Week ending Saturday 23rd March
International debut for Diarmuid Fagan
This coming Saturday, Diarmuid Fagan (Colaiste Mhuire) is set to become the Club’s latest International athlete when he take to the line to compete for Ireland against teams from England, Scotland and Wales at the Schools International Cross Country in Santry Demesne, Dublin. This is a tremendous honour for Diarmuid, his family and his School, and everyone at the Club wishes him the very best of luck in what we hope is the start of a long International career.
Jamie Battle to compete at World Cross Country
Congratulations to Jamie Battle who has been selected to run in the junior men race at the World Cross Country in Aarhus, Denmark in two weeks time. Jamie placed an excellent twenty first at the European Junior Cross Country in December and recently secured a qualification standard for the 5,000m at the European Junior T&F in Sweden in July, so he is certainly an athlete in form. Representing Ireland in a World Championship is a great honour for any athlete and richly deserved for Jamie.
Tough conditions for Mullingar Half Marathon
All the hard work and graft in training over many months put in by a group of more than forty of our adult members came to fruition on St. Patrick’s Day when they lined up with nearly 1,400 others in the middle of Mullingar Town at the start of the Mullingar Half Marathon, the fifth edition of the event that has gained a very strong reputation and continues to grow and go from strength to strength. The event was a fundraiser for TEAM (Temporary Emergency Accommodation Mullingar), a very deserving local cause. Whatever about the cold, or the heavy rain showers, it was surely the wind that was the main talking point after the race. In previous years the runners faced near freezing conditions but at least the wind was on their backs for the second half, but this year they started with a tailwind but on the return leg had to run into a stiff headwind with quite a biting wind chill factor for the last few miles along the exposed stretches of the Royal Canal, guaranteed to take its toll on tired legs trying to press for home and the finish in Mullingar Town Park. Every runner knows that no amount of tail wind assistance going out makes up for a stiff headwind on the way back!
Even though it was a charity event, and for most the event was simply a chance to run the distance in company, a race is still a race and they ran hard from the start looking to record a good time on a fast mostly flat course. Despite the wind, the winning time of 1:08:01 was actually the quickest yet and in fact the top 4 men all ran quicker than any previous winner, so clearly they weren’t disadvantaged by the conditions! The race winner was Tom Fitzpatrick (Tallaght AC) in 1:08:01, closely followed by Sean Hehir (Rathfarnham) in 1:08:06 and JP Carty (Sligo) in 1:08:18. The first woman was Adrianna Mulligan (Longford AC) in 1:22:44, closely followed by Elizabeth Carr (Mullingar Harriers) 1:22:59 and Aisling O’Connor (Edenderry) in 1:23:08.
The first finisher for Mullingar Harriers was Andrew Nevin in eleventh place (1:16:21), followed by James Keegan in sixteenth (1:18:52), Eddie Newman eighteenth overall (1:19:04) and first in his master category, Kieran Nolan (1:22:39), Elizabeth Carr (1:22:59) second woman to finish, Alan Crowley (1:23:01), Brian Collentine (1:29:07), James Cribbin (1:29:27), Ger Brady (1:31:46), Paul Ginnell (1:34:11), Joan Flynn (1:35:22) and Nollaig McEntegart (1:35:42) first in his master category. There then followed a steady stream of finishers in the distinctive maroon and white of Mullingar, including Robin Jackson, Ollie Gaffney, Breda Daly, Stephen Naughton, Michelle O’Halloran, Bernard Groenewald, Willie Ahearne, Declan Costello, Joan Hickson, Colm Walsh, Jenny Algar, Criona Reid, Gerard Flynn, Jane Creevy, Andy Quinn, Emer O’Hanlon, Joe Fagan, Michael O’Sullivan (despite being clipped from behind at 5 miles and taking a bad fall but he did very well to get up and run on), Stephen Olwell, Ann Hall, John Bannon, Siobhan Farry, Caroline Mullen, Tommy Archbold, Pauline Troy, Thomas Cully, Kevin O’Brien, Caroline Robinson, Ruth Greene, Raymond Smith, John Callaghan, Anna Redmond, Des Walsh (second in his master category) and Geraldine Walsh (first in her master category). Congratulations to them all from everyone at the Club.
Streets of Portlaoise 5k
Drawing such top class athletes as John Travers (Donore Harriers) and Linda Byrne (DSD) the Streets of Portlaoise 5k continues to grow in popularity and over 900 runners, joggers and walkers took part on St. Patrick’s Day. Padraig Moran kept in contention in what was a very competitive race upfront and was rewarded with an excellent sixth place finish in 15:01 and has good reason to be very pleased with his effort. Sinead Whitelaw finished strongly alongside Ken Whitelaw in an excellent 18:07, which placed her sixth woman in a very competitive women’s entry. These were fast times by Padraig and Sinead and will give them great confidence for the season ahead.
Hyundai “Pat Finnerty Memorial” 5k
Keeping with last year’s format, this year the Pat Finnerty Memorial 5k will again be a single race, but with a new venue based out of the Club Grounds. There will be prizes in all the usual categories and the first man and first woman will receive the Pat Finnerty Memorial Trophies at the presentation ceremony after the race in our Clubhouse, where there will be lots of refreshments for everyone. The race is on Wednesday 8th May, which is only seven weeks away. Entries are now open at www.myrunresults.com for €12.50 online or €15 on the night. We’ll also have a 1,500m race for boys and girls aged 15 and younger.
World Masters Indoors
Sean McMullin heads to Toruń in Poland this week for the World Masters Indoors. Sean where he’ll compete in the 3k track walk in the magnificent 5,000 seat indoor Toruń Arena next Monday (25th) and even though it’s an indoor championship, there are still some outdoor distance events and he’ll compete in the 10k road walk just a few days later, on Friday (29th). Sean is no stranger to competing in master competition at this level and everyone at the Club wishes him the very best of luck.
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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