Week ending Saturday 20th July

Golden week-end for Mullingar Harriers

With six All-Ireland titles won by our underage athletes on the track and two All-Ireland titles won by our master athletes on the road, not to mention the other five underage and three individual masters and one set of team All-Ireland medals won, last week-end was certainly extremely memorable for Mullingar Harriers.

AAI National 10 Mile Championship

The second edition of the Irish Runner 10 Mile, which incorporated the AAI National 10 Mile Championships, took place last Saturday morning in the Phoenix Park. Over 1,200 finished the race, among them 128 women and 166 men in the AAI race. The course was far from easy and included some very challenging hills and it was cloudy for most of the race but extremely warm and humid, making for testing conditions for the athletes, but that didn’t prevent fine performances from the dedicated group of master athletes from Mullingar.

Leading them home was Eddie Newman (58:52) placing third in his master category, followed by Gerard Brady (65:44), Joan Flynn (68:02) third in her master category, Stephen Naughton (69:33), Eileen Kenny (76:25) first in her master category, Michael O’Sullivan (77:17), Geraldine Walsh, first in her master category, her tenth All-Ireland title and Des Walsh, third in his master category, only a few seconds away from the silver medal. There was team success too as Eddie, Stephen and Michael combined to finish third Club in their master category. These are great performances from our master athletes when it counts, in a National Championship.

AAI Juvenile T&F Finals

The domestic season for many of the Club’s athletes concluded last week-end at days 2 and 3 of the All-Ireland Juvenile u/14 to u/19 T&F finals in a sun-soaked Tullamore where temperatures soared as each day progressed. We’ve come to expect only the very best from Michael Lane’s race walking squad, and on Saturday, they didn’t disappoint. Aisling Lane began the day with a polished performance in the u/15 girls 2,000m race walk, taking control on the final lap to record a fine win. Jayne Walsh-Smith was unlucky to finish just out of the medal places, fourth, in the u/17 girls 3,000m race walk but top marks for effort. We got back in the medals again thanks to Jennifer Fidgeon who stuck to her task in the u/18 girls 3,000m race walk to finish second and claim the silver medal. Moving to the boys walks, it was a string of three All-Ireland titles for Mullingar. Andrew Glennon was just too good for the opposition in the u/15 boys 2,000m race walk and raced clear in the closing stages to win the All-Ireland title. Matthew Glennon dominated the u/17 boys 3,000m race walk, winning by a significant margin in a new championship record of 13:04.30, bettering the previous by over thirty five seconds. We ended the walks with a master-class from Oisin Lane in the u/18 boys 5,000m race walk who blazed around the track showing why he was selected for the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), winning convincingly in a new championship record of 21:38.04, improving the previous by nearly eighty seconds.

Shauna Leydon needed to be at her very best for any hope of a medal in the u/18 girls shot putt but it wasn’t to be and she finished out of the medal places in fifth, despite putting together a very consistent series of attempts. A clip to the back of her heel right at the start of the u/16 girls 3,000m saw Amy Geoghegan lose a shoe and though she continued to race on it was clear after a few laps that running in the heat on the hard tartan track in one sock was causing her problems. She bravely kept going but it was no surprise that she finished out of the medals when we saw the blisters she had on her foot after the race. Meabh Killalea found the pace of the u/17 girls 3,000m just too much for her liking and though she competed well had to settle for a place out of the medals. Lorcan Mullen looked comfortable as he kept right with the pack in opening laps of the u/17 boys 3,000m but with two laps to go had to drop off the back of the pack as the pace increased at the front, though he battled on to finish strongly, but out of the medal places.

A fourth place finish by Eve Wallace in her heat of the u/19 girls 100m meant she missed a place in the final by just one place to join Awa Fane who finished a comfortable second place in her heat, and despite a valiant effort by Awa in the final, she finished out of the medal places. Unfortunately, Eta Oviahon was disqualified in his heat of the u/17 boys 200m for a false start. No problem for EYOF-bound Charles Okafor who easily won his heat and made it look easy by winning the final with clear daylight on his competitors to win his first outdoor All-Ireland sprint title.

