant the pace took its toll on a lot of contenders, including Oisin, who was fifth in his race, but an impressive 7th overall on time.

Day one ended with the very technical sprint hurdles where Morgan Isdell ran in the u/17 boys 60m Hurdles. Morgan is still new to this event and lot of his competition have a few years advantage on him. While he finished sixth in his heat, out of the qualification places for the final, he ran quicker than in the Leinster indoors showing that the hard work in training paid off.

Returning to Athlone for day two, Scott Cogan lined up in the u/17 boys 400m. With just six places in the final, and four heats, it was going to be very tight to make it through to the final, so tight that not even his second place finish was sufficient. A great outing by Scott, who has only recently focused on sprinting, showing signs of potentially far better days ahead.

The first of the boys walks on the track was the combined u/14 & u/15 boys 1,000m walk. Once the starter’s gun went, the u/15 boys very quickly left the younger u/14 lads in their wake and within the u/15 group Gareth Glennon quickly built up a respectable lead. While most of the field fell back, Gareth’s main rival kept tracking him hard and gradually pulled him in. At the bell for the last lap they were neck and neck in a terrific battle but his rival surged hard to pull a small gap on Gareth and so it stayed to the finish. Both walkers gave a magnificent display of competitive racewalking and Gareth finishing second in a great new PB of 4:28.23. It was a combined race too for the u/18 & u/19 boys 1,500m walk. When the gun went, the u/19 Champion laid down the gauntlet with a very fast start. Only u/18 Daniel Glennon had the speed and ability to chase him and fairly quickly caught him up and then had the confidence to power on ahead. Soon Daniel showed his talent and class and, conscious of the close scrutiny of the judges, steadied his pace but still kept extending his lead all the way to the finish line. Another medal for the Glennon brothers, as Daniel  obviously won own u/18 age group.

We finished day two with the short sprints where Finn Roddy lined up for u/19 boys 60m. Powering from the blocks he raced to a close fourth place in his heat, very close to his personal best, but missing out on qualification for the final by just one place, a mere five hundredths of a second. His time would have seen him qualify comfortably from another heat and Finn deserved more from his race but it wasn’t to be this time.

Well done to all who represented the Club on the National stage, a great achievement in itself. Day three is scheduled for after the Easter break when Mullingar will have a number competing in the 1,500m [CW/ML/GD].

World Racewalking Team Championships – selection for John Glennon

Having seen a major PB and World class achievement taken from his grasp by the judges on the last lap of a World Tour Gold event in Slovakia two weeks before, John Glennon very quickly bounced back into action at the Austrian Open Race Walking Championship on Sunday 22nd March. With two weeks of intense technical work while still studying for his Leaving Certificate exams, John showed more of his family’s bravery and determination by going straight back into top flight European competition and another 10,000m racewalk. With the knowledge that he can walk as fast as the best he stuck to his task lap after lap until he completed the gruelling race and crossed the finish line in 43:41, a big new PB. However, the satisfaction of a personal best paled in comparison to the realisation that he was just over a minute inside the qualification standard for the World Racewalking Team Championships to be held in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil on 12th April. On arriving back to Ireland, John was delighted to receive confirmation of his selection the very next day, Monday 23rd March. In Brazil, he joins Ireland’s strongest ever u/20 team, which includes a European medallist and all of whom have set national underage records. Everyone at the Club congratulates John on his excellent achievement and wishes him well on his selection [ML].

Dunboyne 10k

A small group from Mullingar Harriers travelled to Dunboyne on Sunday morning 22nd March to compete in the Dunboyne 10k Road Race. The race attracted a field of 1,585 runners to the county Meath village and the course brought the athletes from the centre of the village on a loop around local county road before returning through the village and into the Dunboyne AC track for the final 400m of the race on the track.

Claire Fagan set out at a fast pace covering the first mile in 5:13. As she settled into the race she was able to hold a steady pace clicking off each of the next five miles in an average of 5:25 per mile. Claire was always in the mix with the leading women and only lost out to the winner and second placed athletes in the dash for the finish on the final 400m around the track, despite running a swift 76 seconds for the last 400m, to finish third woman in 33:35, a big improvement on the 34:06 time she posted on the same course in 2025, but more importantly, this time is also inside the qualifying standard of 33:48 for the European 10,000m Cup, which takes place in May in La Spezia, Italy.

Michael Moran made a return to competitive action for the first time this year and was very pleased to finish well up in 14th place in 31:48, and his mother Nuala Moran was very pleased with her run coming home in 54:45 [DL/MO’S/GD].

Banagher 5k

The second race in the Healthy Offaly 5k series, the Banagher 5k, took place on Sunday morning 22nd March. Weather conditions were ideal with no wind and an overcast sky, which gave way to bright sunshine during the race. 582 athletes finished the race including 7 from Mullingar Harriers. First home for the club in 5th place in a close race was Vinny Connolly in a time of 14:50. Next was Mark Darby who completed the distance in 15:55, followed by Mark Ronan with 16:40, just pipping Andrew Glennon who recorded a time of 16:41. The four combined to lead Mullingar Harriers to 2nd Club. Enda Seery ran a personal best when recording a time of 17:31, followed home by Eddie Lynch on 17:58, which gave him victory in his master category, and Michael O’Sullivan returned a time of 23:59 [MO’S].

SIAB Schools XC Championships

Faenol Estate in Bangor, Wales provided a dry, technical, undulating course for the SIAB Schools XC Championships on a warm sunny day on Saturday 21st March that was a welcome change from the wet, muddy season to date. Mullingar Harriers was represented by Antonio Bertolo and Lily Walsh on the Irish Schools team.

Antonio (Colaiste Mhuire) was making his International debut racing in the Junior boys 4,000m race. There are no easy races at this level of competition and from the gun the pace was fast throughout. Opting for a steady approach over the long hilly course, Antonio sprinted to a good position and then worked his way through the field as the race progressed. A great run saw Antonio finish fourth of the eight Irish athletes in twentieth place overall. Although it was a day to remember for Antonio, the Irish team was unfortunate to miss out on medals by the tiny margin of just 4 points.

Lily (Loreto Mullingar) ran the first leg in the 4 x 1,500m Mixed Intermediate Relay. A sensible start put Lily on the shoulder of the leader for the first 500m but she went to the front on the most technical climb and descent. Lily upped the tempo as the girls hit the last climb and opened a gap of 20m on second place to give the Irish team a great advantage going into the second leg. Ireland dropped to third place before the second handover was complete but Lily’s teammate ran a very strong third leg to regain second place. It was there the Irish team would finish, winning a well-deserved set of silver medals. This was Lily’s second SIAB cross country and matches the silver she won last year in Falkirk.

Congratulations to Antonio and Lily on a successful International trip with the Irish Schools team. Having two members of the club on an international team is a huge achievement and a huge credit to the athletes, their coaches and the club.

Now that Antonio has made his International debut for Ireland, his name will be added to the International Roll of Honour in the Clubhouse, the one hundred and thirty fifth name on the marble wall plaque [CW].

Athletics Leinster Star Awards for 2025

The Athletics Leinster Star Awards for 2025 were presented at a Gala Lunch on Saturday 21st March at the Woodford Dolmen Hotel in Carlow. These prestigious awards recognise one juvenile girl, one juvenile boy and one senior athlete from each county, based on their performances in Leinster competitions in 2025. In addition to individual honours, awards were presented for best County and Club in various categories.

Winning four Leinster titles in 2025 – 800m u/15 indoors and 1,500m u/15 outdoors (the 1,500m in a Championship Record) and u/15 and u/16 titles in cross country –there was no contest for Lily Walsh who received the Award for Best Juvenile Girl in Westmeath. Second place in the Leinster senior 3,000m was enough for Orlaith Flanagan to receive the Award for Best Senior Athlete in Westmeath in 2025. For the record, the Award for Best Juvenile Boy in Westmeath went to Philip Offorjama (Athlone AC) on foot of the four Leinster titles he won in 2025.

In recognition of a brilliant year, which he capped by competing at the World Championships in Tokyo, the Award for Outstanding Performance in Race Walk was made to Oisin Lane. Honoured for his contribution to athletics at Club, County, Leinster and National level was Greg Duggan, who was presented with an Award for Outstanding Contribution.

Winning Club team medals in ten of the eighteen juvenile races at Leinster cross country in 2025 meant it was little surprise that Mullingar Harriers retained the Morrissey Cup for Best Juvenile Cross Country Club in Leinster, a cup Mullingar has won every year since it was first presented in 2000. The presentations were made by Catriona Duffy, Chair of Athletics Leinster. Congratulations to Lily and Orlaith (and to Philip), and to their coaches, their families and to all who contributed to their successes, and congratulations also to Oisin and Greg on their awards [GD].

Mullingar Half Marathon

A dry and overcast morning greeted the record number of nearly 2,100 runners who took part in this year’s Mullingar Half Marathon on St. Patrick’s Day. The town of Mullingar and its surrounds was a sea of colour with an influx of athletes from all over the country and overseas, as runners converged on the town for this annual event, which supports the work of TEAM.

TEAM. provides residential services for women and children from the Midland Region who are experiencing homelessness. These services are provided at their hostel Teach Fáilte, which is located in Mullingar and provides for those needing the services from Westmeath, Laois, Longford and Offaly. TEAM is a registered charity and receives funding from Westmeath County Council and the HSE, however there is an annual shortfall, which must be raised from fundraising and donations.

Mullingar Harriers was again strongly represented this year with over 70 athletes taking part, along with 10 race pacers involved. Entries sold out at 2,500 and on the day a total of 2,073 runners completed the race. Headwinds in parts of the early sections of the course and strong cross winds on the return journey along the canal, tested the fitness and endurance of everyone. It wasn’t a day for good times or personal bests, but the achievement of getting through the 21.1k with a beautiful finishers T-shirt and plenty of refreshments in the Town Park at the end proved a huge hit with all runners.

