Week ending Saturday 16th November
All roads lead to Northern Ireland this week-end
There’ll be a mass exodus of athletes and supporters from Mullingar this week-end, heading to Northern Ireland for two important cross country fixtures.
Regarded by many as the highlight of the masters calendar, the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country will take place on Saturday morning in the Billy Neill Country Park near Dundonald, Co. Down, where the best masters cross country athletes from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland will battle it out for individual and team honours. Among the Irish team will be Mullingar’s Maura Dervin, Brigid McCabe, Eddie Newman and Sean McMullin, excited to swop the maroon and white of Mullingar for the green of Ireland.
On Sunday, Cormac Dalton will be looking to defend his Senior title at the National Senior, under 20 and Juvenile Even Ages cross country in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh and hopefully leading Mullingar to team medals, having come very close last year with a fourth place finish. A big contingent of supporters is travelling in the hope of seeing them succeed. Hopefully all our juvenile athletes and their parents will remain on to see both the senior women and senior men races and give them their support.
Mullingar has entered over 50 underage athletes and nearly 20 adults, so the Mullingar colours will be very prominent in Enniskillen. Mullingar will have teams in five of the eight underage races, teams in the under 20 women and men races, and senior women and senior men teams too.
The senior and under 20 races are trials for the European Cross Country in Turkey in December, so the Mullingar athletes in those events will be looking to perform to their very best. In addition to representing Mullingar and Westmeath, thirteen of our juvenile athletes will also be on Leinster teams, the largest number from any Club in Leinster. Everyone has been training hard in recent weeks, at the Club during the week and in Belvedere at the week-ends, and should reap their rewards on Sunday when we expect many of them will return with National medals.
The first race will be at 11.30am and the crowds at a National are much larger than at Leinster, so leave in plenty of time, allow extra time for traffic and parking delays entering the venue and look for the Club banners to collect your race number. It will take longer to collect and sort race numbers, so you should be at the course by 10.30am at the latest. If for any reason you cannot compete, please let Club officials know as soon as possible.
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. We strongly advise spectators to bring waterproof footwear and to dress appropriately for the weather.
Polish Independence Run
Fresh from her first ever marathon in Dublin two weeks ago, Linda Cunningham returned to Dublin last Sunday morning to take part in the annual Polish Independence Run, organised by Polish Runners Club Ireland. A 10k course around St Anne’s Park, Raheny was the venue for the event and over 240 runners took part. In ideal conditions, with light wind, a cloudy but dry morning, on a course that was mainly flat, no stranger to the twisting and quite slippery 10k route in the park, Linda was delighted with a strong performance and did enough to place third woman overall in a time of 46:21 [LC/MO’S].
Road Safety
The evenings are dark very early now, so all Club members must wear reflective clothing when running on the road. That includes all who use our Club grounds and who run from the Clubhouse on training nights. Remember, you might see the cars, but can the drivers see you? Safety is a must at all times.
Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.
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