The 200m sprinters were first into action early on Sunday morning and Charles Okafor easily won his heat of the u/17 boys 200m to qualify for the final but unfortunately wasn’t joined by Eta Oviahon who didn’t qualify from the very competitive heats. Charles powered to victory in the final, showing great his strength and determination to hold off a late challenge, to win the sprint double. Awa Fane qualified from her heat of the u/19 girls 200m but Eve Wallace narrowly missed a place in the final. Drawing the wide outside in the final, Awa blasted into the home straight in a great position challenging for a medal but was overhauled and had to settle for a place out of the medals.

Why Mullingar has such a great reputation in 1,500m running was clearly demonstrated with a series of great performances over the course of less than an hour. Aimee Wallace spotted a break going into the final lap of the u/14 girls 1,500m and moved quickly into third place and in a thrilling finale that saw the first three girls finish inside the previous Championship Best Performance, Aimee crossed the line in third to win the bronze medal. Philip McCartan and Callum Costello were full of running in the opening laps of the u/14 boys 1,500m but Callum was hampered by a recent foot injury and had to drop off the pace as the field approached the bell for the final lap. However, Philip kept right in contention and was in second place at the bell, passed and relegated to third on the back straight, but he wasn’t finished yet and with a great sprint finish moved into second place on the home straight to finish second and win the silver medal. Diarmuid Fagan kept right in contention throughout the opening laps of the u/15 boys 1,500m and coming into the home straight for the last time was in third place but he drove hard and with a late surge moved into second place only about 30m from the line, holding his place to win the silver medal. Phoebe Bate was suffering the effects of hay fever in the u/16 girls 1,500m and though she tried very hard, had to settle for a place out of the medals in a very competitive race. Going into the final lap of the u/18 boys 1,500m, Eoin Quinn was with the small group chasing the long time leader and on the back straight moved into third place and though passed on the final bend, used his trademark fast finish on the home straight to move back into third place and held it to the line to win the bronze medal.

By any standards, this has been a terrific championships for Mullingar with six All-Ireland titles won, two in Championship Best Performances, and another five medals won but more importantly, some great efforts and determination by all our underage athletes.

Claire Fagan competes in her first Major championship

Delighted to toe the start line of the 10,000m at the European u/23 T&F in Gävle, Sweden last Saturday evening, Claire Fagan made her first appearance at a major championship. As expected at this level, the standard of competition was very high and it was a very tough race, run at a fast pace from the start, and while Claire would like to have run closer to her best, it was not to be, but she gave it her best effort and stuck to her task to finish well.

It was great to see Niamh Fogarty (now competing with Raheny Shamrocks AC) launch the discus out to a new personal best distance of 52.19m in the second round of her qualification pool last Thursday afternoon to secure a place in Friday evening’s final where she overcame a rocky start against some hugely experienced International athletes to finish a terrific seventh place. Eoin Sheridan (North Westmeath) was not so fortunate and didn’t advance from his qualification round on Saturday morning but performed very well and will take a lot from the experience for future competitions.

Irish Milers Club

The final Irish Milers Club Meeting of the track season was held in Lourdes Stadium in Drogheda last Saturday in mild but breezy conditions. Cormac Dalton and Padraig Moran contested the 1,500m and were both very competitive throughout. Cormac raced particularly well and was contesting the lead throughout the race and was rewarded with a big improvement in his personal best time with 3 minutes 55.62 seconds. This was a four second improvement on his previous best and he has improved his personal best by over ten seconds over the course of the season, which is a considerable margin over a relatively short distance. Padraig Moran followed closely behind in 4 minutes 01.69 seconds having been in the leading pack throughout the race.

Shane Fitzsimons was spiked and almost fell as he challenged for the lead with 200m to go in the 800m. This put paid to his chances but he battled on to finish in 1 minute 53.06 seconds. Colin Smith also raced 800m and posted a time of 1 minute 56.07 seconds in what was a tactical affair. Timmy Murphy was back in action for the first time since winning the Pat Finnerty Memorial 5k and raced the 3,000m distance, which he completed in 9 minutes 13 seconds.