Dan Morris placed 4th overall, winning his master category in a time of 1:11.12. He was followed home by Euan Lagan in 7th place overall with a time of 1:12:40, with Kris Foster next in 11th with 1:15:53. James Keegan was 21st to cross the finish line in 1:17:37. Eddie Newman continued his consistent performances with another win in his master category when posting a finishing time of 1:25:41.

In the women’s race, Ciara Foy was our first finisher with a time of 1:22:13 to place 2nd woman, with Orlaith Flanagan running 1:28.14 for an impressive ninth place overall. Criona Reid ran 1:32:27 to take 2nd place in her master category. Mary Stuart running her second half marathon in 48 hours, having completed the Malaga Half on Sunday, ran a time of 1:35:22 to place 2nd in her master category.

While the remainder of the Mullingar Harriers contingent did not feature on the podium in their categories, they were all pleased with their performances and full of praise for the organising committee who left no stone unturned with all aspects of the race organised and delivered to the highest standard.

Also competing was David Cahill (1:21:57), Andy Boyhan (1:23:27), Andrew Glennon (1:25:40), Dara O’Shea (1:26:01), Kieran Nolan (1:26:24), Conor Corcoran (1:29:03), Joe Doherty (1:29:00), Alan Coyne (1:29:03), Tom Byrne (1:29:43), Aaron Gallagher (1:31:05), Ger Feerick (1:33:03), Jacintha Reilly (1:33:10), Darren Carroll (1:34:57), Orla McLaughlin (1:34:58), Jason McKevitt (1:35:14), John Long (1:36:31), Orla Gillespie (1:36:23), Colm Walsh (1:37:20), Conor Collison (1:37:12), Joe Curley (1:37:35), Lee Bracken (1:38:08), Richard Carey (1:37:54), Murty Hanly (1:38:39), Mark Dunne (1:38:44), Mary Louise Johnston (1:40:07), Shaun Mills (1:40:13), Laura Fitzpatrick (1:40:26), Niamh Doherty (1:41:56), Zane Smukste (1:42:31), Fiona Fagan (1:42:59), Paul Plunkett (1:45:29), Alywn Thornton (1:43:37), Brendan Rice (1:45:29), Declan Claffey (1:46:26), Caroline Mullen (1:47:16), Kate Plunkett (1:46:38), Jane Creevy (1:47:02), John McNamara (1:47:57), Leona Behan (1:48:22), Michael Purdue (1:49:25), Sinead Spain (1:49:06), Matt Creagh (1:50:29), Martin Fitzpatrick (1:50:55), Thomas Gilligan (1:51:28), Megan Whiley (1:55:18), Matt Johnston (1:56:59), Kelly Dunne (1:56:56), Catherine Gavin (1:56:58), Eithne Spellman (1:56:56), Siobhan Farry (1:57:04), Rodney Farry (1:57:05), Claire Canavan (1:57:47), Avril Keane (1:59:24), Anna Redmond (2:01:11), Joan Mulvihill (2:03:16), Jessica Crowley (2:04:03), Martin Mullen (2:04:16), (2:11.43), Aoife Austin (2:12:46), Michael O’Sullivan (2:12:44), Caroline Boyle (2:16:50), Catherine Walsh (2:21:57), Kevin O’Brien (2:22:00), Tony McNerney (2:27:48) and Edel Marshall (2:33:49) [MO’S].

Streets of Portlaoise 5k

As part of the St. Patrick’s Day festivities, the Streets of Portlaoise 5k road race was held around the streets of the town, with a town centre start and finish. This year a record field of 1,220 runners entertained large crowds who had gathered for various events on the National holiday. Four athletes from Mullingar Harriers participated. Eddie Lynch ran a time of 18:57 to win his master category, Tommy Byrne was next in from Mullingar with a time of 20:11, while Claire Ross crossed the finish line in 22:06, with Linda Cunningham just behind her with a time of 22:16 [MO’S].

National Masters Indoors

The final National domestic indoor competition of the season, the National Masters Indoors, was held on Sunday 15th March in TUS Athlone.

Paddy Boyhan had an early start, competing in the High Jump where he was very happy to win his master category. No time to rest though, and Paddy competed soon after in the Long Jump, where despite an unnerving start with two foul jumps, he found his mark and jumped to second place to win his second National medal of the day. Paddy ended his day with the Triple Jump where he kept his best jump to last to win his third medal of the day, the gold medal, in his master category.

In the 3,000m Race Walk, Colm Walsh had to work hard in the closing stages to keep himself secure in second place overall, but with the winner in a younger age category, Colm won his own master category in a season’s best time, adding to his ever-growing collection of National titles. Despite his vast race walking experience, both Nationally and Internationally, Sean McMullin fell foul of the judges in his 3,000m Race Walk and was disqualified, always a risk in this very technical event. This was Sean’s first time to be disqualified over a long career, but he has enough experience to put it behind him and look forward to getting back to training to prepare for the European Masters Indoors in Poland later in the month.

Multi-eventer Aidan O’Donoghue set himself a busy schedule for the day, competing in three events in only a few hours. He opened with the 60m Hurdles where he finished second in his master category in a close race, recording a personal best time. Moving to the 200m sprint, while he finished out of the medal places in his master category, he was very satisfied to finish well under the 30 second mark he had set himself, finishing in 29.04 seconds, which will be very valuable in multi-event competitions in the year ahead. With not much time to recover after the 200m, Aidan moved his attention to the Pole Vault where he jumped to third place in his master category, a fine result in what is still a relatively new event for him [AO’D/GD].

Malaga Half Marathon

The annual Malaga Half Marathon on Sunday morning 15th March attracted 10,000 runners to Europe’s oldest city. The race takes place through the city streets and out by the seaside with spectacular views of the ancient city on one side mixed with a view across to the Mediterranean Sea on the seafront section of the race. With temperatures rising quickly to 20degC, a slight breeze was a welcome relief for the runners, including two members of Mullingar Harriers. Mary Stuart was delighted with her run, placing third in her master category and finishing in a time of 1:38:54, with Joan Hickson running the race in 1:47:23. Both Mary and Joan enjoyed their break in the Andalusia Region over the weekend [MO’S].

National u/20 & u/23 Indoors

Daniel Glennon put in a technically excellent performance in the u/20 men 3,000m race walk at the National u/20 & u/23 Indoors on Saturday 14th March in TUS Athlone to win the race in 12:31.88, which is a new personal best and National u/18 Indoor Record, bettering the previous set last year by nearly 6 seconds. The race wasn’t without its drama though, as Daniel was actually in second place with 1km to go but the leader had accumulated too many red card warnings and was pulled into the penalty box on the home straight, only 50m from the finish, and had to wait out a 30 second penalty, which was enough for Daniel to pass him and retake the lead and finish in first place. This is always a risk with race walking at this level under the vigilant eyes of the judges, but Daniel had kept his head throughout and focussed on his own race, ignoring what was unfolding ahead of him.

Daniel is having a memorable season so far, having achieved the 5,000m race walk standard for this summer’s European u/18 Championships at the National Senior Indoors only two weeks before. Adding the National u/20 Indoor title and National u/18 record sets him up nicely for a terrific outdoor season.

Before Daniel’s race, Aisling Lane competed in the u/23 women 3,000m race walk. Having raced hard the previous two weekends – National Senior 3k Indoors and 10k outdoor in Slovakia – Aisling was racing on tired legs. She rolled on her ankle a few times on the tight indoor bends in Athlone, which upset her rhythm and flow and she had to be very careful to avoid injury, but she is very resolute and pushed on knowing she wasn’t at her best and was still good enough to finish in second place, disappointed not to win, but she was very stoic about it afterwards and still took plenty of positives from the race.

Earlier in the day, the focus for Mullingar was on the 1,500m races. Entries were big for the u/20 women 1,500m, so there was two races, with the medals decided on the fastest times over the two races. Eleanor Kiernan ran an extremely brave race in her heat coming home in sixth place, out of the medals, but a great effort. Eleanor has two more years in u/20, so it was an excellent performance from her at National level.

The u/20 men 1,500m was decided on the fastest times over three races and Matthew Molloy returned to his best in the second heat. Matthew got an excellent start, leading for the first 100m but then decided to slow the pace and let others take the lead, happy to sit in and follow. With 300m to go he made his move and swept to the front, pulling clear all the way to the finish, winning in a huge personal best of 4:05.88, bettering his previous by 15 seconds. The heat where Jamie Wallace was drawn had a stacked field including several National champions taking each other on, and the race certainly lived up to its billing. Jamie was determined to put himself in a prominent position from the start and settled in third place after 100m, which was run at a blistering pace from the gun. After 600m Jamie moved into second place right on the leader’s shoulder and four men began to pull clear. Sensing the leader was tiring, Jamie stuck the front with 500m to go and this injection of pace had all but one other athlete in trouble. With 400m to go it became a royal battle between Jamie and the other athlete and it was only inside the final 100m that Jamie had to surrender the lead, coming home in second place and winning the silver medal. A testament to his effort was that it took a new Championship Record to beat him, and Jamie’s time of 3:55.52 was just outside the previous record by less than a second.

John Ryan lined up in a big field for the u/23 men 1,500m. Despite the big field it was a straight final and from the gun it was quite tactical. The pace rose and fell over the early laps leading to a lot of bunching and bumping, with John taking up position just off the leaders. As the race developed it became clear that it was going to be a burn up over the final 400m, with ten athletes in a tight group, separated by less than five metres. John was caught on the inside when the pace began to quicken and he had to bide his time waiting for a gap to appear. When the gap came, John surged forward but unfortunately another runner cut across him as he was fighting for third place, knocking John completely off balance, which ultimately put paid to a podium place and he finished in sixth, but less than one second off third place [TW/ML/GD].

