Week ending Saturday 1st September

Mullingar Masters in the medals at Tullamore Half Marathon

Between runners, walkers and relay entrants, the Tullamore Half Marathon was a sell-out last Saturday morning with nearly 1,000 taking part, over 800 runners alone, which added a real feel of carnival to the assembly area and it was quite a sight to see so many people fill the road for a long distance. Tullamore Harriers AC, the host Club, left no stone unturned in preparation and on the day the tremendous effort paid off and thanks to excellent attention to detail with plenty of marshals, water stations, closed roads and post-race refreshments, everyone was very well looked after. The event incorporated the Leinster Half Marathon Championships, where there were nearly 330 athletes entered, giving added incentive to the 23 Mullingar athletes that competed. The course was testing and the warm weather was also a challenge. Runners finished by entering the track at the Tullamore Harriers grounds and completing a lap to the finish line.

First finisher for Mullingar was the in-form Andy Nevin, finishing twelfth overall in 1:14:20, out of the individual and team medal places, but just as well because by not wearing his Club colours in the Leinster Championship, he would have been disqualified anyway, along with any Club team. Next in and finishing very strongly was Gerard Gavin (1:20:30), first in his Leinster master category and delighted to add another Leinster title to his collection. Following in was Pauric Brady (1:25:38), Alan Crowley (1:25:38) and Eddie Newman (1:28:15) unfortunately suffering an injury that robbed him of his best or he would certainly have taken Leinster individual honours. Then came Nollaig McEntegart (1:29:16) second in his Leinster master category, Sean Liston (1:33:00), Stephen Naughton (1:34:28), Robin Jackson (1:35:25), Paul Ginnell (1:36:39), Ollie Gaffney (1:37:26), Mervyn Kennedy (1:37:59), Aidan Rafferty (1:40:37) and Stephen Olwell (1:41:41). Jane Creevy was our first woman to finish in 1:42:39, third just out of the medals in fourth place in her Leinster master category. Jane was followed in by Emer O’Hanlon (1:42:57), thrilled to finish second in her Leinster master category and win the silver medal, then Lisa Duffy (1:44:15), Joan Hickson (1:46:01), Declan Costello (1:46:21), Jude Whelehan (1:53:31), Emer O’Hanlon (2:17:04), Anna Redmond (2:19:09) and PJ Ballesty.

After the race when the team scores were calculated, the Mullingar women team of Jane Creevy, Emer O’Hanlon and Lisa Duffy placed third Club overall, making up for Jane just missing an adding to Jane and Emer’s individual medals. Very Also happy to make up for missing an individual medal was Eddie Newman, as along with Nollaig McEntegart and Stephen Naughton the Mullingar men finished first second Club in their Leinster master category. It was great to see Mullingar so well represented in Tullamore and to achieve some memorable results in the Leinster Championships.

“AAAs” Gold for Jennifer Fidgeon and Matthew Glennon

Formerly known as and still often referred to as the AAAs, day 2 of the England Athletics u/17 and u/15 T&F Championships took place last Sunday in a very cold, wet and miserable Bedford but the conditions didn’t stop stand-out performances by Jennifer Fidgeon and Matthew Glennon who simply dominated their respective race walk events. Such was her dominance from the start, Jennifer could afford to relax midway through the race and still won the girls 5,000m u/17 walk three minutes clear of second place and Matthew Glennon was equally impressive in the boys 3,000m u/15 walk to win in 15:31.19. Congratulations to them both on these terrific performances.

Longford Marathon

A delay issuing the results meant we had to hold over reporting last week on the Longford Marathon, which took place two weeks ago (Sunday 19th August). Starting on the main street in Longford Town, the nice flat course for the Longford Marathon took the 180 entrants through parts of Counties Longford, Roscommon and Leitrim beside the River Shannon before finishing again in Longford Town. Though the weather was dull and overcast, it was also very mild and humid, which is not always ideal for long distance running. Coping well though, Kieran Nolan was very happy with his run in 3 hours 8 minutes and 54 seconds. Further back, Willie Ahearne seemed to struggle a bit in the closing miles and finished in 4 hours 39 minutes and 55 seconds but was glad to have endured to complete the distance. The marathon was part of a festival that included a 5k, half marathon and ultra marathon and among the half marathon runners we spotted Aine O’Reilly on pace-making duties, guiding a group to 1 hour 45 minutes, which for someone of her class and ability, was really just an easy Sunday run!

Important Cross Country Dates

The Star of the Sea AC Open Cross Country in Meath on Sunday 23rd September and the Westmeath Schools Cross Country in Belvedere on Wednesday 26th September will provide excellent preparation for the Westmeath AAI Cross Country Championships on 7th and 14th October in Belvedere. The Westmeath Championships will be trials to select Club and County teams for the Leinster Cross Country Championships in Navan on Saturday 27th October and in Adamstown, Co. Wexford on Sunday 11th November.

September Committee Meeting

The September meeting of the committee will take place next Tuesday, 4th September, in the Clubhouse at 8.20pm after training. As there was no meeting in August, the agenda will be big, including arrangements for the Westmeath Schools Cross Country, so a full attendance is required.

For the latest results, news and details of all upcoming fixtures check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com.

PRO