Week ending Saturday 15th March
Oisin Lane qualifies for the Tokyo World Championships
What a weekend for Oisin Lane as he proves that he is World class with a fifth place finish (same time as fourth place) in the Spanish National 35km Race Walking Championships in Marin (Spain) last Sunday morning. Spain is currently the best nation for racewalking in Europe and also have the toughest judges to help ensure they maintain those elite standards. With a World Championships qualifying standard of 2 hours 36 minutes 30 seconds needed, Oisin absolutely smashed this by over four and a half minutes with a final time of 2 hours 31 minutes 53 seconds.
In cold, wet and sometimes windy conditions more akin to being at home in Ireland, Oisin lined up with a strong field of 28. These tough conditions definitely took their toll on the field as in the end only 10 made it to the finish line. Oisin took complete control of his own pace, walking a strong but still conservative opening 10k in 43:55. He then gradually worked his way through the field walking the second 10k in 43:42. Feeling fresh and strong Oisin then strode out and covered the next 10k in 42:50. At this stage, many were suffering and dropping out but Oisin pushed on strongly to cover the last 5k in 21:26 and finished with a huge new personal best by over five and a half minutes and a Top 20 World ranking for the “World Athletics Road to Tokyo”, which is the official qualification system for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September. While there are still five months of competitions before the final qualification date, in fact the majority of the long distance endurance events like the 35k racewalk will be held in the next 2 months, everything is looking very good for Oisin. For a thrilled Oisin the plan now is to develop his speed over the shorter 20k races at some of the big meets coming up in Europe over the next few months, while at the same time keeping an eye to the training needed to perform at a World Athletics Championship [ML].
International selection for Lily Walsh
A number of Mullingar Harriers athletes were representing their schools and colleges at the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country finals in Ballybrit, Galway last Saturday. Athletes from three Mullingar schools featured on the day, but the day belonged to Lily Walsh (Loreto College). Competing in the Junior girls 2,500m, Lily stayed in the small group chasing the early leader and eventual winner, battling all the way. Two girls slowly opened a small gap but Lily closed the gap with 300m to go bringing two other girls with her and the podium places were only decided in the sprint finish between all five girls in a very close contest, Lily finishing fifth, just 2 seconds away from the medal places. However, as a top eight finisher, she earns selection for the Irish Schools team to compete against teams from England, Scotland and Wales in the SIAB Schools International XC in Falkirk (Scotland) in 2 weeks. This is a fantastic and very well deserved achievement for Lily, her school, her family and the Club, and everyone at the Club wishes her well.
Earlier in the morning, Antonio Bertolo (Colaiste Mhuire) had the race of his season in the Minor boys 2,500m. A group of five broke clear early in the race but Antonio chased them down over the second lap, and after a terrific effort he finished in sixth place in a close finish only a few seconds away from the medal places. After the excitement of Lily’s race, attention turned to the Intermediate girls 3,500m featuring Eleanor Kiernan (Ursuline Convent Thurles) followed by the Intermediate boys 5,000m featuring Oisin Kehoe (St. Finian’s College) but both found the pace way too strong for their liking but gave it their best efforts. Grace Byrne (Loreto College) was nursing a twisted ankle since last week and was afraid to push with the top group in the Senior girls 3,500m but she still ran very well nonetheless and has to be satisfied with her eleventh place finish in the circumstances.
The day finished with the Senior boys 6,000m where the Colaiste Mhuire team was looking to capitalise on their historic 3-in-a-row Leinster titles. Jamie Wallace went out very hard and was in the top 3 for the first kilometre but paid for his early effort and had to ease back or risk not finishing the race. Despite feeling the inevitable effects of his Leaving Cert studies, Conor Sherwin put in a good effort to lead the team home, followed in by Jamie and with Conor Liston running out of his skin, as did Conor Walsh and Luke Greene who spared no effort and gave it their all, the team was very unlucky to finish just out of the team medals in fourth place, missing the bronze medals by just one point [CW/TW/GD].
Claire Fagan debuts in style in Paris
Last Sunday morning, Claire Fagan made her half marathon debut when she competed in the Paris Half Marathon, one of the biggest half marathons in the World that attracted over 48,000 entrants. Maintaining a very consistent pace from the start but picking up the pace in the closing stages, Claire was delighted to finish ninth in the elite women race, posting a very impressive 1 hour 14 minutes 36 seconds, a terrific debut performance and a Club record too. The event also marked a landmark for Andy Nevin, as he ran his twenty fifth half marathon in the Mullingar Harriers colours. Andy started the race strong and came home in a very impressive 1 hour 10 minutes 24 seconds, a big personal best. Well done to Claire and Andy for flying the flag for Mullingar Harriers in Paris (IMcC/GD].