Bohermeen Half Marathon

Bohermeen AC had a turnout of over 1,600 athletes competing in their annual Bohermeen Half Marathon on Sunday morning 8th March. A bright and sunny morning greeted the runners at the Meath club, but with a stiff breeze to contend with throughout the route, which was along rural roads near the club’s excellent facilities. A mixture of some short rolling hills along with flat stretches tested everyone, and the final kilometre was flat and led to the entry to the club grounds with a final 200m run-in on the track to the finish line.

Mullingar Harriers had nine athletes competing. First home was Alan Crowley running 1:16:44, a new two minute best for the distance, followed by Paul O’Reilly with 1:17:22. Kedagh Geoghegan dipped under the 1:20 barrier with a finishing time of 1:19:49. Enda Seery was next home in 1:24:10, a nearly two minute best for the distance, with Joan Flynn finishing in 1:28:43, just missing a podium place in her master category. Mick Fagan was pleased with his run as he clocked 1:29:07, followed by Barry White in 1:32:37. Fiona Healy returned a time of 1:38:29 and Ger Flynn came home in 1:56:25 [MO’S].

Tullamore 5k

The ever-popular Offaly 5k road series returned on Sunday morning 8th March, with the first race in the 2026 calendar staged by Tullamore Harriers AC, the Tullamore 5k. Race organisation was top class with road closures, stewarding and refreshments post-race adding to the enjoyment for all participants. A total of 506 finishers enjoyed a bright sunny morning, with a moderate breeze and a few sharp hills on an excellently marked course that brought them out from the town and back to finish at the Tullamore Harriers stadium for a 400m dash to the finish line.

Mullingar Harriers had seven athletes taking part. Daniel Glennon had a super run, just pipped in his category for first place by a mere 3 seconds, finishing in a time of 15:59. Mark Ronan had a very steady run coming home in 17:02, followed by Andrew Glennon with a time of 18:01, using the race to run-off any stiffness from winning the Irish Universities Indoor race walk title only the day before, and Kieran Nolan making up the men’s team of four with a run of 18:47. Agonisingly, the team narrowly missed out on a podium place as they finished on 127 points behind the third placed club, St. Michael’s AC, with 125 points. Orlaith Flanagan had another fine run finishing in a time of 18:48. Lorraine Claffey made her return to competitive action following a number of years working abroad and was pleased with her time of 22:36. Michael O’Sullivan completed the distance in 25:25 [MO’S].

“Dudinska 50”

A small group of Irish racewalkers made the long journey to the spa town of Dudince, Slovakia for the Dudinska 50, a World Athletics Racewalking Gold Tour event, held there on Saturday 7th March. While the journey was long and difficult, it felt good to get away from the extended periods of rain in Ireland into clear and bright blue skies.

It was a jam packed programme that included athletes young and old, male and female racing from 10k to the full marathon distance, all on a tricky 1k circuit that included multiple sharp bends and awkward loop turns. Following her recent National Championship successes, Aisling Lane arrived at the start line of the Women 10k Racewalk with an increased sense of confidence as she faced opposition from some the best in Europe and from further afield. Starting at 9.15am Aisling started her race with control, walking close to the 5 mins/km pace needed to finish under 50 minutes, which was her goal for the 10k. Reaching the 5k mark in 24:45 the lead group gradually began to split up as the heat of competition and the morning sun began to take its toll. Fighting hard while still maintaining her rhythm and excellent technique, Aisling gradually took control of second place in the u/23 category but had to battle hard to hold this place all the way to the finish line, which she reached in 49:41, which is a new personal best by nearly a minute, and more importantly breaking the 50 minute barrier for the first time, along with a podium finish.

Four hours later her Mullingar Harriers clubmate Matthew Glennon toed the line for the International Half Marathon Racewalk. While temperatures did not reach the highs of summer heat it was still a shock to the system to arrive into ever increasing temperatures and bright sunshine but Matthew was delighted to have the excellent support of his diligent brother John who manned the refreshment table as he supplied Matthew with whatever he needed to keep going for the full duration of the race. Aware of how others had suffered for surging unnecessarily, Matthew started off conservatively walking close to 4:30 minutes/km pace for some of the early laps. This too helped him keep his technique safe, as he was being carefully watched by the panel of International judges. Once he had settled into a technically safe rhythm Matthew then put in a very strong 10k, which took him right through the field and into the top 10. Then it was a battle over the tough final few laps until Matthew went through the finish line in 1:30:58 and a magnificent eighth place finish [ML].

All-Ireland Schools XC

Mullingar athletes picked up some siler-ware and Irish caps at the Mallusk Playing Fields in Belfast on Saturday 7th March where they competed at the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Finals. The Intermediate boys team from Colaiste Mhuire finished a fantastic second place, and Antonio Bertotolo (and we think Lily Walsh) will be selected to compete on the Irish team at the upcoming SIAB Schools International Cross Country in Wales. For Antonio, this will mark his International debut, which is a well-deserved reward for such a talented athlete.

The day started with Siomha Leonard capping off a fine season representing Loreto College in the Minor girls 1,900m race. The course was flat and relatively firm and in a fast-paced race Siomha finished mid-pack in a big field of just over one hundred competitors. In the Minor boys 2,500m, Gareth Glennon (St. Finian’s College) put in a great effort to finish well up, just outside the top twenty, in a big field of nearly 120 boys. He’ll be able to use this cross country endurance strength to his advantage as he now turn his attention to the National Juvenile Indoors where he’ll be chasing National honours in the race walk.

In the Junior boys 3,500m race, Antonio Bertolo, representing Colaiste Mhuire, went straight to the front group with a strong start and stayed in the battle for honours, racing his way home in a fantastic 5th place. Aaron Kenny (Mercy Kilbeggan) in his first ever cross country season, has impressed with every race, and finishing just outside the top twenty places and shows he has huge potential for even bigger results in future competitions. There was double delight for Antonio though, as the top 6 individuals were awarded medals and the top 10 were selected to represent Ireland at the SIAB Schools Cross Country in Wales, his first International vest.

Lily Walsh (Loreto College) racing in her first year of two in the Intermediate category was up against some very strong, older girls in the Intermediate girls 3,500m. Being the victim to a virus doing the rounds in school during the week didn’t help her cause and unfortunately she wasn’t in peak condition facing into the race. Regardless, she burned every ounce of energy available as she chased a top 10 position over the race. After a huge sprint finish that brought her up to ninth place, the illness took its toll and, completely out of energy, she was passed just before the finish line, crossing in 11th. The gap in age of athletes is quite big and Lily was informed that one of the girls ahead of her is ineligible to compete at SIAB, as she is too old. Therefore, Lily should be called in as the tenth member on the Irish team.

The Colaiste Mhuire Intermediate boys team were on a roll this season and faced into the Intermediate boys 5,000m event with great confidence. Led home by Cillian Galvin in 19th, Oisin Clarke just seconds behind, and with Daniel Horohoe, Morgan Isdell and Cormac McGrath packing really well for the vital team scores, the boys finished 2nd team. A second place finish at an All-Ireland Championship is no surprise considering these boys have won Leinster and National medals with Mullingar Harriers already this season.

The day finished with the Senior boys 6,500m where Jamie Wallace (Colaiste Mhuire) lined up in his final schools cross country race. In typical fashion, Jamie took the race by the scruff of the neck and was leading for the first 2k but unfortunately a recent back injury forced Jamie to surrender the lead but through guts and determination he fought to the finish line coming home in a very creditable 8th place.

Well done to all our athletes who competed for their schools and colleges over the three rounds of racing, and congratulations to all those who raced so well at the All-Ireland finals [CW/TW/GD].

Irish University Indoors

UNREPORTED

Saturday 7th March, NIA Dublin

Andrew Glennon (TUS Athlone) 2,000m Racewalk (8:33.31) GOLD

Mohammad Al Bashir (TUS Athlone) 400m (57.98 sec in Heat) and Mixed 4 x 400m Relay 5th

National Senior Indoors

While Mullingar Harriers fielded a small squad of just eight athletes at the National Senior Indoors held at the NIA Dublin on Saturday 28th February & Sunday 1st March, they certainly packed a big punch, three of them winning medals, two recording personal bests, and a magnificent performance by Daniel Glennon who finished inside the qualifying standard in the 5,000m walk for the European u/18 Championships to be held in Italy in July.

Patrick Leydon was first up for Mullingar when he competed in the 400m heats on Saturday morning, finishing third in heat 6 of 7 in a new personal best of 49.64 seconds to advance to the semi-finals as a non-automatic qualifier. Despite drawing the same lane 3 in semi-final 2 of 3, not ideal for a man of his build, Patrick ran even quicker to finish third in 49.40 seconds, another personal best, but with just the top two advancing to the final, he narrowly missed out but was still very satisfied with his performances and his times and can bring this forward to the outdoor season ahead.

There were three heats of the 1,500m and to add to the confusion for the race commentator, both the Mullingar Colin Smiths were drawn in the same heat. With only the top four to advance to the Sunday’s final, the race quickly settled into a fast pace, with Colin P Smith and Colin D Smith right in the thick of the action from the start, staying with the leading pack as the laps counted down. At the bell, it was a  furious sprint over the last lap to get into the top four and both Colins gave it their all, but while Colin P finished 4th to advance to the final, he unfortunately ran Colin D into 5th place, so he missed a place in the final even though his time would have won the first heat and would have seen him qualify comfortably from the second heat, but that’s the luck, or bad luck, of the draw, though Colin D was very stoic about it after, satisfied that he had given it his best effort.

