Week ending Saturday 11th June
All-Ireland Schools medals galore for Mullingar athletes
Nine members of Mullingar Harriers were competing for their schools and colleges at the All-Ireland Schools T&F finals in a warm sunny but breezy Tullamore last Saturday. Having to qualify from sub-Region Zones and then the Provincial Regions put the cream of underage athletics talent on show in what is rightly regarded as one of the very best athletics competitions on the fixture list.
Always a rich vein for Mullingar, the race walkers didn’t disappoint and won three gold and one bronze medal. In the Junior boys 1,200m race walk, John Glennon (St. Finian’s) got caught up in a very fast race from the start, but by not panicking and sticking to his race plan, John was rewarded for his excellent efforts with a bronze medal. Having qualified for the European Youths (u/18) T&F in Israel next month, Aisling Lane (Mercy Ballymahon) was never going to be troubled in the Intermediate girls 2,000m race walk and that’s exactly how it transpired. Going straight to the front from the gun, Aisling cruised easily to victory by a big margin of nearly 100m. Another athlete heading to the European Youths, Andrew Glennon (St. Finian’s) was equally untroubled in the Intermediate boys 2,000m race walk and dominated from the start with another gun to tape victory. Showing his class right from the gun, Matthew Glennon (St. Finian’s) wasted no time stamping his authority in the Senior boys 3,000m race walk and with great purpose he took the lead from the gun, and as the laps unfolded the opposition had no response as Matthew controlled the race to win by a very big margin of nearly 200m. Four medals from four race walks is a real testament to all the hard work put in by our talented walkers under the expert eye of our walks coach, Michael Lane, a real day to remember.
For the middle distance group, it was also a day to remember. Five athletes were in action and they also delivered an impressive three gold and one bronze medal. In the under 16 girls mile, Grace Byrne was always in medal contention. She moved onto the leader’s shoulder with 400m to go and made a decisive move with 250m to go to take the lead that she never looked likely to relinquish. It was Grace’s first National title in a time of 5 minutes 16.04 seconds and will provide this talented and rapidly improving young athlete with great confidence.
Jamie Wallace was one of the pre-race favourites in the Junior boys 1,500m having won the Leinster title two weeks earlier. Like Grace, he ran a very confident race covering all the breaks before racing to a commanding lead over the final lap. This was a well deserved first National title for Jamie in a time of 4 minutes 18.52 seconds. Jamie also secured a piece of family history, as this victory means that he and his sister Aimee (Junior Schools 800m champion in 2019) join a short list of brothers and sisters who have won Irish Schools titles.
In the under 16 boys mile, Conor Sherwin ran a tactically astute race to take an excellent bronze medal in a high quality field. Conor was always prominent and broke clear with two other competitors with a lap to go and raced extremely well to secure the bronze medal in a time of 4 minutes 34.65 seconds. This was Conor’s first National individual medal and it’s a fitting reward for his dedication over the past year.
Ross Killilea was in action in the Intermediate boys 3,000m where he ran a brave race. Ross was in medal contention for much of the race but despite his best efforts on the last lap, he finished outside the medals on this occasion in a time of 9 minutes 12.32 seconds.
In the final individual event of the day, the Senior boys 5,000m, Diarmuid Fagan was our representative. This is an event that had previously been won on four occasions by Mullingar Harriers athletes: Ian Mullen (1987), Cormac Finnerty (1988), Jake Byrne (2011) and Jack O’Leary (2016). Despite placing third at the Leinster Championships and being the youngest competitor in the field, Diarmuid was determined to add his name to that list. With a tactically astute performance, Diarmuid remained in the pack for most of the race waiting patiently to deliver his move. He raced into the lead with 400m to go and despite being passed by two of his rivals with 200m to go, Diarmuid responded with a superb turn of speed to sprint clear and take his first National title in a time of 15 minutes 18.10 seconds. As the winner of the Senior boys 5,000m, Diarmuid was also presented with the Darcy Chillingworth Memorial Trophy.
An added bonus to the day was Aisling Lane being presented with the Award for Best Connacht Schools Athlete for 2022 – across all ages and all events, a very worthy recipient of the honour. This capped off what has to be the best results by Mullingar athletes in an All-Ireland Schools T&F finals, great testament to all their hard work, and that of their coaches, in training.
