Week ending Saturday 19th August

National Medals for Mullingar Masters

The National Masters T&F was held in Tullamore last Saturday. While the day was quite mild, it was very windy, and the athletes had the additional challenge of having to cope with some very heavy rain showers, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the five Mullingar master members, with each of them winning National medals.

Mullingar’s reputation in race walks was reinforced by the sterling performances of Colm Walsh and Sean McMullin in the 5,000m walk. Colm set off with purpose from the gun and worked hard to keep in touch with the leading pair who were in a younger age category, with a third younger master on his shoulder for much of the race spurring him on. He maintained the effort throughout and despite a later challenge he was rewarded with a third place overall finish, winning his age category by a distance and claiming the National title. Meanwhile, Sean McMullin was doing similar in his age category, putting in a great effort to win convincingly and add to his collection of National titles.

Maura Dervin competed in the 3,000m run and was delighted to win her age category in a close finish after a fast final lap. While her finish time was a few seconds slower than last year she was still more than happy considering the windy and showery conditions and was delighted to finish and get in out of the heavy rain.

Aidan O’Donoghue had a very busy day, competing in three events. He started with the discus, a relatively new event for him, and was happy to throw 28.06m, a new personal best by 2.5m that saw him finish in fifth place. He secured the silver medal in the javelin with a 31.05m effort, and rounded off his day with a bronze medal in the high jump, clearing 1.40m to win his second National medal of the day.

Leaving the best to last, in the 28 pound weight for distance event, Tom Walsh wasted no time and went straight into a commanding lead in the first round. He increased his lead in the second round but saved his best for the fourth and final round, launching the weight out to 9.17m to win the National title in his age category.

Five athletes winning four National titles and a silver and a bronze medal made this a memorable day for the mighty Mullingar masters.

Return to cross country training

This week sees the return to training for our juvenile athletes in preparation for the cross country season, which begins in late September. Most of the younger members in the 6pm groups will train only on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at the Club, but the older juveniles will train on Tuesdays and Thursday at the Club and on Sunday mornings on the cross country course in Belvedere. There will be an increase in distance and intensity over the weeks, building slowly to the cross country season, so anyone who misses the early weeks may struggle to catch up in the later sessions, so a full attendance at training sessions in advised from this week on.

Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.

PRO