The race walks were on Sunday morning and it was no surprise that with a big field of fourteen women jostling for position in the women 3,000m walk, it was a very bumpy start, but Aisling Lane lost no time surging to the front to get safely out of trouble and settled into her race. Maintaining a good rhythm as the fifteen laps counted down, Aisling kept up the pressure at the front but was unable to shake off the very experienced Kate Veale (West Waterford AC) who tracked Aisling closely throughout. With three laps to go, Kate kicked hard and moved to the front and despite Aisling’s best efforts, by the bell lap she knew the title was gone but she pushed on to take second place in 14:07.13 and win the National silver medal.

It was great to see three Mullingar athletes in the men 5,000m walk, Oisin Lane, Matthew Glennon, and young Daniel Glennon in his first senior competition. Oisin was clearly the stand-out pre-race favourite and he didn’t disappoint. With a polished performance, he led from gun to tape to take the title, his seventh National senior walk title, to go with his previous three 20k, his two 35k and his 10k titles, but this was his first Indoor senior walk title, and he beamed with pride as he crossed the finish line in 19:39.92. Meanwhile, Matthew was also having a great race behind Oisin and was involved in a great battle for silver and bronze, but unfortunately he fell foul of the ever-vigilant judges and incurred a 30 second time penalty, which was enough to see him drop from second to third place, but he was still very satisfied to win a National medal. While Oisin and Matthew were clearly battling for medal honours, Daniel, who is only 16 years of age and will not turn 17 until November, was focussed on achieving qualification for the European u/18 Championships to take place in Italy in July. Daniel’s target was to finish inside the 23 minute standard, and thanks to terrific preparation and coaching by Michael Lane, and sticking to his pre-race plan, he achieved this by a big margin, finishing seventh overall in 22 minutes 9.14 seconds. While Aisling, Oisin and Matthew were delighted to win their medals, in true team spirit, they were equally delighted for Daniel. Congratulations to Daniel and he can now focus on his training for Italy, free from the worry of chasing the standard.

Entries were so big for the men 3,000m that they were split into three races, with John Ryan drawn in the B race. John was focussed on not only winning his race, but setting a new personal best too. With a determined effort he took to the front in the closing stages but was caught on the final run-in to finish third, but a time of 8:27.91, a new personal best for the distance, quickly dispelled any real disappointment he might have felt. Of interest is that this time would have seen John finish comfortably mid-pack in the A race, which will give him great confidence for the outdoor season ahead. We ended the day with the 1,500m final where Colin P Smith was delighted to be lining up in a National senior final. He gave himself every opportunity as he kept right with the leading pack for much of the race and though he ran considerably quicker than in his heat the day before, he finished out of the medal places, but can be very proud of his efforts [GD].

Scottish Indoor Combined Events

The Scottish Indoor Combined Events took place at the Emirates Stadium in Glasgow on Saturday 28th February and Sunday 1st March. Adding to the great atmosphere was the fact that there was also senior competition taking place for athletes trying to gain qualification for the World Indoors later in the month, among them reigning Olympic 800m Champion, Keely Hodgkinson. Aidan O’Donoghue was entered in the Master Heptathlon and his training had gone well, so was expecting to perform well over the two days of competition. With PBs in the pole vault, 60m hurdles and 60m sprint, he was on target for a very good points score. With further good points gained in the shot put, long jump and high jump, he needed 412 points for the last event to break the Irish National record in his age category. He was delighted to run another season’s best of 4 minutes 3.61 seconds in the 1,000m to give him 413 points and set a new Irish Masters National record of 2,998 points [AO’D].

February

Leinster Schools XC

Postponed and re-scheduled for the second time in two weeks due to waterlogged ground in the Phoenix Park, the Leinster Schools Cross Country had to re-locate and was finally held at the Navan Adventure Centre on Friday 27th February. Due to illness among some, Mullingar Harriers had a smaller group competing for their schools and colleges than had qualified, but the 18 that did run certainly didn’t disappoint, with an impressive 12 of them advancing to the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country finals in Belfast on Saturday 7th March.

Siomha Leonard was one of two girls representing Loreto College on the day, and in the Minor Girls 1,500m she finished an excellent 10th place, inside the top-15 automatic individual qualifiers for the All-Ireland finals. Amelie Kelly (St Finian’s College) had been running strongly alongside Siomha in the early stages but was very unlucky after a mid-race fall cost her time and places and she finished out of the top-15 automatic qualifying places. In the Junior girls 2,000m, Chloe Bell (St. Finian’s College) was also the victim of bad luck when a respiratory issue derailed her race, which was very unfortunate considering Chloe was looking very strong at the front of the pack when she was hampered by the effects. Loreto College’s Lily Walsh was involved in a very close fight for podium positions throughout the Intermediate Girls 3,000m race, eventually winning the sprint for second place to take silver and our first podium finish of the day. Ailbhe O’Farrell (St. Finian’s College) was competing in her final year in the Senior Girls 3,000m where she ran extremely well and finished out her schools cross country career with a 21st place finish, a fine result but unfortunately outside the automatic qualifying places for the All-Ireland finals.

Gareth Glennon (St. Finian’s) was always in contention for honours in the Minor Boys 2,000m race and had enough in reserve on the home straight to fight off some challengers to hold on to third place and earn a podium place for the bronze medal. In the Junior Boys 3,000m Antonio Bertolo (Colaiste Mhuire) ran a strong race from the start, slotting into third position after the sprint start and held on to that spot all the way to the finish line for his own trip to the podium to collect his bronze medal. Aaron Kenny (Mercy Kilbeggan) was never far behind and ensured his ticket to the All-Ireland finals was secured with an impressive 11th place finish. The Colaiste Mhuire team in the Intermediate Boys 4,500m finished 2nd team and will have a chance of chasing All-Ireland medals in Belfast. The team was led home by Cillian Galvin who is in his first year in the Intermediate category and he tackled the tough and hilly course with determination to finish a terrific 9th place. With great support from Oisin Clarke in 14th, and impressive runs from Daniel Horohoe and Morgan Isdell, and good team support and running by Cormac McGrath and Cian Hyland the team silver medals were secured.

The final event of the day was the Senior boys 5,500m where Jamie Wallace (Colaiste Mhuire) was simply too good for the opposition. He led the race from the gun and after the first kilometre he made the decision to quicken the pace and simply ran away from the field over the final 4k to win the Leinster title comfortably, 10 years after another Mullingar Harriers athlete, Jack O’Leary, won the same event. Coming in behind Jamie was Matthew Molloy (St. Finian’s College) with an excellent effort but finished just outside the top-15 places. Despite good support from Conor Walsh and Luke Greene (Colaiste Mhuire), the Colaiste Mhuire team finished 5th, outside the top-3 automatic team qualifying places.

Overall a very successful day which has given us plenty more action to look forward to in Belfast [CW/TW/GD].

Connacht Indoors

Patrick Leydon and Aidan O’Donoghue competed as guests at the Connacht Indoors in TUS Athlone on Sunday 22nd February. In the master men 200m, Aidan stopped the clock at 30.03 seconds, very happy to record a season’s best. In the senior men 200m, Patrick was very satisfied to finish in 22.59 seconds, using the race as part of his final preparations for the National Senior Indoors on Saturday 28th, where he’ll compete over the longer 400m [AO’D/GD].

Leinster Juvenile Indoors

Mullingar Harriers recorded another very successful weekend of competition at the Leinster Juvenile Indoors in TUS Athlone on Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th February, winning a lot of medals, more qualifying for finals, and many recording personal bests.

The race walks are always a rich vein for Mullingar, and on Saturday morning Gareth Glennon won silver in the u/15 boys 1,000m walk, despite incurring a 30 second time penalty for a rule infringement, without which he would have won comfortably by a distance. Also falling foul of the tough rules was Daniel Glennon who also incurred a 30 second time penalty in the u/18 boys 1,500m walk but still won the gold medal.

It was great to see Scott Cogan continuing his venture into the sprints, though unfortunately he was disqualified in the u/17 boys 400m for a false start, always a risk in the sprints but he’ll learn from the experience and take it to the outdoor season this summer.

Moving to the 1,500m races, the stand-out performances came from Lily Walsh and Oisin Clarke. Lily took command of the u/16 girls 1,500m from the gun, going straight to the front and cruised to gold in great front-running style. Oisin was content to stay in the pack for the early laps of a tactical u/16 boys 1,500m race, but with four laps to go he went to the front and injected just enough pace to stretch the field. He was passed with two laps to go but bided his time before retaking the lead again with 300m to go, before unleashing a furious injection of pace at the bell he pulled clear with a swift 29 second final lap to win his first Leinster title. There was also great performances from Hannah Dunne (1,500m u/16), Beibhinn O’Reilly (1,500m u/17), Daniel Horohoe, Morgan Isdell and Cormac McGrath (1,500m u/17) with Daniel securing qualification to the National finals with a 4th place finish. In the u/18 girls 1,500m Eleanor Kiernan timed her finish to perfection in the closing lap to move from third to second and win the silver medal. Conor Walsh put in a determined effort in the u/18 boys 1,500m and was very unlucky to be pipped on the line to finish 5th in a close finish, just missing an automatic qualification place in the National finals. We finished with the u/19 boys 1,500m where Luke Greene worked hard throughout but had to settle for a place out of the medals.

