Week ending Saturday 14th December
Mullingar athletes help Irish eyes to smile at European Cross Country
Not having won a medal since 2015, Ireland made amends with its most successful European Cross Country Championships last Sunday by winning two individual medals and two team medals to place fourth out of 21 countries on the medal table, behind Great Britain, France and Italy, to build a great base for 2020 when Dublin will host the event. Witnesses to this memorable day were four of Mullingar’s star athletes – Jamie Battle, Claire Fagan, Jack O’Leary and Cormac Dalton – who all made a valuable contribution. The course in the Bela Vista Park, Lisbon was dry and firm but in a change to recent years, it was also very technical, with some tight bends and tough uphill and fast downhill sections, making it extremely challenging.
Jamie Battle was part of a very strong team in the u/20 men 6,000m where he put in a great performance, maintaining his place just outside the top twenty throughout to finish strongly in twenty eighth, the fifth finisher for the team that finished in an agonising fourth place, on the same points as third place and only missing the bronze medals on count back. There was still reason for Irish cheer though as Efrem Gidey (Clonliffe Harriers AC) took bronze for Ireland on his International debut. Mullingar had two to cheer for in the u/23 men 8,000m where Jack O’Leary looked to build on his experience from last year, which he achieved in spades with a fine run to finish twenty fifth, the second score for Ireland. Cormac Dalton made his debut in a Major Championship, negotiating the tough course with his customary determination to finish in an excellent forty ninth, the fourth finisher for Ireland and the team placed a very creditable seventh. Claire Fagan can be very satisfied with her run in the u/23 women 6,000m to finish in forty seventh, the fifth finisher for Ireland where Ireland took individual bronze courtesy of Stephanie Cotter (West Muskerry AC) to lead the Irish team to second place and the silver medals, to earn Claire a fantastic team silver medal in her first time competing at a European Cross Country.
Very well done to Jamie, Jack, Cormac and Claire on their performances in the Irish colours, which will surely spur them on to ensure they qualify for the event in 2020 on Irish soil.
All-Ireland race walk bronze for Rachel Glennon
The AAI National Race Walk Championships took place in a very cold St. Anne’s Park, Raheny last Saturday morning. As always, the event was very well organised by Raheny Shamrocks AC who laid out an excellent course along the beautiful tree-lined main avenue. In a repeat performance of last year, Rachel Glennon battled her way to third place and the bronze medal in the Senior Women 20k walk, outside her personal best time for the distance but that’s understandable, given the less than ideal weather conditions. Rather than run in the master category, Sean McMullin opted to run in the non-Championship Senior Men 20k walk and was delighted to finish first.
Apart from the senior Championships, there were support races for juveniles over some non-standard distances where Jennifer Fidgeon (8k), Andrew Glennon (4k), Matthew Glennon (7k) and Oisin Lane (16k) delivered excellent performances, which are testament to the great work put in by coach Michael Lane, and these performances will stand all our underage race walkers in good stead for the year ahead.
Elizabeth Carr competes for Defence Forces
In addition to racing for the Club at the Leinster Senior Cross Country in Ferbane and the National Senior Cross Country at the NSC in Dublin, Elizabeth Carr also raced at the Irish Defence Forces Cross Country Championships in The Curragh in late November, which she won. This victory earned her selection to represent the Irish Defence Forces at the 2019 Military Cross Country Tournament, held under the auspices of the International Military Sports Council (CISM), in Schaffen, Belgium last Wednesday morning. In a very tight race with very little between the top seven Elizabeth finished a fighting fifth, leading the Irish team to an excellent third place.
Early season indoor action
The opening night of the NIA Live Indoor series took place last Tuesday evening at the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown. Colin Smith looked very comfortable in the mile, winning easily in 4:21.7, followed home by Eoin Quinn in second place in 4:33.5, to put down early markers for the indoor season proper in the New Year. The next round takes place next Tuesday evening (17th December). Before then though, a number of members of the Club will be in action at the AIT Baseline Indoor T&F Meeting this Wednesday evening, which will be a useful guide to see how their training is progressing for the coming indoor season. This is a low-key time-trial event, rather than a formal competition, and athletes will have the opportunity to test themselves in a range of events and non-standard track distances.
Jingle Bells 5k
The Christmas lights are up, the trees are appearing in shops and homes and even the names of races are getting a festive feel! The Jingle Bells 5k took place in the Phoenix Park last Saturday morning and in cold but dry and calm perfect running conditions nearly 1,100 runners, joggers and walkers competed. Leading the small Mullingar group home in twelfth place was Padraig Moran in a fine 15 minutes exactly, followed by James Cribbin (18:06) and Paul Ginnell (19:41), both finishing well up in their respective extremely competitive master categories.
Mullingar looking to build on All-Ireland Cross Country success
Two team gold and one team bronze in Abbotstown a few weeks ago gives Mullingar a slender lead in the overall juvenile Club standings and will be looking to reinforce its reputation in cross country this Sunday at the AAI Novice and Juvenile Uneven Ages Cross Country Finals in Dunboyne, Co. Meath. The Club will have nearly seventy athletes competing on underage teams, and will have Novice women and men teams too. In addition to representing Mullingar and Westmeath, seventeen of our underage athletes will also be on Leinster teams. The teams for Dunboyne are on the notice board in the Clubhouse and on our Facebook page but if for any reason you cannot compete, please let Club officials know as soon as possible. Everyone has been training very hard in recent weeks and expectations are high of more excellent medal winning performance by our athletes in Dunboyne.
The first race is at 11.30am and as the crowd at an All-Ireland is much larger than at Leinster, leave in plenty of time, allow extra time for traffic and parking delays entering the venue, and head straight for the Club banners between the start and finish areas to collect your race number. It will take longer to collect and sort race numbers, so we need to be at the course by 10.30am at the latest. If anyone needs a lift on Sunday, please let Club officials know this week.
You must wear your Club vest in a Championship. Please bring water or sports drink and a light snack, wet gear and a change of clothes, suitably long spikes, and of course four safety pins for your race number. Spectators should watch the weather forecast and dress appropriately.
Finally, the Executive and members of the Club extend sincere sympathy to Joan Hickson and her family on the death last Friday in Naas of her mother, Betty. RIP.
For the latest results, news and details of all upcoming fixtures check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com.
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