Leinster medals prove very hard to win
Over 300 children gathered in an unseasonably cool overcast and at times drizzly Tullamore last Sunday for the Leinster Children’s Games and under 12 and under 13 T&F. The younger under 9, 10 and 11 year olds competed as a “pair”, meaning their times in a race or throws in the turbo javelin or shot putt or jumps in the long jump were added together to give a team total or score, while the older under 12 and under 13 year olds competed as individuals. The level of competition was fierce and medals were very hard to win, in fact we won only two medals, but all our athletes competed to the very best of their ability and they thoroughly enjoyed the day.
On the track, proceedings got underway with the 600m races. Orla O’Connell ran well in her heat of the under 12 girls 600m but didn’t advance to the final to join Lily Walsh who was second in her heat. In a very fast final later in the day, Lily ran extremely well and was very unlucky to finish just out of the medal places. Beibhinn O’Reilly and Aobh Smith contested the under 13 girls 600m heats, where Aobh just missed a place in the final but Beibhinn qualified from her heat and in the later final ran a fantastic race to finish third and give Mullingar its first medal of the day. On to the under 12 boys 600m heats where Cillian Galvin won his heat, just ahead of Antonio Bertolo to give us two in the final, but unfortunately Aonghus O’Reilly didn’t advance from his heat despite a good run. The later final was run at a furious pace from the gun, with Cillian always in contention and Antonio keeping close contact too. It came down to a sprint finish and Cillian prevailed to win the gold medal, Mullingar’s second medal of the day, with Antonio finishing strong but out of the medals. We finished with the under 11 girls 600m where Chloe Bell, Clodagh Keane, Liadan Gavin and Amelie Kelly ran their hearts out and were unlucky to win no medals for their efforts, Chloe and Clodagh coming so close in fourth place, missing the bronze by less than half a second.
Dropping down to 500m, Lucy O’Connor, Lauryn Smith and Kate Horohoe ran very well in the under 9 girls 300m but there were no medals won, though Lucy and Lauren came very close in fourth place, missing the bronze by just under half a second. Penny Bohan and Katie Bohan contested the longer under 10 girls 500m, finishing well up in their races but out of the medal places. We had four in the under 10 boys 500m but though Conor Gavin, Cillian Gavin, David Canning and Fintan Harte ran very well, they didn’t win any medals, but Conor and Cillian came close in fourth place.
Over at the field events, Katie Bohan and Penny Bohan were in action in the under 10 girls long jump where they jumped well but finished out of the medal places. Antonino Bertolo competed in the under 12 boys shot putt and under 12 boys high jump, enjoying the competition but not finishing in the medal place. No medals either for Daniel Horohoe in the under 13 boys shot putt or Aoibhe Martyn in the under 12 girls shot putt, but both competed well. We had four in the under 10 boys turbo javelin, Cillian Martyn, Ruairi Horohoe, Josh McDonnell and Tom O’Connell but though they all threw well and enjoyed the competition, they too finished out of the medals. We came close in the under 11 boys turbo javelin where Donnacha Doyle and Luke Somers threw really well and were unlucky to finish just out of the medals in fifth place.
Back on the track for the sprints, the numbers taking part were absolutely huge, giving ten heats in some events, so the competition was fierce. Lucy O’Connor, Lauryn Smith, Rose Harte and Kate Horohoe (under 9 girls 60m), Josh McDonnell, Fintan Harte, Tom O’Connell and David Canning (under 10 boys 60m), Aoibhe Martyn and Orla O’Connell (under 12 girls 60m), Daniel Horohoe (under 13 boys 80m) all competed strongly but such was the level of competition, they didn’t finish in the medals. Liadan Gavin, Amelie Kelly, Chloe Bell and Clodagh Keane ran in the under 11 girls 60m, all running very well and Chloe and Clodagh came close to winning medals, finishing in fifth place. Aonghus O’Reilly and Adam O’Connor (under 12 boys 60m) tried very hard, but only Adam managed to advance to the semi-final but his involvement ended there. Getting out of the heats proved extremely difficult, such was the standard, but Chloe Duggan and Aobh Smith managed it in the under 13 girls 80m, advancing the semi-finals though a place in the final eluded them, while Beibhinn O’Reilly didn’t qualify from her 80m heat, though her legs had to be tired as she had run two 600m races in the morning to win a Leinster medal and that was bound to have taken its toll.