National Masters Indoors
The National Masters Indoors were held on a long day of competition in Athlone last Saturday. Ramona Carey competed in the shot putt where she improved steadily over the four rounds, with her best coming in the final round, which was enough for her to win the silver medal in her age category. On to the 1,500m where Pauric Brady battled hard but finished out of the medal places. Mullingar got back in the medals again thanks to Sean McMullin who was simply too strong for the opposition in the 3,000m race walk and cruised to gold in his age category. Aidan O’Donoghue had a busy schedule of three events to compete in, beginning with the 200m where he put in a great effort and despite finishing out of the medals in fourth place was still very satisfied with his performance. Aidan made amends later in the morning when he ran to third place and the bronze medal in his age category in the 60m hurdles, and capped his day’s efforts with a fine silver medal in his age category in the pole vault. Kieran Nolan dropped down to the 800m and though he battled hard had to settle for a place out of the medals on this occasion. Tom Walsh rounded off the day for Mullingar where he simply dominated his age category in the 28 pound weight for distance, easily winning the gold medal, and such is his class in this event, Tom would have won a medal against men 5 years his junior [GD].
National u/20 & u/23 Indoors
Mullingar had just two athletes competing at the National u/20 and u/23 Indoors in Athlone last Sunday. John Ryan contested the 1,500m u/23, which went out at a strong pace and though John struggled a bit to hang on to the group in mid-race, he rallied in the final lap to finish strong, not far off his best time for the distance.
There were five heats on the 400m u/20, so qualification was going to be very tough for Kyle Faherty with just the winner of each heat and the next fastest time advancing to the final. Kyle was drawn in the difficult inside lane in the fifth heat. Driving hard from the blocks, he negotiated the tight bends well to put himself in a good position for the break and tracked the leaders around the second lap. He continued to work hard, holding his form and pace to come home strong in a very respectable time but out of the qualification places. Kyle has been focussing on the 200m up to now to improve his base speed and this was his first 400m of the season but can the result to direct where he needs to focus on in training [GD].
Tullamore 5k
Tullamore Harriers AC hosted the first round of the Healthy Offaly 5k series on the outskirts of the town last Sunday morning in perfect conditions for running. Starting near the club grounds, the race took the big entry of just over 400 athletes on a looped circuit, with a few challenging rolling hills in the first 3k, before turning back and finishing on the track in the Tullamore Harriers Stadium. As always, the event was very well organised and supported by all the Offaly clubs, with seven of them to stage subsequent rounds in the coming months. Mullingar Harriers has always had a good entry to the road series in previous years and this year was no different. Jamie Battle led the field out from the start and he came home almost a full minute clear of the second placed athlete, winning in 14:48. Kedagh Geoghegan was happy to be back running after a slight injury and had an excellent run finishing eighth in 16:39. John Glennon was an impressive winner of the u/20 men race in 17:11. Mark Ronan was next to finish in 17:54, while Enda Seery just missed out on a podium place in his master category, placing fourth in 18:01. Continuing their battles from the cross country season, there was a 1-2 in their master category for the two Eddies, Eddie Newman (first in 18:07) and Eddie Lynch (second in 18:18). Maura Dervin was our only woman in action and was a clear winner in her master category finishing in an impressive 20:51. In the team event, Jamie, Kedagh, John and Mark combined to place third Club. Well done to all who competed in Tullamore. [MO’S].
Bohermeen Half Marathon
Bohermeen AC held their annual Bohermeen Half Marathon last Sunday morning. The race, which is run over two laps on a course known to be one of the fastest in Ireland, attracted an entry of nearly 1,000 runners. Run in bright sunshine with a slight breeze, conditions were ideal for the race. There were plenty of water stations on the well marshalled course, which was closed to traffic for the duration of the race, adding to the safety for athletes. Mullingar Harriers had eleven athletes participating and all were very satisfied with their respective runs, part of their longer-term targets in the coming months. First home of our runners was Griffin Kearney in 1:21:16, followed by Ciara Foy in 1:25:43. Dara O’Shea was pleased with his efforts coming home in 1:28:22, ahead of James Cribbin with an excellent 1:28:52. Mary Stuart broke the hour and a half mark again, finishing in 1:29:25 to win her master category. John Keane was next with a fine run in 1:39:51. Niamh Doherty finished in 1:40:54, while Emer O’Hanlon continued her consistent progress in the longer distances finishing in 1:42:55, followed by Conor Corcoran (1:45:34). Barry White competed in the club colours for the first time and had an excellent run to finish in 1:45:38, followed by Paula Murphy (1:56:54) [MO’S].
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