Four Mullingar athletes on International duty this week

Just as Claire Fagan returns this week from competing at the European u/23 T&F in Gävle (Sweden), four more athletes from the Club head abroad to represent Ireland in International competition. Matthew Glennon heads to Swansea (Wales) to compete in the 3,000m race walk at the Schools International T&F on Saturday, Jamie Battle heads to Borås (Sweden) to compete in the 5,000m at the European u/20 T&F this Sunday evening, while Oisin Lane and Charles Okafor head to Baku (Azerbaijan) to compete in the 10,000m race walk and 200m respectively at the European Youth Olympics Festival next week.

All of them except Charles have represented Ireland before, so for Charles this will be his International debut, which is a tremendous honour for him, his family and the Club. Charles only joined Mullingar Harriers last November, so his progress in athletics is nothing short of phenomenal and we trust this is the start of a long and successful International athletics career.

Everyone at the Club wishes them all the very best of luck.

Recent road races

There was a choice of road races last Wednesday evening, a hilly race in Oldcastle or a flatter faster race in Kinnegad, both run in mild but showery conditions. The Kinnegad 5k drew an excellent entry of over two hundred competing on the familiar Boreen Bradach route, starting and finishing on the main street. Delighted to lead the strong Mullingar group home in fifth place was James Keegan in 16:41, closely followed by Evan McCormack (16:49), then Matthew Glennon (17:12) first junior boy, Ken Whitelaw (17:21), Eddie Newman (17:36), Alan Crowley (17:53), Eoin Clarke (17:56), Kieran Nolan (18:17), Ger Brady (18:58), Enda Seery (19:10), Colm McCormack (19:28), Michelle Bohan (19:33) very happy to finish first woman, then Kedagh Geoghegan (19:48), John Glennon (21:04) second junior boy, Andrea Brady (21:32) battling hard in the closing stages to clinch the prize for third woman just ahead of Sarah Glennon (21:38), then Aisling Corcoran (21:56), Kevin O’Brien (22:37), Linda O’Driscoll (23:00), Lorraine Daly (23:07), Siobhan Farry (23:08), young Donncha Flynn (27:08) paced expertly by mum Joan Flynn and Michelle Kavanagh (28:15).

Opting for the tougher Oldcastle 5k, which also attracted more than 200 finishers, Andrew Nevin battled hard to finish in second place in a fine 16:35 on a tough hilly course, followed home by Pauric Brady (18:48) finishing fourth in his master category and missing a prize by just a few seconds, Stephen Naughton (19:40) third in his master category, Ollie Gaffney (21:43) and Vincent Glennon (22:40).

Good to see Hans de Raeymaeker in action again, though he chose the tough Dunleer 4 mile road race on a very hot afternoon last Sunday to race. An excellent event by all accounts that attracted nearly 300 entrants, Hans endured the temperatures that climbed over 20degC and was happy to finish well up just outside the top twenty in 25:19.

Mullingar 10 draws near

We’re only two weeks away from the “Mullingar 10” on Saturday 27th July and we expect Club members to come out in force and support the race. We’re appealing to those not running to volunteer to help on the day with registration, parking, marshalling along the course, water stations etc. If you can spare a few hours, please let a Club official know. For those planning to run, you can still enter on-line at www.myrunresults.com. This is an important fundraiser for the Club and we’re asking everyone to row in behind the event and give a helping hand if not running.

Open T&F Sports

The T&F season is over for most Club members now but some might like to extend it a bit by competing at the Boyne AC Open T&F Sports at the Lourdes Stadium in Drogheda on Sunday 4th August. There will be events for boys and girls from u/8 to u/17 and for junior men and women, starting at 1.30pm.

For the latest results, news and details of all upcoming fixtures check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com. You can also follow what is happening at the Club on our Facebook page.

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