Whether they won medals or not, or got places in semi-finals and finals or not, all the Mullingar athletes did their very best and competed with great enthusiasm and as they moved between events, they always seemed to have happy smiles on their faces and we can ask no more than that.
Cork City Marathon & Half Marathon
The Cork City Marathon and Half Marathon took place last Sunday morning. Over 1,700 toed the line for the marathon, attracted by the fact that it is billed as a fast and flat course, but also perhaps because it is an official Boston Marathon qualifier. This was a true “city” marathon, bringing the race to as much of the city as was possible. Mary Stuart was very happy to finish well up overall in 3 hours 20 minutes 7 seconds, placing second in her master age category, and also happy was Joan Hickson with her 3 hours 51 minutes 26 seconds time. Both were personal best times, and looking at the split times, it’s interesting to see that both of them slowly increased their pace throughout the race, which meant they were improving their position and passing people all the time, giving a welcome boost when things get tougher, physically but especially mentally, in the latter stages of a marathon. The half marathon attracted a huge entry of over 5,400 and finishing strongly and well up was Stephen Shanahan in an excellent 1 hour 24 minute 7 seconds. Very well done to Mary, Joan and Stephen.
Mullingar out in force for Coralstown NS 5k
Talking advantage of a beautiful sunny summer evening, nearly sixty members of Mullingar Harriers made the short journey to Coralstown last Wednesday to compete in the Coralstown National School 5k. This is an important fundraiser for the school and was sadly missed for two years due to the Covid pandemic, so it was great to see the event back on the fixture list again and getting such great support from Mullingar Harriers, adding big numbers to the over 200 that finished the race, ensuring it was a great success for the school.
Given how many runners there were from Mullingar, it was surprise that the they filled all but one of the top ten places in the men’s race, led home by race winner Vinny Connolly in a comfortable 15 minutes 49 seconds, with James Keegan second in 15:53 and Peter Mooney from Meath third in 16:00. In the women’s race, Aine O’Reilly won in 18 minutes 15 seconds, Michelle Bohan was second in 18:52, and Amy Mahony was third in 18:58. John Glennon was first juvenile boy (20:29) and Jessica Cunningham was first juvenile girl (20:51).
Bohermeen 5k
Always a popular event with club runners and locals, the Bohermeen 5k took place on a lovely bright summer evening last Friday. Like previous years, this year the race attracted some fine athletes and the strong tradition of the club always brings some big guns out to race. Among the 271 finishers was four from Mullingar Harriers, led home by Euan Lagan in seventh place in 15 minutes 10 seconds, followed closely by Timmy Murphy in ninth (15:25), then Alan Crowley (16:52) and Stephen Naughton (18:40) fourth in his master age category, missing a prize by only a few seconds, completing the Mullingar quartet that was delighted to finish second Club.
A major draw to the event is the famous barbeque that takes place after the race, so the Mullingar men could enjoy some refreshments and cooked food and post-race chat after their cool downs. Well done to Bohermeen AC who made this a very enjoyable evening.
VHI Women’s Mini-Marathon
Boasting an entry of more than 20,000 women, the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon took place last Sunday around the streets of Dublin. Placing herself well up in the first waves of runners, Linda Cunningham attacked the 10k course with determination and was delighted to finish the race in 45 minutes 46 seconds, which is a new best time for Linda for the 10k distance.
Entries for Leinster Juvenile T&F
Please note that the online entry system for the Leinster Juvenile under 14 to under 19 and the remaining under 12 and under 13 events that takes place in Tullamore on 18 and 19 June will close this coming Thursday evening (9 June). This year, athletes must enter themselves using the Athletics Leinster online entry system. Athletes will need their Athletics Ireland life registration number to submit their entries, which they can get from their coach or from Greg. The system is not the most intuitive, so please do not leave it until the last minute to log in and submit entries in case you have problems. If anyone does experience difficulty, do not hesitate to contact Greg for assistance.
Sympathies
Finally, the Executive and members of Mullingar Harriers wish to express sincere sympathy to Catherine Lagan and the Lagan and Power families, on the sudden death of her brother, Tony Power, in Dublin recently, uncle to Euan, Emma and Grace. May he rest in peace
Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.
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