Week ending Saturday 4th January
Happy New Year to all members and friends of Mullingar Harriers
The officers of the Club wish all Club members, former members and supporters of the Club a very happy New Year, particularly those who returned home to Mullingar. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the festive season but should now get back to training again without delay for the indoor and cross country competitions ahead.
Membership for 2025
Thanks to those that have paid their membership for 2025 already. The handiest way to pay your membership is online and the online system is open for everyone to pay their membership for 2025 (except those aged 8, 9, 10 and 11 years of age). It’s important to pay as soon as possible so you are insured to train at the Club and of course to enter upcoming events like the Leinster Intermediate and Masters cross country and Juvenile cross country relays, indoor events, and the many road races that will take place in the coming weeks.
Membership for the youngest members will be taken on the open day on 25 January and cannot be done online. Membership for these young girls and boys will be taken on a first come first served basis and when the groups are filled, we’ll take no more. Memberships for the youngest members will only be taken at the open day and cannot be done online; they will return to training in early February.
Fit 4 Life concludes and a new programme to start in January
Over 60 participants concluded the Fit 4 Life programme just before Christmas with a timed run on our all-weather track. Many of the participants who had little or no running time in recent years progressed over the weeks to be able to complete a timed 5,000m on the track in times ranging from 25 to 45 minutes. The good news for those who are either beginners or just doing some occasional jogging is that a new programme will commence on Monday 20 January, with registration from 6:45pm that evening at the club. We will again have experienced coaches to help people regardless of level of fitness to progress over the course of the 10 week programme that will run each Monday evening until early April. So, make that your New Year’s resolution if you wish to participate.
Leinster Intermediate & Masters Cross Country
The Leinster Intermediate & Masters Cross Country takes place in Kilcormac, Co. Offaly on Saturday 18 January. Anyone wishing to compete needs to renew their membership in the coming week so they are eligible to compete and can be entered on teams. Tell Club Captains, Ian McCormack or Sinead Whitelaw before this coming Saturday if you wish to be entered.
Post-Christmas Races
As in previous years, there were plenty of races over the holiday period to give Club members the opportunity to run off the excesses of Christmas. Some travelled a distance to run in what was perhaps a regular personal favourite, while others stayed more local.
Kilbeggan 6k
A regular favourite, the annual Kilbeggan 6k on St Stephen’s Day attracted nearly 420 participants, including a large contingent of 46 from Mullingar Harriers who enjoyed a fine dry calm day. Andy Nevin finished second in 19:05 to lead the Mullingar group home, ahead of Kevin Moore fifth in 19:38 and James Keegan sixth in 19:44. After a good battle, Claire Fagan won the women’s race in 20:23, followed in by Ciara Foy in 21:28 to finish third woman.
Others competing were Enda O’Carolan (21:47), Enda Seery (22:25), Eddie Lynch (22:25) first in his master category, Eoin Clarke (22:50), Oisin Clarke (22:51) first juvenile boy, Lily Walsh (22:58) second juvenile girl, Antonio Bertolo (23:13) second juvenile boy, Dara O’Shea (23:42), Paddy Daly (23:44) third in his master category, Val Bohan (23:47), Orlaith Flanagan (24:03), Conleth Mullen (24:13), Lorcan Mullen (24:24), John Gallagher (24:41), Owen McIntyre (25:04), Breda Daly (25:26) first in her master category, Daniel Horohoe (25:47), Isabel Tynan Daly (25:54) third juvenile girl, Thomas Tynan Daly (25:58), Cillian Gavin (26:51), Gemma Kelly (26:54) second in her master category, Zane Smukste (27:01) third in her master category, Caroline Mullen (27:01) second in her master category, Conor Gavin (27:21), Claire Lennon Gavin (27:23), Martin Mullen (28:18), Liadan Gavin (28:56), Leona Behan (29:26), Kevin O’Brien (29:45), Aoibheann Lynam (30:39), Maisie Walsh (30:54), Heather Kelly (31:00), Amelie G Kelly (32:24), Aoibhinn Smyth (32:50), Hannah Boyle (35:37), Catherine Walsh (35:54), Caroline Boyle (35:58), Daniel Boyle (35:58), Claire Cullinan (36:52), Sean McMullin and Tiernan Smyth.
The race is a fundraiser for the Crumlin Children’s Medical and Research Foundation and it was great to see members of Mullingar Harriers out in good numbers to support a local race and support a great cause, as they worked off the Christmas excesses in Kilbeggan.
Cavan Christmas 5k Dash
Also on St. Stephen’s Day, Kris Foster and Mark Ronan lined up with over 630 others for the Cavan Christmas 5k, helping to raise funds for Cavan Cuan Cancer Care. Kris was very happy with his race to finish sixth in 17:00, with Mark finishing strong in 19:14.
