Week ending Saturday 13th December
National cross country medals prove hard won
The domestic cross country season for 2025 rounded off last Sunday at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, Dublin where the National Novice and Juvenile Uneven Ages Cross Country Championships were held in very difficult conditions. Heavy rain all week, and especially on the day made the course very wet, slippy, muddy and heavy going, but our athletes made the most of the challenging conditions to round off a very successful year for Mullingar Harriers. Adding to the challenge of the day was illness among our squad, which saw only 47 of the total squad of 61 that we had entered able to compete, though some of those were clearly not at their best, but top marks for running anyway so as to not let their teams down.
The heavens opened just as the u/11 girls 1,500m race was called to the line, but there was no going back and getting off to a vary strong start was Emily Rose Coyne who kept in contention throughout and was rewarded with a terrific ninth place finish to win an individual medal, and she also earned a silver medal with the Leinster team in the Inter-Provincial competition. Following Emily in was Cara Hickey, Mia Barry, Meabh Doyle, Maisie Walsh who was not well before the race but showed great team spirit and determination by running for the team anyway, and Zoe O’Donoghue who lost a shoe during the race which clearly hampered her. The girls finished eighth Club team, out of the medal places, but this was a great result at National level.
Leading the Mullingar team home in the u/13 girls 2,500m was Helen McGrath, fighting hard for every place, and despite good support from Caoimhe Lynam, Lauryn Smith, Aoife Dunne, Isabelle Morris and Katie Bohan the team finished out of the medal places. The Mullingar and Westmeath team in the u/13 boys 2,500m worked very hard but despite the best efforts of Daniel Cummins, Adam O’Donoghue, Cillian McManus (Athlone AC), Donagh Bourke, Mel Bohan, Aaron Robinson, Cillian Gavin and Conor Gavin, illness among some took its toll and though this very talented team deserved better, they finished out of the medal places this time.
Lily Walsh was our only starter in the u/15 girls 3,500m and had just one goal in mind, a race victory. Moving into the last of three laps, Lily went to the front but shortly after taking control of the race, although feeling relaxed, an illness Lily was trying to overcome took its toll and she got sick mid-stride. Losing four places while throwing-up, Lily fought back to second place, but the task of chasing down all four girls was too much in her condition. Although the victory on the big stage will have to wait another year, a second place finish is a fine performance and one to celebrate nonetheless. Lily did have a gold medal around her neck on the way home though, having scored on the Leinster team that won the Provincial title. Illness robbed our team in the u/15 boys 3,500m of half their squad, including one of the pre-race favourites, Cillian Galvin. Regardless, our team put in a huge effort with Oisin Clarke and Antonio Bertolo securing top 30 positions. Aaron Kenny was called up at the last minute, and in his first ever cross country race impressed coaches and teammates alike with a great run to record the team’s third score. Gareth Glennon was the important fourth scorer, and with support from Robert Whelan and John McManus, the boys finished second Club. A fine achievement for a full strength team, never mind one so badly weakened by so many absences, proving this team has great strength in depth. Oisin and Antonio also scored on the Leinster team, but they were just beaten to a podium spot finishing fourth Provincial team.
The u/17 boys 4,500m had three big laps of a very muddy, dug-up course to contend with. Conor Walsh led the Mullingar team them home with a performance to remember, finishing in ninth place, his first top 12 finish at a National Cross Country. Morgan Isdell, Daniel Glennon, Daniel Horohoe, Evan Nohilly, Cormac McGrath, Scott Cogan and Cian Hyland, representing Club and County helped both Mullingar and Westmeath teams to seventh place finishes, very creditable finishes in a National final. Conor also scored on the Leinster team, but finished out of the medals in fourth place in a close finish.
Ailbhe O’Farrell was our sole competitor in the u/19 girls 5,000m and despite the tough conditions put in a spirited performance to finish well up. Ailbhe nearly won a silver medal with the Leinster team, missing out by one place, agonisingly close to what would have been a richly deserved reward for her efforts. We finished the juvenile programme with the u/19 boys 5,000m where the Mullingar team was hit by the absence of Conor Liston due to illness. Jamie Wallace threw down the gauntlet from the gun, pushing the early pace with the leading pack. Going into the final lap it was down to two, and it was only in the final 400m that a gap opened and Jamie had to concede but ran in strong to take second place, a great result and one he was very happy with. Donagh Carey and Luke Greene had stayed with the leading group for most of the way and finished strong behind Jamie and with great support from Matthew Molloy and John Glennon who never let up in their efforts, the team was very unlucky to finish fourth Club, just out of the medal places, missing bronze by just two points. However, Donagh and Luke won bronze medals with the Leinster team, so didn’t go home empty-handed.