Big entries for the u/12 boys 60m saw Tadhg McManus line up in heat 4 of 5 and despite a brave effort he didn’t advance from the very tough heats. No problem for Lucy O’Connor in the u/13 girls 60m where she finished second in her heat to advance to the semi-final but unfortunately that’s where her campaign ended and despite running a good race, she didn’t advance to the final. A fourth place finish for Ethan Byrne in his heat of the u/13 boys 60m wasn’t enough to advance to the semi-final. Majed Al Bashir was unlucky not to advance from his heat of the u/14 boys 60m to join Daniel Cummins who qualified for the final with a fine second place finish in his heat, but though he nearly matched his time in the final, he had to settle for a place out of the medals. John McManus placed third in his heat of the u/15 boys 60m and in the final ran quicker and stormed to 5th place, just out of the medal places, but top marks for effort. In the u/18 boys 60m, Cian Hyland sprinted really well in his heat but was unlucky not to advance to the final. We finally ended the 60m medal drought in the u/19 boys 60m. Running close to his personal best in his heat, Finn Roddy advanced to the final where he blasted from the blocks and crashed through the finish line in a new PB of 7.29 seconds to win the Leinster bronze medal.

There were Mullingar athletes busy in the field events too, including Sophie Doran (u/12 girls shot put), Saoirse Peters threw her way to a top-8 finish in the u/14 girls shot put, and Clodagh Doran matched this in the u/16 girls shot put with a top-8 finish of her own.

The action on Sunday started with the 200m sprints where Aoibhe Martyn and Emily Tully contested the u/16 girls 200m, but strong runs to finish third in their respective heats wasn’t enough to advance to the final.

Entries in the 600m races are always very big, with lots of heats and qualification to the finals is extremely difficult. Maisie Walsh finished fourth in her heat of the u/12 girls 600m and was very unlucky to miss a place in the final by only two places. Tadhg McManus also didn’t advance from his tough heat of the u/12 boys 600m. Ruth Whelan and Caitlin Doyle didn’t advance from their heats of the u/13 girls 600m to join Helen McGrath whose fourth place finish in her heat earned her a place in the final where she battled well but finished out of the medals. Mel Bohan won his heat of the u/13 boys 600m to qualify for the final, but not so Donagh Bourke and Olly Loughrey who competed well but didn’t advance from their heats. In the final, Mel ran even quicker but was extremely unlucky to finish 4th in a near photo finish, just missing a medal by a fraction.

Aoife Dunne was our sole representative in the u/14 girls 800m but unfortunately fifth in her heat was enough to qualify for the final, but can take consolation from running a new PB. Having their first experience of indoor 800m racing, Cillian Gavin and Conor Gavin didn’t advance from the heats of the u/14 boys 800m to join Daniel Cummins who won his heat to qualify for the final where he stormed through the last lap, making up several places, to finish a very creditable 6th place. Chloe Bell finished second in her heat of the u/15 girls 800m to reach the final where she ran even quicker but was very unlucky to finish just out of the medals in 4th place. Amelie G Kelly had placed fourth in her heat but missed qualification for the final by just two places, and Siomha Leonard also ran well but didn’t advance from her heat.

It was great to see three Mullingar boys advance from the heats and qualify for the final of the u/15 boys 800m. In the final, John McManus went out hard storming to the front and setting a ferocious early pace. He was only caught on the final lap but had enough in reserve to hold on for a terrific silver medal finishing in a new PB of 2:17.25, followed in by Gareth Glennon in 4th place in a very close finish in 2:18.13, a new PB, and Rian Gavin behind in a very creditable 7th place. Muirin Dunne contested the u/16 girls 800m but despite a good performance where she ran a PB she didn’t advance to the final. Fresh from victory over 1,500m the day before, Oisin Clarke returned for the u/16 boys 800m where he proved simply too good for the opposition and swept to victory, his second Leinster title of the week-end. We also had three boys in the final of the u/17 boys 800m where Scott Cogan raced to a fine 6th place, followed by Daniel Horohoe in 7th, and Cormac McGrath also finishing strong.

Heather Kelly placed second in her heat of the u/12 girls 60m hurdles to advance to the final, where she clipped the first hurdle but recovered brilliantly to storm through for second place and the silver medal, in a new PB of 11.83 seconds. Kate Horohoe and Caitlin Doyle contested the u/13 girls 60m hurdles but were unlucky not to advance from the very competitive heats. Finally, Morgan Isdell hurdled his way to 4th place in the u/17 boys 60m hurdles, guaranteeing a chance to go again with a place at the National finals.

Over in the field events, Donnacha Doyle jumped to 5th place in the u/15 boys high jump, missing fourth and qualification to the National finals only on count-back. Aoibhe Martyn leaped to a fine top-8 finish in the u/16 girls long jump after a very good and consistent series of jumps. Also competing in the field events was Heather Kelly (u/12 girls long jump), Daniel Cummins, Cillian Gavin, Conor Gavin and Cillian Martyn (u/14 boys long jump), and Kate Horohoe (u/13 girls high jump).

It was great to see so many Mullingar athletes trying new events, and very satisfying seeing some new faces on the podium. Well done to all who competed, and best of luck to everyone that has qualified for the National finals [CW/GD].

National Intermediate & Masters XC

Given the rain that fell in Dublin in recent weeks, it’s no surprise that the course at the Sport Ireland Campus in Abbotstown was so badly waterlogged and even flooded in places, that there was a lot of uncertainty in the days leading up to the National Intermediate and Masters Cross Country on Sunday 15th February that the event would even go ahead, but go ahead it did. To address the inclement weather, Athletics Ireland took the wise decision to reduce the race distances, and the course was confined to a 1km loop, which was very muddy and sticky for the athletes.

In the Master Women 3,000m race, Eva Ross led the team home, followed closely by Maura Dervin, then Claire Ross, Linda Cunningham, Caroline Mullen, Terri Greene and Pauline Troy. With the Athlone AC athletes working well, Anna Marie O’Dowd and Triona Kinane, the Westmeath o/50 women team finished a very creditable 5th County. Sean McMullin and Nicky McCabe contested the o/65 Master Men 3,000m where they both ran very well throughout and were satisfied with their performances.

The next race was the Master Men 6,000m and with the course deteriorating after each race, the men had nothing easy in getting around the loop. Kevin Moore, just back from his exploits at the European Champion Clubs Cross Country in Portugal, led home the Mullingar men with a fine performance, followed by Steven Underwood and Eddie Lynch finishing very strong in his category {CM].

Barcelona Half Marathon

Mullingar Harriers stalwart Claire Fagan travelled to Spain on Sunday 15th February to compete in the Barcelona Half Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label Race. Claire ran a controlled race from the start and was rewarded with a new personal best of 1:13:56, a 40 second improvement on her previous best, which she set in Paris last March. Claire covered the first 5k in 17:38 and was able to pick up the pace marginally over the next 5k, which she covered in 17:28, followed by 17:35 to take her to 15k, then 17:23 to reach 20k, an extremely well balanced pace throughout. Congratulations to Claire on an excellent performance.

The Downs 10k & 5k

The Downs LGFA staged their annual 5k and 10k races on Sunday morning 15th February when early morning heavy showers had moved away, to leave cold and bright conditions for the runners. For many Mullingar Harriers, it was an opportunity to get some racing time in ahead of the Mullingar Half Marathon, which will be run over some of the course used for the Downs races.

The 10k race attracted an entry of 112, which was won by Euan Lagan in a solid time of 34:19. Enda Seery was next home in fifth place in a time of 38:24, followed by Kieran Nolan in ninth place in 40:05. Orlaith Flanagan was first woman in 40:44, which placed her tenth overall in the race. Mick Fagan ran 41:45 and Jason McKevitt was pleased to return to racing after some injury issues over the past few months to come home in 42:19. Evan McCormack ran with Orla McLoughlin for most of the race, getting a finishing time of 42.25, just ahead of Orla on 42.27. Niamh Doherty finished just ahead of husband Joe Doherty, with a time of 45:29, Joe just 2 seconds further back on 45:31. Martin Fitzpatrick ran 49:41, Lisa O’Brien (49:55), with Brendan Rice completing the distance in 50:03. Jessica Crowley had her first run since the Dublin City Marathon and finished in a time of 51:48, with Colm Brennan running 52:24, Martin Mullen (52:55), Kevin O’Brien (53:23) and Catherine Gavin with a finishing time of 55:40.

In the 5k race, Stephen Nea led the field of over 110 from start to finish coming over the finish line in 17:20, ahead of Mark Ronan in second place in 18:07. Joe Curley was next home for Mullingar Harriers in 20:06 with Conleth Mullen finishing in 21:47 and Lorna Moody ran 25:23 [MO’S].

National 50k Championship

Over 320 athletes lined up to start the National 50k Championship, which was held in Donadea Forest Park in Kildare on Saturday morning 14th February. Among them were two Mullingar athletes, Sinead Whitelaw and Dara O’Shea. The morning was very cold and dry, but the recent wet weather left some of the trails in poor condition and the terrain was difficult in places along the route, which consisted of ten 5k loops in the forest.

Sinead, an experienced marathon runner, was making her debut at ultramarathon running and taking a step into unknown territory. However, she took it in her stride and placed herself in second position from the start, completing the early laps at a steady pace, and even clocking the fastest female lap of the day in the middle section of her race. Sinead held her second position for almost 49k, when she was passed in the closing stages of the race. She crossed the line in 3:41:23, in 3rd place, achieving her first individual National senior medal, a wonderful achievement.

Dara, who completed the race last year, was eager to return to the course again this year. He ran a steady race, with perfectly paced laps to finish in 4:05:35, and achieved an impressive new 17 minute personal best [SW].

Armagh International Road Races

UNREPORTED

Thursday 12th February

Men 5k, 204 finishers

Cormac Dalton 5th of 204 (13:41), Jamie Battle 28th (14:04), Dan Morris 186th (15:43), Kris Foster 201st (16:14)

Men 3k, 190 finishers

Ross Killalea 10th of 190 (8:50)

European Champion Clubs XC

A second place finish at the National Senior Cross Country in a wet and muddy Derry last November earned the Mullingar Harriers senior men team a place in the prestigious European Champion Clubs Cross Country in Albufeira, Portugal on Sunday 8th February where the team put in excellent performances on a really tough course that they all admitted after really tested them to their limits.