Fields of Athenry 10k
Very much a personal favourite of his, Eddie Newman ran his twelfth consecutive “Fields of Athenry” 10k on St. Stephen’s Day, an annual and very popular event organised by Athenry AC that is widely regarded as one of the top road races in the country. This year, there was a huge entry of over 1,900, the largest entry by far since the inaugural event in 2002. Eddie was very pleased to finish well up in sixtieth place in 37:17, which was good enough to win his master category. Also competing and enjoying the race in Athenry was Tommy Byrne, happy to finish in 40:52.
Newtownforbes “Shane Brennan Memorial” 5k
The Shane Brennan Memorial 5k took place on St Stephen’s Day in Newtownforbes, Co. Longford. As normal, the event attracted a good entry, nearly 360 runners and walkers, including many from Mullingar Harriers. The flat fast course, which included a one kilometre section from 3k to 4k through Newtownforbes Biodiversity Trail, and a lap around the Clonguish GAA grounds at the finish, along with the dry and mild weather conditions that prevailed for the race made fast times possible and the large contingent from the club who participated were all happy with their results.
The standout performances from a Mullingar Harriers perspective were undoubtedly from the Glennon family. Champion race walker, Matthew Glennon, was second overall in 16:41, while equally impressive was the performance of his sister Susan Glennon in finishing second senior woman in 18:28. The Glennon family was well represented in the race and the performances of John Glennon (17:35), Gareth Glennon (18:25) first u/12 boy, Andrew Glennon (19:00) and Daniel Glennon (19:02) second u/16 boy were all noteworthy.
Brigid McCabe was a convincing winner of her master category running a very good time of 23:35 while Padraig Beglin had an excellent run finishing in a time of 18:48, which was a personal best and a big improvement on his previous best for the distance. Patrick Muldoon (20:08), Nicky McCabe (second in his master category) and Breda McDonnell were all happy with their runs and the opportunity to shake off some of the excess of the Christmas celebrations. After the race as is customary the participants gathered in the Clonguish GAA complex for a great spread of tea, coffee and refreshments.
Navan AC “Robbie & Rita 5k”
Conditions were very good last Friday morning as over 380 took to the line for the popular annual Navan AC “Robbie & Rita 5k”. Conor Sherwin was very happy with his race, finishing fifth in 15:26, second u/20 man, ahead of Andy Nevin having his second race in 24 hours, finishing eighth in 16:14.
North West Indoor Games
Ramona Carey got her indoor season off to winning ways when she won the master women shot putt at the North West Indoor Games in Athlone last Saturday, her best effort coming in the final round.
A niggling injury prevented Kyle Faherty competing over 200m all year but he put that to rights in the u/18 boys 200m and after a great effort where he led for most of the race, he was narrowly beaten into second place in a very close finish in his timed heat, placing third overall on time over all the timed heats, and this performance will give him a great confidence boost for the indoor season ahead.
In the u/18 boys 1,500m, Jamie Wallace went out hard and tracked the early leader to 600m but sensing the pace was too fast, he eased off a bit but kept running hard and kept the leader in his sights. Caught in the gap between the leader and the rest of the field, the race turned effectively into a time trial for Jamie but he kept his focus and finished in second place in a new personal best of 4:02.01 to round off his year in style.
Ardagh Challenge Road Races
Over 160 took on the challenging hilly course in the Ardagh 10 mile challenge around the picturesque Longford village last Saturday morning. The first two miles took the runners on a scenic route around the village before a tough climb for about half a mile up the mountain. Once off the mountain, the course was quite rolling with some fast downhills before a final uphill climb over the last half mile to the finish, so not a course for the faint hearted.
Well up for the challenge was Claire Fagan who powered to fourth overall, the first woman to finish in 59:19, a new course record. Following Claire in was Val Bohan (1:10:01), Maura Dervin (1:13:19) and Paul Ginnell (1:15:06), all happy with their results.
Opting for the shorter 5k distance, which took more than 140 runners on a fast course until the final climb to the finish, was Enda Seery who was very happy to finish fourth overall in 18:12, his quickest 5k of the year. Also competing was Claire Ross (22:50), just ahead of young Katie Bohan who finished well up in 22:55, first u/16 girl.
Finally, there was a mile race for National School children where Mel Bohan led the field home in first place, and Robert Bohan finished a fine fourth place.
Congratulations
Finally, congratulations from everyone at the Club to Kedagh and Evelyn Geoghegan on the birth of their son, Colm, shortly before Christmas.
Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.
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