Week ending Saturday 27th September

Aisling Lane honoured by the Westmeath Examiner

Congratulations to Aisling Lane who received the Young Sports Star of the Year Award for 2025 at the Westmeath Examiner Community & Sports Awards ceremony last Thursday afternoon in the Mullingar Park Hotel. This richly deserved Award comes on the back of a fantastic 2025 for 19 year old Aisling when she excelled on the National and International stage. Internationally, Aisling won the Dutch National Senior 10k and also the UK National Senior 20k title, the latter in a time that qualified her for the European Team Racewalking Championships in Czechia, where she made her senior International debut. On the home front, Aisling won the Irish Universities indoor and outdoor titles, took silver in the Senior indoors and outdoors, won the National u/23 walk in a new Championship Record, and took gold in the Leinster senior walk in a new Championship Record. Aisling attended the event with her mother, Mary, and representing Mullingar Harriers was Bobbie Begley and Margaret Daly [GD].

Joe Ryan provides significant local link to success of Cian McPhillips

Oisin Lane gave everyone in Mullingar Harriers a big local interest in the World T&F Championships in Tokyo, where he put in a terrific performance in gruelling conditions in the 35k race walk on day one.

As the Championships neared the end of its nine days, everyone in Ireland got caught up in the excitement of Kate O’Connor as she put in excellent performance after excellent performance in the heptathlon to win the silver medal, and everyone also followed the unfolding story of Longford AC’s Cian McPhillips, as he made a significant breakthrough on the World stage in the 800m, winning his heat, winning his semi-final in a new National record to qualify for the final, and in the final finishing just out of the medals in fourth place, setting another National record.

Adding to our local interest is that Cian’s coach is our own Joe Ryan, who has expertly coached and guided Cian since he was 13. We’ve been privileged to see Cian progress over the years as he trained regularly at the Club and knew he was destined for greatness, and everyone at the Club congratulates Cian on his achievements in Tokyo [GD].

50th Anniversary Book Launch on Wednesday

As previously announced our 50th anniversary book will be launched at the Bloomfield House Hotel this Wednesday evening (24 Sept). With entertainment starting from 7pm, displays of photos and memorabilia, recording of the recent Dysart 4 mile race and the availability of the book will provide a range of action-packed memories of activities and events through the years. A panel discussion at 7.30pm will be followed with the official launch by Michael O’Leary at 8pm. The book contains a range of articles covering interviews with leading athletes, coaches and administrators from the club, compilation of achievements of teams and individuals at Provincial, National and International level. Among the articles is an interview with the first person to win a medal with the club, and he will be present on the night with that medal. This and much more to enjoy on Wednesday evening.

Westmeath Schools Cross Country

The 21st staging of the Westmeath Schools Cross Country takes place this Wednesday (24 Sept). The first time the event was staged was on 1 December 2004. It is interesting looking back on the results from that first meeting to find schools who to this day continue to participate in this popular annual event. Full results of the first Schools Cross Country are covered in our 50th anniversary book.

The programme commences at 11am for the secondary schools, followed at 12 noon for the primary schools. This is an excellent introduction to running and as in previous years we expect very large numbers, especially in the primary schools races, so we’re appealing to Club members and friends that can spare a few hours from 10am to please help out.. It will get very busy near start time, so we’re advising everyone attending to come early. Once it starts, things move along very quickly and we’ll be finished by 2pm

Star of the Sea AC Cross Country

This Sunday, we head to Co. Meath for the Star of the Sea AC cross country meeting, a fixture that has been the Club’s opening cross country fixture for many years. There is a big programme of races, including juvenile races for boys and girls from under 9 years up to under 17 years, plus under 20, senior and master men and women. The race distances for juveniles are shorter than in Leinster cross country, so it’s an ideal fixture for newcomers, especially all those who have been training at the Club recently. There are prizes for the top 6 in the juvenile races, and team medals for teams of three. With the big number of juveniles at training lately we expect to be able to field a lot of teams. All entries are online at My Run Results, so don’t delay submitting your entry.

The first race is at 11am, so an early start is a must and aim to be at the course by 10am to collect your race number and have time for a proper warm up. It will be the first cross country race for several of our newcomers, so all are reminded to bring a packed lunch and a change of clothing, depending on the weather conditions, and parents are advised to bring appropriate clothing and footwear. Also, please wear your Club colours. Club vests can be purchased at training [GD].

Cormac Dalton wins Griffith Avenue Mile

The Griffith Avenue Mile in Marino, Dublin is Ireland’s premier one mile road race and is a unique running event for all the community and for all abilities. This year’s edition took place last Sunday afternoon and after the mass participation fun run, which attracted a huge entry, it was the turn of the elite athletes to toe the line and among them was Cormac Dalton. After a great battle throughout, Cormac drew clear in the closing stages to win in 3:59 in a close finish, earning a great victory in a great event [GD].

Berlin Marathon

Lisa McEntee competed in the BMW Berlin Marathon last Sunday morning. Noted as one of the top marathons, it is much sought after to gain a place at the start line. Uncomfortably warm conditions made the race that further bit more challenging for the 55,000 who took to the start line. It was the 51st staging of the event, and Lisa followed her pre-race plan executing the early kilometres at a steady pace, matching her planned race pace that she has practiced throughout the summer. While the 27degC heat took its toll, Lisa was very satisfied to maintain a steady pace throughout finishing in 4:45:53 [MO’S].

Athlone 10k

Run in conjunction with their annual half marathon, the Athlone 10k hosted by Athlone AC took place in dry and bright conditions last Sunday morning. On a flat course taking in the Greenway, the race started and finished at the TUS Athlone Campus. There were just short of 100 runners including Kate Plunkett from Mullingar Harriers. Kate was pleased with her finishing time of 47:16 [MO’S].

Fit4Life

Fit 4 Life returns to the club this coming Monday evening (29 Sept). This is a 10 week programme running from Monday 29 September to Monday 8 December. The programme is for beginners and jogger adults over 18 years of age wishing to improve on their fitness levels. With the assistance of trained coaches, participants will build up their endurance on the all-weather track with structured training each night. Registration is from 6:45pm on 29 September and in each subsequent week the sessions begin at 7pm. An added extra this year is the involvement of McCabe’s Pharmacy who are sponsoring Fit 4 Life Nationally through Athletics Ireland clubs. They will be present at one of our sessions to provide participants with an opportunity to avail of a free health check on blood pressure, BMI and other related health matters of benefit to all involved [MO’S].

Road Safety

With the evenings now starting to draw in, all Club members are reminded that they must wear reflective clothing when running on the road at night. That includes all who use our Club grounds and who run from the Clubhouse on training nights. Safety is a must at all times.

Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.

PRO