The race distance was 9,280m made up of five laps of a hilly technical course run in part on packed sand, grass, and woodland trails with several sharp turns and some obstacles including steep high man-made clay ramps and a short section with logs to hurdle over for good measure, so a big test of focus and concentration as well as physical and mental endurance. There was a maximum of four per team to start, with three to score in the team competition. John Ryan led the Mullingar men out from the gun followed by Ross Killalea, Vinny Connolly and Kevin Moore packing in close order behind as they headed out on the first of the five laps.

As the race progressed, the order never changed as John slowly increased the distance from his team mates and led them home to finish strongly in the middle of the pack. Only a few places behind, Ross and Vinny worked hard together for a lot of the early race until Ross opened a gap on Vinny on lap four but Vinny never stopped fighting and pushed on to the end, followed in by Kevin only a few places further back. With barely two minutes separating the four men, it was a great race to watch for the small group of Mullingar supporters, giving them plenty to cheer about, as they criss-crossed the course to urge the men on. Though exhausted after the race all four admitted that performing on the big stage was a great experience and one they’ll remember for a long time.

Also in Albufeira, we had two reserves and though they couldn’t run in the senior men race, Ian McCormack and Conleth Mullen toed the line for an Open 4k race, which took them over one small lap and two big laps of the challenging course. Both men ran extremely well and were delighted with the shared experience of attending the European event in Portugal [GD].

Scottish Masters Indoors

Aidan O’Donoghue competed at the Scottish Masters Indoors in Glasgow on Sunday 8th February and was very happy to take home two gold and one bronze medal after a long day of competition. He won the 60m hurdles and pole vault and placed third in the high jump. He was unlucky to miss the 200m final by the narrowest of margins having run so well in his heat, but was still more than satisfied to win three medals after such a long day of competition [AO’D].

Rás na hEireann XC

Celtic International XC

The Celtic Cross Country Championships were held at London’s infamous Parliament Hill on Saturday 7th February and Mullingar Harriers were represented in both the boys and girls races. Typically comprising of teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the race piggybacked on the Home Nations Championships, a competition between England, Scotland and Wales.

The u/17 boys took on the challenge first where very muddy, wet conditions added to the already difficult hilly course. Racing 6,000m over four laps provided a tough test but nothing too daunting for Cillian Galvin, making his International debut for Ireland. The end results showed a very close scoring team competition, where the Irish u/17 team emerged eventual winners. Cillian, running with the Ireland Development team, packed well with his Irish team mates from start to finish, and was unlucky to finish just off the podium by a narrow margin with the fourth placed team.

Also covering 6,000m, the u/17 girls race was run in conjunction with the u/20 ladies race, adding an unnecessary additional level of competition for Lily Walsh. But the Irish girls rose to the challenge and Lily, along with her three Ireland u/17 teammates, each finished ahead of all their Scottish and Welsh opponents, winning the Celtic Championships. So dominant were Ireland in this race that the Ireland Development team also made the podium finishing in second place.

As u/16 athletes, both Cillian and Lily are eligible to contend for this Irish team again next year, which emphasises the high standard both athletes have already accomplished at such a young age. Congratulations to Cillian on a successful first outing in an Irish vest, and to Lily on her International team victory. It is always an honour and privilege to represent one’s country, and an achievement that’s hard earned but highly respected [CW].

Rathcoffey 10k

The annual Rathcoffey GAA 10k took place on Saturday morning 7th February in bright and dry conditions, with a light breeze. 351 runners took to the start line at the GAA grounds, and the course brought them through country roads around the outskirts of the village before returning to the GAA pitch for a 400m dash to the finish line along a well marshalled course. Five athletes from Mullingar Harriers took part. First home was James Keegan who finished 13th overall in a time of 34:10. He was closely followed by his training partner Kedagh Geoghegan who was 19th in a time of 36:06. Criona Reid had a very fine run finishing in 41:42 to win her master category, with Marie Louise Johnston covering the course in 45:23, sufficient to finish third in her master category. Joan Hickson completed the Mullingar interest finishing in 46:37 [MO’S].

Trim 10 Mile

Early morning showers cleared to give a dry and at times sunny day in Trim on Sunday morning 1st February. The local Trim AC staged the annual Trim 10 mile road race in good running conditions. With the start and finish at the Eugene Duggan Business Park, the race took its traditional route through country roads to the east of the town, with a number of challenging inclines at both 3 miles and again at the 7 mile mark. The closing mile also presents a steady rise before turning into the business park for the final 400m. Thirty one Mullingar Harriers athletes took part in a big field of 1,880 runners.

Dan Morris finished an excellent 7th place overall in 53:27 and was 2nd in his master category. Ian McCormack was next home in 57:40, followed by Alan Crowley (58:22) and Steven Underwood (1:01:16). The four combined to finish 4th team, narrowly missing a podium place. Andy Boyhan completed the race in 1:01:36 and Susan Glennon in 1:02:54 was our first woman to finish. Following them was Enda Seery (1:03:11), Joe Doherty (1:06:20), Darren Carroll (1:06:47), Jacintha Reilly (1:06:55), Mick Fagan (1:07:32), Tom Byrne (1:08:28), Ger Feerick (1:08:36), Conor Corcoran (1:08:38), Criona Reid (1:09:10), Declan Claffey (1:09:17), John Long (1:09:41), Barry White (1:11:13), Joe Curley (1:11:23) and Aeilish McGovern completed the event in 1:11.40. Susan, Jacintha, Criona and Aeilish combined to finish 4th women team.

Also competing was Mark Dunne (1:12:27), Orla Gillespie (1:13:04), Conor Collison (1:13:14), Niamh Doherty (1:13:26), Laura Fitzpatrick (1:14:41), Brendan Rice (1:19:07). Martin Fitzatrick (1:20:34), Michael Purdue (1:22:06), Leona Behan (1:23:40), Avril Keane (1:31:34), Catherine Gavin (1:31:35), Sinead Campbell (1:31:55), and Anna Redmond (1:34.09) [MO’S].

Leinster Juv. Indoor Relays & selected Field Events, AND u/20, Senior & Masters 3,000m

In order to reduce the programme on the main day for the Leinster u/20, Senior & Masters Indoors (Sat 31st Jan), this year the 3,000m races were moved to Sunday 1st February and held between the morning & afternoon sessions at the Leinster Juvenile Indoor Relays & selected Field Events in TUS Athlone.

Eleanor Kiernan returned for the 3,000m on Sunday, which was a combined u/20, senior & master women race and she was delighted to take the win in the u/20 category in a close race that was only finally settled on the last lap and add a gold medal to the bronze she won the day before for the 1,500m. Orlaith Flanagan contested the senior category where the field broke up but Orlaith struck to her task and was rewarded with a silver medal for her efforts. Conor Sherwin and Matthew Molloy contested the 3,000m for men, which was a combined u/20 & senior race. Conor showed great focus and determination and ran in to take the senior silver medal in a close race, improving on his 1,500m bronze the day before, while Matthew dug deep and took advantage of being able to track some of the senior men to finish third u/20 man and bring Mullingar’s total to seventeen medals in these Championships.

We weren’t finished with medals yet though and over at the triple jump pit for the Juvenile Indoors, Donnacha Doyle was trying out a new event for him, the u/15 boys triple jump, where he put together an excellent and consistent set of jumps to finish third and win the Leinster bronze medal and qualify for the National final.

This brought the final medal total of the week-end for Mullingar to 17, that’s 16 between u/20, Senior & Masters, plus Donnacha’s u/15 medal, an excellent medal tally over the two days [GD].

January

Leinster u/20, Senior & Masters Indoors

The Leinster u/20, Senior & Masters Indoors in TUS Athlone on Saturday 31st January and Sunday 1st February really brought out the best in the small squad of Mullingar athletes that competed, winning 17 medals, recording 3 Championship Records, and 2 personal bests.

Aidan O’Donoghue got his Master Pentathlon campaign underway in style with the 60m hurdles first thing on Saturday morning, placing second in his category. He followed this up with second place in the long jump, first in the shot put, second in the high jump, before closing out with the 1,000m after a long day of competition, finishing second in the 1,000m and second overall in the pentathlon, to win the silver medal. Finn Roddy had an early start too placing third in his heat of the 60m u/20 in a PB of 7.37 seconds. In the final he blasted from the blocks, running even faster in 7.34 seconds, a true sign of a Championship competitor and crashed through the line out the medals but a fine sixth place.

It was only in the final lap of the 1,500m u/20 that Eleanor Kiernan had to surrender the silver medal but she was still delighted to run in third place in 4:54.12 to take the bronze medal. You’d never know that Conor Sherwin hadn’t competed indoors since he was 12 years of age and he put in a terrific performance in the Senior 1,500m to finish third in 4:05.76 and add another medal, bronze, to Mullingar’s rapidly growing medal haul.

Mullingar’s reputation in the race walks is legendary, and it was immediately obvious which Club is the strongest in Leinster in the older age groups as the Mullingar racewalkers made a strong start to the new season with impressive displays of attacking ability. First into battle was Aisling Lane in the Women 3,000m Walk, which was a combined race for u/20, senior and masters. Going straight into the lead from the gun, Aisling showed her class as she stretched this lead on every lap to eventually lap the entire field bar one and win in another satisfying sub-14 minute performance of 13:57.88. A good confidence booster for Aisling for the season ahead.

