Week ending Saturday 21st March

National Title and Indoor underage record for Daniel Glennon

Daniel Glennon put in a technically excellent performance in the u/20 men 3,000m race walk at the National u/20 and u/23 Indoors last Saturday in TUS Athlone to win the race in 12:31.88, which is a new personal best and National u/18 indoor record, bettering the previous set last year by nearly 6 seconds. The race wasn’t without its drama though, as Daniel was actually in second place with 1km to go but the leader had accumulated too many red card warnings and was pulled into the penalty box on the home straight, only 50m from the finish, and had to wait out a 30 second penalty, which was enough for Daniel to pass him and retake the lead and finish in first place. This is always a risk with race walking at this level under the vigilant eyes of the judges, but Daniel had kept his head throughout and focussed on his own race, ignoring what was unfolding ahead of him.

Daniel is having a memorable season so far, having achieved the 5,000m race walk standard for this summer’s European u/18 Championships at the National Senior Indoors only two weeks before. Adding the National u/20 Indoor title and National u/18 record sets him up nicely for a terrific outdoor season.

Before Daniel’s race, Aisling Lane competed in the u/23 women 3,000m race walk. Having raced hard the previous two weekends – National Senior 3k Indoors and 10k outdoor in Slovakia – Aisling was racing on tired legs. She rolled on her ankle a few times on the tight indoor bends in Athlone, which upset her rhythm and flow and she had to be very careful to avoid injury, but she is very resolute and pushed on knowing she wasn’t at her best and was still good enough to finish in second place, disappointed not to win, but she was very stoic about it afterwards and still took plenty of positives from the race.

Earlier in the day, the focus for Mullingar was on the 1,500m races. Entries were big for the u/20 women 1,500m, so there was two races, with the medals decided on the fastest times over the two races. Eleanor Kiernan ran an extremely brave race in her heat coming home in sixth place, out of the medals, but a great effort. Eleanor has two more years in u/20, so it was an excellent performance from her at National level.

The u/20 men 1,500m was decided on the fastest times over three races and Matthew Molloy returned to his best in the second heat. Matthew got an excellent start, leading for the first 100m but then decided to slow the pace and let others take the lead, happy to sit in and follow. With 300m to go he made his move and swept to the front, pulling clear all the way to the finish, winning in a huge personal best of 4:05.88, bettering his previous by 15 seconds. The heat where Jamie Wallace was drawn had a stacked field including several National champions taking each other on, and the race certainly lived up to its billing. Jamie was determined to put himself in a prominent position from the start and settled in third place after 100m, which was run at a blistering pace from the gun. After 600m Jamie moved into second place right on the leader’s shoulder and four men began to pull clear. Sensing the leader was tiring, Jamie stuck the front with 500m to go and this injection of pace had all but one other athlete in trouble. With 400m to go it became a royal battle between Jamie and the other athlete and it was only inside the final 100m that Jamie had to surrender the lead, coming home in second place and winning the silver medal. A testament to his effort was that it took a new Championship Record to beat him, and Jamie’s time of 3:55.52 was just outside the previous record by less than a second.

John Ryan lined up in a big field for the u/23 men 1,500m. Despite the big field it was a straight final and from the gun it was quite tactical. The pace rose and fell over the early laps leading to a lot of bunching and bumping, with John taking up position just off the leaders. As the race developed it became clear that it was going to be a burn up over the final 400m, with ten athletes in a tight group, separated by less than five metres. John was caught on the inside when the pace began to quicken and he had to bide his time waiting for a gap to appear. When the gap came, John surged forward but unfortunately another runner cut across him as he was fighting for third place, knocking John completely off balance, which ultimately put paid to a podium place and he finished in sixth, but less than one second off third place [TW/ML/GD].

National Masters Indoors

The final National domestic indoor competition of the season, the National Masters Indoors, was held last Sunday in TUS Athlone.

Paddy Boyhan had an early start, competing in the high jump where he was very happy to win his master category. No time to rest though, and Paddy competed soon after in the long jump, where despite an unnerving start with two foul jumps, he found his mark and jumped to second place to win his second National medal of the day. Paddy ended his day with the triple jump where he kept his best jump to last to win his third medal of the day, the gold medal, in his master category.

In the 3,000m race walk, Colm Walsh had to work hard in the closing stages to keep himself secure in second place overall, but with the winner in a younger age category, Colm won his own master category in a season’s best time, adding to his ever-growing collection of National titles. Despite his vast race walking experience, both Nationally and Internationally, Sean McMullin fell foul of the judges in his 3,000m race walk and was disqualified, always a risk in this very technical event. This was Sean’s first time to be disqualified over a long career, but he has enough experience to put it behind him and look forward to getting back to training to prepare for the European Masters Indoors in Poland later in the month.

Multi-eventer Aidan O’Donoghue set himself a busy schedule for the day, competing in three events in only a few hours. He opened with the 60m hurdles where he finished second in his master category in a close race, recording a personal best time. Moving to the 200m sprint, while he finished out of the medal places in his master category, he was very satisfied to finish well under the 30 second mark he had set himself, finishing in 29.04 seconds, which will be very valuable in multi-event competitions in the year ahead. With not much time to recover after the 200m, Aidan moved his attention to the pole vault where he jumped to third place in his master category, a fine result in what is still a relatively new event for him [AO’D/GD].

Mullingar Harriers volunteers organise the Mullingar Parkrun

Last Saturday morning, 21 volunteers from Mullingar Harriers organised the weekly Mullingar Parkrun. It was a bright and sunny morning with a light breeze. A big entry of 281 participants took part, including several of our own club members. The club was happy to assist the Mullingar Parkrun Committee on Saturday morning and support their efforts of spreading the involvement and participation of the community in physical activity. After the run there was music and light refreshments available for all the participants [MO’S].

Malaga Half Marathon

The annual Malaga Half Marathon last Sunday morning attracted 10,000 runners to Europe’s oldest city. The race takes place through the city streets and out by the seaside with spectacular views of the ancient city on one side mixed with a view across to the Mediterranean Sea on the seafront section of the race. With temperatures rising quickly to 20degC, a slight breeze was a welcome relief for the runners, including two members of Mullingar Harriers. Mary Stuart was delighted with her run, placing third in her master category and finishing in a time of 1:38.54, with Joan Hickson running the race in 1:47.23. Both Mary and Joan enjoyed their break in the Andalusia Region over the weekend [MO’S].

International Duty for Antonio and Lily

Antonio Bertolo and Lily Walsh will be on International duty this coming Saturday when they compete at the SIAB Schools International Cross Country in Bangor, Wales. This will be Lily’s third time to don the green of Ireland in International competition, her debut being in the same event this time last year, but for Antonio this will be a very special occasion, as it will mark his International debut. We wish them both the very best of luck, or “pob lwc” as they say in Wales.

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

PRO