After the juvenile programme, attention turned to the adult Novice races, regarded as the most competitive cross country races in Ireland. Susan Glennon toed the line with 130 other women for the Novice Women 4,000m where she put in a simply brilliant performance keeping the pressure on and not letting up and fighting for every place to finish well up in a terrific eighteenth place, which she expressed huge satisfaction with after the race. Nearly 220 men contested the Novice Men 6,000m where the Mullingar team was impacted by a few notable absences. Undeterred, Ross Killalea lost no time and settled in quickly with the leading group, working hard and maintaining his effort and place as the laps counted down. Going into the final lap and still in a strong position, Ross dug deep and making up several places was delighted to finish in a great fourteenth place, exceeding his pre-race target of a top twenty finish. Running strongly behind him on the energy-sapping course was Dan Morris, Ian McCormack, Kris Foster, Paul O’Reilly and Conleth Mullen who worked their way to a very creditable sixth Club finish. There’s no doubt but a full strength team would have finished comfortably in the medals, but it wasn’t to be this time.
Well done to everyone that competed, you can be very proud of your efforts, and thanks too to the parents and coaches that attended in good number to cheer all our athletes on. While medal honours proved difficult to win we could still celebrate the success of ninth place for Emily Rose Coyne (u/11), second for Lily Walsh (u/15), ninth for Conor Walsh (u/17), second for Jamie Wallace (u/19), another five medals won with Leinster teams, and team silver for our u/15 boys. This concludes the domestic cross country season for the year and everyone deserves a break now to recharge the batteries to begin all over again in the New Year [CW/GD].
Cormac Dalton & Jack O’Leary to compete at Euro Cross
Best wishes to Cormac Dalton and Jack O’Leary who will represent Ireland at the European Cross Country in Lagoa, Portugal this Sunday. Cormac and Jack gained selection following their third and fourth place finishes at the recent National Championships in Derry. Cormac brings vast experience as this will be his sixth consecutive appearance for Ireland at the European Cross Country, the fourth consecutive year that he has been selected for the senior race, having competed in the previous two years in the under 23 category. For Jack, it will make a very welcome return since his last outing in 2019 and he too brings plenty of valuable experience to the team. Both will be looking to make an impact and feature amongst the best endurance runners in Europe and everyone at the Club wishes them and the Irish team the very best of luck.
Christmas holiday arrangements
Last Thursday the boys and girls that train in the 6pm groups finished up for a well-earned Christmas break. We’ll be holding an open day at the Club on Saturday January 10 when membership for 2026 for 9, 10, 11 and 12 year old girls and boys will be taken and they’ll return to training the week after. 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. A change in 2026 is that unfortunately, we cannot accept membership from 8 year olds because we simply don’t have the coaches needed to manage this age.
An important rule introduced in 2023 and enforced every year since is that everyone had to take part in certain Club organised events during the year or they will not be allowed to register again for the following year. We’ll be enforcing this rule again in 2026, so if your child never competed for Mullingar Harriers during 2025, please don’t look to renew their membership in 2026 as it will be refused.
With the conclusion of the long cross country season, many of our older juvenile members will now take a short break and will return after Christmas to prepare for the indoor season in the New Year. Of course, many of our adult members won’t get much break at all and will continue to train through Christmas to prepare for competitions early in the New Year. Check with your coaches to confirm training arrangements over the Christmas period.
Fit 4 Life ends for 2025
The final session of our Fit 4 Life programme came to an end last Monday evening at the club. A timed 5k on the all-weather track was successfully completed by all 70 participants in this autumn programme. There was unanimous agreement among both participants and coaches of the significant improvements achieved by all who took part over the past 10 weeks. Some had just taken up running again following many years of inactivity, with others at different levels of running activity. The good news for those and others hoping to improve their running under the guidance of trained coaches is that we are back again in January, with another 10 week programme. Keep an eye for these notes and on our social media channels for details in early January [MO’S].
5K Santa Dash
Lough Boora Discovery Park, just a 20 minute drive from Tullamore, was the venue for the annual Lough Boora 5k Santa Dash. The event in its tenth year is noted for being a great family event in the scenic Park. It has a fast flat 5k off-road route through the picturesque park in the Boora Bog restoration site.
Five Mullingar Harriers athletes were part of a field of nearly 200 finishers. Training partners James Keegan, Kedagh Geoghegan and Alan Crowley had a great battle just behind the lead athlete. In the end, James came home second in 16:45, followed by Kedagh in 16:49, just pipping Alan into third as he came home in 16:50. Eddie Lynch was very pleased with his running, recording a time of 18:50, as too was Conor Corcoran with a finishing time of 19:47 [MO’S].
Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.
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