In the Men 3,000m Walk, which was a combined race for u/20, senior and masters, Mullingar had four participants – the Glennon brothers, Matthew (senior), John and Daniel (u/20), alongside master athlete Colm Walsh. Again, straight from the gun it was a sea of maroon and white singlets dominating as each of the Glennon brothers took it in turn to lead through the early laps. As the race progressed the volume of years training became clear as Matthew Glennon, the eldest, took control of the senior race with John Glennon taking full control of the u/20 race, followed by his younger brother Daniel Glennon in second place in the same u/20 race. In the masters race Colm Walsh walked confidently and safely throughout as he established his authority in his age group. This was the order to the end as Matthew Glennon finished first in 11:53.46 and a new Championship Record by five seconds. In similar fashion John Glennon too set a new u/20 Championship Record, but smashing the previous by almost two minutes with a classy time of 12:22.16. Not far behind came Daniel Glennon in second place who was also inside the previous record with a great time of 12:46.93. And, you guessed it, Colm Walsh too strode to a new Championship Record in his master category with a scintillating 15:55.06, bettering the previous by over sixteen seconds. Colm admitted to being absolutely shattered after the race, but that what it takes to win and set new records. A very satisfying day for our race walkers.

We moved back to the 200m u/20 sprint heats where Finn Roddy raced to fourth in his heat, narrowly missing a place in the final to join Kyle Faherty who cruised to victory in his heat in a new indoor PB of 22.93 seconds. With the fastest time in the heats, Kyle drew the favoured outside lane in the final and blasted to victory leading from gun to tape to win the Leinster title in 22.93 seconds again to equal his personal best for the second time in an hour.

While there was lots of action to follow on the track, Mullingar was also prominent in the field events. Ramona Carey was happy to get her indoor season underway and expressed satisfaction with her silver medal in the master shot put. For Paddy Boyhan it was an extremely rewarding day. His performances in the master high jump, long jump and triple jump, winning all three to become a triple Leinster Champion, were very good when measured against the Championship Records in these events, so Paddy can be very proud of his achievements.

In order to reduce the programme on Saturday, this year the 3,000m races were moved to Sunday 1st February and held between the morning and afternoon sessions at the Leinster Juvenile Indoor Relays & selected Field Events [GD/ML].

John Thomas Terrier Classic

UNREPORTED

Saturday 31st Jan, Boston (USA)

Jack O’Leary 3,000m, 8th in 7:42.57

T&F Live #4

Mullingar Harriers had a small but select number of athletes competing on Wednesday evening 28th January at the Track & Field Live meeting in the NIA Dublin. First up was the Elite Men’s 1,500m where Diarmuid Fagan (3:50.54), John Ryan (3:52.75) and Jamie Wallace (3:53.20) all raced to PBs on the night, with Colin D Smith just behind. The next race on the track was the Elite Women’s 800m where Aimee Wallace ran a time of 2:10.87 again another personal best. The final two Mullingar athletes competed in the Elite Men’s 800m where Eoin Quinn finished in 1:52.05, ahead of Conor Liston who ran 1:53.85, another PB on the night [TW].

Westmeath Juvenile Indoors

The Westmeath Juvenile Indoors was held in TUS Athlone on Sunday 25th January, which gave an opportunity for some of our youngest members who are too young to compete in the Leinster Indoors to compete in the magnificent International Indoor Arena in Athlone. The event was held in conjunction with the Roscommon Juvenile Indoors, so there was a great buzz in the arena and plenty of action to follow. Though two Counties were taking part, each County awarded medals to its own athletes. Westmeath was represented by Mullingar and Athlone AC and it was great to see the rivalry in each event and Mullingar certainly didn’t have it all its own way, with fierce competition in some events between the two Clubs.

From the first event to the last, everyone had a brilliant time, and it was great to see so many Mullingar athletes participating in so many events, with some taking the opportunity to try new events too. By pooling officials from the two counties, the programme ran very smoothly and efficiently and everything was finished in a busy action-packed 4 hours during which Mullingar athletes ran, jumped and threw to win over 100 medals, a very impressive medal haul. Hopefully they will use this success to spur them on for the rest of the indoor season. With so many medals won by our juveniles, we couldn’t possibly list them all here but very well done to each and every one of them for giving their parents and coaches such entertainment. The full results are available on the Connacht Athletics website.

It was a fun day and a lot of athletes tried something new, which is great to see, and everybody got some valuable competition experience ahead of the Leinsters in February. Very well done to everyone who took part, especially to all the newly crowned County Champions, and thanks to the parents for bringing their children to Athlone to take part, and of course to the coaches and parents from the club that volunteered to officiate [GD].

Raheny 5 Mile

The last Sunday in January, 25th January, brought over 4,000 runners to the annual Raheny 5 Mile, a race that takes in a looped circuit around the Dublin suburb, with some testing uphill stretches included. Road closures and excellent stewarding along the route made for a safe running environment. Mullingar Harriers was well represented with Jack Moran leading them home in an excellent 9th place finish with a time of 24:26. Kris Foster, in his first race of 2026, paid a little for sticking with the leaders early on but was pleased to hold a very strong pace and came home in 26:52. Enda Seery has taken up where last year finished, posting another PB and finishing in 30:02. Joan Flynn with 32.33 was very happy with her first race of the year, and Liam McGlynn similarly on his first outing of 2026 came home in 37.35. Joan was on the podium as a result of her fine effort, picking up 3rd in her master category [MO’S].

Annual General Meeting

There was a good attendance for our Annual General Meeting on Friday evening 23rd January in the Annebrook House Hotel. This was the 50th AGM since the club was founded at a meeting in December 1975 and it was good to have engagement with the membership on the vision for the future of the club as we look ahead.

Bobbie Begley (Chairperson) opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and presenting his Chairperson’s Address, before introducing the Secretary’s report by Cormac Finnerty, Greg Duggan’s report on registrations, competitions and public relations, and the Treasurer’s report by Joanna Tyrrell. These reports were followed by the President’s Address by Seamus Gibney and the Vice-President’s Address by John Mulvihill.

In a wide-ranging report, Cormac outlined the many activities and events organised by the club to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2025, including the Dysart 4 mile, the 50 year book launch and the celebration founder’s dinner. Among the stand out performances by members in 2025, was Brigid McCabe being a member of the Irish team that set a new indoor World Record in the o/70 women 4x400m relay; the squad of Aisling Corcoran, Maura Dervin, Marie Lousie Johnston, Emer O’Hanlon, Criona Reid and Mary Stuart who made a clean sweep of the National master women over 50 team titles in the 5k, 5 mile, 10 mile, half marathon and marathon National Championships in 2025, a remarkable and very noteworthy achievement; Oisin Lane competing in the 35km race walk at the Tokyo World Championships; and rounding out the year was Jack O’Leary and Cormac Dalton competing at the European Cross Country in Portugal in December, where Jack finished fifth and Cormac finished eleventh to win silver team medals for Ireland, breaking a 25 year drought in senior men team medals for Ireland in the event.

Mullingar Harriers had a record membership of 585 at the end of December and interest in joining continues to be very strong. However, the Club continues to face challenges in managing the increase in membership. We now have excellent training facilities at the club grounds and a renewed call was made for more help to assist the coaches, particularly with the younger underage members that train at the 6pm sessions.

The following were elected as officers and committee members for the coming year: Margaret Daly (President), Michael Lane (Vice-President), Michael O’Sullivan (Chair), Catriona Duffy (Vice-Chair), Tom McGrath (Treasurer), Joanna Tyrrell (Assistant Treasurer), Cormac Finnerty (Secretary), Ian McCormack (Minute Secretary), Eoin Clarke (PRO), Tom Wallace (Juvenile Training Officer), Pauline Quinn, Margaret Daly and Greg Duggan (Child Officers), Eoin Clarke, Margaret Daly, Michael Lane and Michael O’Sullivan (Trustees). The officers and trustees are automatically on the new committee, as are Life Vice-presidents including Cormac Finnerty, Martin Fagan, Bobbie Begley, Christy Creagh and Mark Christie, and will be joined by Declan Costello, Amanda Dalton, Susan Glennon, Gemma Kelly, Sean Liston, Evan McCormack, Claire Ross and Alan Sherwin who were elected to the committee.

An important item on the agenda was the motion to adopt a new constitution. The former constitution served the club well, with some minor changes over the 50 years, but it needed to be updated to bring it into line with best practice. The new constitution was proposed by the Executive Committee and adopted unanimously by the meeting. Several other issues were discussed and debated with plenty of lively contributions from those in attendance. Concluding the meeting, Bobbie Begley thanked all present for their attendance and input, and closing a successful AGM he invited everyone to stay for some light refreshments that were served after the meeting, which gave everyone a nice chance to stay and chat for a while [GD].

North Leinster Schools Cross Country

The North Leinster Schools Cross Country took place in the Phoenix Park on Friday morning 23rd January and by the end of the day, it was little surprise that a large number of Club members competing for their schools and colleges have qualified for the Leinster Schools finals by virtue of individual placing or team results. The East Leinster Schools ran on the same course on Wednesday, then the West Leinster Schools on Thursday, so it was little surprise the course was very cut up on Friday and with the wind and rain on the day, and muddy and slippy underfoot, it was very tough cross country conditions. The top 15 in each race, and the top 3 teams, qualify for the Leinster schools cross country, so competition was fierce.

Ninth place for Siomha Leonard (Loreto Mullingar) and thirteenth for Amelie Kelly (St. Finian’s College) in the Minor Girls 1,200m saw them qualify for the Leinster finals. Also competing but missing out was Penny Bohan and Clodagh Keane,  (St. Joseph’s Rochfortbridge), Alice Hyland (St. Finian’s), and Katie Bohan, Caoimhe Clinton and Estere Skrastina (Loreto). The St. Finian’s girls finished fourth team, very unlucky to miss a place in the Leinster finals by only a few points. In the Minor Boys 1,600m Gareth Glennon (St. Finian’s College) raced to an excellent third place. Rian Gavin (St. Joseph’s Rochfortbridge) also competed but finished out of the automatic qualification places.

