Week ending Saturday 24th August
Mullingar Masters in the medals
The AAI National Masters T&F took place last Sunday in a warm but very showery Tullamore. Some of the showers were so heavy at times that competition had to be temporarily halted on several occasions during the day but fortunately the group of five Mullingar masters escaped the worst of the rain and turned in sterling performances with each of them winning a medal.
Lucky to get into action before the rain came, Tom Walsh competed in the weight for distance event where he was delighted to finish third and win the All-Ireland bronze medal and put Mullingar on the medal board. Better known as cross country and road race runners, Maura Dervin and Eileen Kenny made their debuts on the track when they contested the 3,000m and though it was windy they were lucky to avoid the worst of the rain and were delighted to mark their debuts by winning their respective categories and win their first track All-Ireland medals. We finished with the 5,000m race walk where Colm Walsh and Sean McMullin were in brilliant form in this extremely technical event, with Colm finishing second in his category and Sean winning his category, each adding to their growing collections of track race walk medals. Five athletes and five medals meant it was a very fruitful day for the Club, so congratulations to Tom, Maura, Eileen, Colm and Sean on their All-Ireland successes.
Mullingar out in force for Castlepollard 5k
The hard work put in by the organising committee at North Westmeath AC paid off handsomely last Wednesday evening when the Castlepollard 5k proved yet again to be a great success with over 370 finishers completing the course that started and finished near the square in the village and took in the fabulous grounds of Tullynally Castle. There was a very heavy shower before the start but it cleared quickly and while it was quite windy and the road was wet, the course was excellent as usual and when the damp runners were finished they were treated to the customary fine spread of refreshments, a hallmark feature of the event.
Being local, Mullingar was out in force and 46 Club members took part, winning 15 individual prizes and taking the men and women team titles too. After the races for boys and girls under 6, 8, 10 and 12 years of age on the grass in the village square, and then a 2k out and back race on part of the 5k course for boys and girls under 16 years of age, the 5k main event started.
The race was won by Hiko Tanosa (Dundrum South Dublin AC) in a swift 14:48, ahead of Brian O’Kelly (Crusaders AC) in second (15:06) and Ronan Maguire (Oisin McGrath AC (OMG), an Enniskillen club) in third (15:26). Mullingar’s first finisher was Andrew Nevin (16:19) and with great team support from James Keegan (16:32) and Evan McCormack (16:54) the Mullingar men finished first Club. Following them in was Gerard Gavin (17:15) first in his master category, Tom McGrath (17:40) first in his master category, Alan Crowley (17:47), Kieran Nolan (17:53), Cormac Finnerty (18:14), Patrick Muldoon (18:17) and Gerard Brady (18:34).
Fifth woman overall was Aine O’Reilly (18:25) second in her master category, and with Sinead Whitelaw (18:43) third senior woman to finish and Michele Bohan (19:18) second in her master category finishing strongly in support, the Mullingar women finished first Club. Next in was Stephen Naughton (19:48), followed by Liam McGlynn (20:07), Enda O’Carolan (20:13), Jenny Algar (20:18) sixth senior woman, Catriona Kennedy (20:30) first junior woman, Ollie Gaffney (20:32), Ciara Dillon (21:00), Amy Mahony (21:00), Aoife Darby (21:09) second junior woman, Andrea Brady (21:31), Michael O’Sullivan (21:31) first in his master category, Joan Flynn (21:30), Pat Muldoon Senior (21:36) third in his master category, Kevin O’Brien (21:50), Jane Creevy (21:54), John Bannon (22:12), Michelle O’Halloran (22:18) second in her master category, Joan Hickson (22:25), Joanna Tyrrell (22:26) third in her master category, Patricia Broderick (22:28) first in her master category, Criona Reid (22:30), Linda O’Driscoll (22:49), Linda Cunningham (22:57), Siobhan Farry (23:06), Brigid McCabe (24:28) first in her master category, Lorraine Brady (25:44), Michelle Kavanagh (27:06), Karen Gaffney (30:32), Christy Creagh (31:39), Donal Crowley (33:39), Des Walsh (38:46), Geraldine Walsh (38:46) third in her master category and PJ Ballesty (41:51).
National Half Marathon successes
As reported last week, among the nearly 5,500 finishers in the recent Rock ‘n’ Roll Dublin Half Marathon were over 800 competing in the AAI National Half Marathon Championship, which was run in conjunction with the Rock ‘n’ Roll race. It took a few days to separate the results but when done we’re delighted to report that Geraldine Walsh won her master category to add another National title to her collection, Des Walsh finished fourth in his category, missing a medal by just sixteen seconds or equivalent to about thirty metres, so it was very close, and Breda Daly finished a very creditable eighth in her category. Congratulations to the three of them on their fine performances in a tough National Championship.
By way of clarification, Eddie Newman did not run, as incorrectly reported last week. Eddie was unable to compete, so he gave his race number to someone else.
Community Games T&F Finals
A good number of the Club’s underage members were in action last Saturday and Sunday representing Westmeath in the Community Games National T&F Finals at the University of Limerick. As expected, there were rewards for those who trained for their events, as they recorded good performances and congratulations to those who won medals, reached finals or competed up to the standard they expected to achieve. Congratulations to them all.
Leaving Certificate Results
Congratulations to the many Club members who received their Leaving Certificate results last week, many with particularly good results proving yet again that you can mix study and sport if you plan it right. Many will now be considering their options and if that includes a third level course, we wish them well but advise them to keep in touch with the Club and to keep training, as definitely complements their studies. If living away from home, ask Club coaches for advice on training schedules to follow.
September Committee Meeting
An early reminder that the September meeting of the committee will take place in two weeks time, Tuesday 3rd September in the Club house at 8.20pm after training. As there was no meeting in August, there’s a big agenda including arrangements for the Westmeath Schools Cross Country to get through, 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. You can also follow what is happening at the Club on our Facebook page.
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