Only Chloe Bell (St. Finian’s College) advanced in the Junior Girls 2,000m with a fine fifth place finish, but no luck for Shaynah Mitchell, Hannah Dunne and Liadan Gavin (St. Joseph’s Rochfortbridge), or Emily Tully and Eden McCague (St. Finian’s). There was no problem for Antonio Bertolo (Colaiste Mhuire) third and Aaron Kenny (Mercy Kilbeggan) sixth in the Junior Boys 2,200m, where John McManus (St. Finian’s College) ran well but finished out of the automatic qualification  places.

Lily Walsh (Loreto College) had to work a bit in the closing stages of the Intermediate Girls 2,200m but had enough in reserve to win. Also running well but not advancing to the Leinsters was Muirin Dunne and Blathnaid Peters (St. Finian’s College), Amelie Kelly (St. Joseph’s Rochfortbridge), Beibhinn O’Reilly (Loreto), Emma Lagan, Yves McCague and Lisa O’Brien (St. Finian’s), Clodagh Doran (Wilson’s Hospital School) and Lena Demkowska (St. Finian’s). In the Intermediate Boys 3,800m race, Oisin Clarke (Colaiste Mhuire) raced to sixth place, just ahead of Daniel Glennon (St. Finan’s College) in seventh. With great support and team running by Daniel Horohoe, Morgan Isdell, Cormac McGrath and Cian Hyland (Colaiste Mhuire) their team placed second, so they all qualify for the Leinsters. Also running was Evan Nohilly  and Aaron Conroy (St. Finian’s) and Scott Cogan (St. Joseph’s Rochfortbridge).

Ailbhe O’Farrell (St. Finian’s College) booked her place in the Leinster finals with an excellent fourth place finish in the Senior Girls 2,200m but Lydia McDonnell (Loreto Mullingar) was unlucky to finish just outside the top 15 automatic qualification places. The day finished with the Senior Boys 4,200m where Colaiste Mhuire finished second team and St. Finian’s College third, so both teams qualify for the Leinsters. Finishing in the individual top 15 places were Jamie Wallace (Colaiste Mhuire) second, Conor Walsh (Colaiste Mhuire) seventh, Donagh Carey (St. Finian’s) eleventh, Matthew Molloy (St. Finian’s) twelfth, Luke Greene (Colaiste Mhuire) fourteenth, and they’ll be joined in the Leinsters by their team mates Oisin Kehoe, John Glennon and Txema Lozano (St. Finian’s).

A great number from Mullingar Harriers competed and it’s great to see so many qualify for the Leinster finals [CW/GD].

Leinster Intermediate & Masters Cross Country

The Leinster Intermediate & Masters Cross Country was held in Fenagh, Co. Carlow on Sunday afternoon 18th January. Set in the Carlow GAA Training Grounds, Athletics Carlow laid out an excellent course around the playing pitches. Any notions that it would be flat because it skirted the pitches were soon dispelled as it had some deceptive hilly stretches up steep embankments that provided some challenges but overall it was deemed a very fair course and a good test. Early morning fog burned off and the day was calm dry and sunny with very good underfoot conditions throughout the programmes of races.

The first race was the 4,000m for Master Women & o/65 Masters Men. Mullingar had teams in both races, bolstered by some very good athletes from Athlone AC that joined Mullingar on the Westmeath teams. In the women’s race, the Mullingar women packed well, led home by Sharon O’Dowd finishing well up and winning bronze in her category. Next home and making her debut for Mullingar was Joanna Bula, followed by Claire Ross, Maura Dervin winning gold in her category, and Eva Ross in quick succession. They were followed in by Linda Cunningham, Caroline Mullen, Vera McCool fourth in her category, just missing a medal, then Ciara Dillon, Terri Greene, Brigid McCabe and Pauline Troy all running hard to the finish. When the team results were calculated, Maura, Caroline and Vera were delighted to finish 3rd o/50 Club, and Maura added another team medal as she combined with Anna Marie O’Dowd and Triona Kinane (both Athlone AC) to place 2nd o/50 County. Not done yet, Maura added a fourth medal as Maura, Vera and Terri finished an excellent 1st  o/60 County.

In the o/65 men race combined with the master women, the Mullingar men were led home by Sean McMullin, followed by Nicky McCabe and Paul McCool all putting in spirited performances. Sean and Nicky combined with Charles Lawn (Athlone AC) on the Westmeath team to finish 2nd o/65 County to add to the medal haul.

The 7,000m Masters Men race was next and after a really fine race by all the Mullingar men in an extremely competitive race, they were led home by Kevin Moore to finish a brilliant third overall, but winning gold in his category. He was followed in by Dan Morris who finished fourth in his category, narrowly missing an individual medal, then James Keegan, Kedagh Geoghegan, Alan Crowley, Steven Underwood, Eddie Lynch, winning bronze in his category, with Eddie Newman right on his heels. Next came Tom McGrath, then Philip Kipremoi Kiprono making his debut for Mullingar, and Paul Ginnell completed the big Mullingar squad. In the team results, there was little surprise that Kevin, Dan, James and Kedagh finished 2nd o/35 Club and 3rd o/35 County.

Orlaith Flanagan was our sole entrant in the Intermediate Women 5,000m race, which got off to a very fast start, as expected. Orlaith kept with the leading group and battled well throughout and though unable to keep with the eventual medal winners, came home strong to finish an excellent sixth place in a fine performance.

In the final race of the day, the Intermediate Men 8,000m, Mullingar was looking to retain the team title they won last year. Jack Moran went out hard with the leaders, with the rest of the Mullingar team also starting fast and settling into their rhythm. Jack kept in contention for honours from the off, staying up with the small leading group, as Kris Foster and Ian McCormack kept in the chasing pack. As the race progressed, the lead group began to split and the eventual race winner pulled clear but Jack never let up and made a determined push in the closing stages of the final lap to move into second place and ran in hard to take the silver medal. With brilliant support running and team packing by Kris, Ian, Mark Ronan, and Conleth Mullen battling all the way to the finish, the team finished 2nd Club, not the win they hoped for, but a great result all the same and this rounded off an excellent medal-filled afternoon for Mullingar in the bright Carlow sunshine [GD].

AAI Indoor Games

UNREPORTED

Saturday 17th January, NIA Dublin

Conor Sherwin 1,500m 6th in 4:04.61

Valencia 10k

The Valencia 10k on Sunday morning 11th January attracted a huge entry of over 16,000 including three in-form athletes from Mullingar Harriers. Given their class, the three were given elite numbers, so avoided the scrum at the start, critical in a race that attracts top quality athletes. The headline from an Irish perspective was Efrem Gidey’s excellent twelfth place finish in 27:38, a new Irish record for 10k, five seconds off his previous best set in the same race last year.

The race won by Andreas Almgren (Sweden) in a European record time of 26:44, so it was a very fast course. Taking full advantage of the fast course and top quality opposition, the Mullingar trio was led home by Jack O’Leary in 27:41, a new personal best by a whopping 32 seconds, also inside the previous Irish record, followed by Cormac Dalton in 28:03, also a personal best, and the trio was completed by Jamie Battle pleased with his finish time of 28:49. Jack’s time is inside the qualification standard for the European T&F in Birmingham, England in August and there’s little doubt Cormac will close in that time too very soon. These are fantastic performances and a great start to 2026 [GD].

Khon Kaen International Marathon

The Khon Kaen International Marathon, held every January, is one of Thailand’s most celebrated distance races. Now in its 21st year, the 2026 event saw just short of 40,000 runners take part. With elite athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, Laos, and Taiwan, to Thai recreational runners and first-timers, with a sprinkling of runners from across the globe having it on their bucket list, the race is a showcase of international talent and local energy. The course winds through central Khon Kaen on smooth roads with gentle terrain and on-course support.

Among the participants very early on Sunday morning 11th January was Matt Creagh from Mullingar Harriers. Matt has his own story of how he came to be on the start line for a marathon. Joining the Fit 4 Life programme in October 2024, Matt had the ambition to lose a bit of weight and get fit. Encouraged by how the 10 week programme went, Matt joined our adult group in January 2025 and progressed very well. He took part in some 5k races and then after making it through the Mullingar Half Marathon took to training for the Dublin City Marathon. It didn’t quite work out for Matt, with an injury giving him considerable difficulty in the lead-up to the marathon, but Matt prevailed and with courage and determination got to finish the marathon. Encouraged, he continued with his training and took in the Khon Karen marathon during a planned trip to Thailand over the New Year period. The race started at 3am local time to provide runners with cooler temperatures given that they rise to 27degC by mid-afternoon. Matt described the start as a bit dark despite streetlights. It was cool with a slight breeze that helped for the marathon runners. The course included some long rolling hills. The support with people all through the course cheering and playing music was described as inspirational by Matt. He was very pleased to complete the course in 4:29:09 [MO’S].

Donadea Half Marathon

Donadea AC hosted a Festival of Half Marathons & Marathons over a week-end. John Long took part in a Half Marathon over a difficult and challenging course at midday on Saturday morning 10th January. He was very pleased to finish second in his master category from an overall field of 170 runners. John’s finishing time was 1:34:53 [MO’S].

Tom Brennan Memorial 5k

Foregoing any New Year’s Eve celebrations, Ross Killalea was up very early on New Year’s Day morning to travel to Dublin and take part in the annual Tom Brennan Memorial 5k in the Phoenix Park, the first member of Mullingar Harriers to lace up his running shoes and race in 2026.

Organised by Liffey Valley AC, this well-established fixture on the road-racing calendar attracted a big entry of just over 580 runners, racing over a flat two lap circuit in the park. Continuing his excellent recent form, Ross raced to in a fine 11th place finish in 15 minutes 33 seconds to get 2026 off to a very good start [GD].