Week ending Saturday 26th March
Race walkers to the fore at All-Ireland Indoors
Cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic, the last AAI National Juvenile Indoors was way back in 2019 but it made a very welcome return to Athlone after a three year absence last Saturday and Sunday. Mullingar had seven athletes entered but with Jamie Wallace and Caoimhe Kilmurray on International duty in Wales this coming Saturday, they naturally did not compete in Athlone and saved their efforts for Wales. That left us with five athletes to watch for.
Things got off to a great start on Saturday morning with the race walks where young Daniel Glennon competed in his first All-Ireland final when he took to the start line of the u/14 boys 1,000m race walk. Completely unfazed by the occasion, Daniel put in a solid performance to finish third and was delighted to win his first All-Ireland medal. His older brother, John Glennon competed in the u/16 boys 1,500m race walk and also put in a solid performance in this very technical event, always under the scrutiny of the vigilant judges, to finish third and win his first All-Ireland medal too. The Glennon family is legendary in race walking circles, and it’s great to see the younger siblings coming through. On to the sprints, where Kyle Faherty powered from the blocks in his heat of the 60m u/16 but was very unlucky to miss a place in the final by the narrowest of margins.
Kyle was up again first thing on Sunday morning and despite a terrific run from the favoured lane 6 in his heat of the 200m u/16, he finished third and narrowly missed a place in the final, but knows he gave it his best effort and can ask no more than that. Still very new to 800m indoor running, Grace Byrne gave an excellent account in the final of the 800m u/17. The pace was fast from the gun and Grace kept in touch for three of the four laps, but an extra injection of pace at the bell saw her drop back but she continued to work hard and though she finished out of the medal places she ran very close to her personal best for the distance, so has to be happy with that. We finished the day with Aaron Wallace in the 60m hurdles u/13 and with a terrific race in the heat qualified for the final where he ran even quicker and even though he finished out of the medals, he was delighted to be competing in his first All-Ireland final and is looking forward to doing it all again in the outdoor season ahead.
Outstanding Performance Award for Aisling Lane
At a break in the programme during the AAI National Juvenile Indoors in Athlone last Saturday, John Cronin, the President of Athletics Ireland, presented Aisling Lane with the National Star Award for Outstanding Performance in Walks during 2021. In a memorable 2021 for Aisling, during which she made her International debut at the Franconville International u/18 T&F in Paris, winning bronze in the 3,000m race walk, on the home front Aisling won the National u/17 girls 3,000m race walk and was second in the National Junior 3,000m race walk. A worthy recipient of this Award.
Mullingar Half Marathon and Fleadh 5k
Cancelled in 2020 and then moved to September in 2021, the Mullingar Half Marathon finally returned to its traditional St. Patrick’s Day date last week when a great entry saw nearly 1,200 finish an excellent race in lovely mild weather, though it was a bit breezy in places, especially along parts of the Royal Canal. Being local, needless to say that Mullingar Harriers was well represented with over forty taking part, delighted to be able to put all the hard work over months in training to good use. The race has a great reputation and continues to grow and attract huge interest from far and wide. The event was a fundraiser for TEAM (Temporary Emergency Accommodation Mullingar), a very deserving local cause. It was quite a sight to see so many runners fill the main street of Mullingar and it took some time for everyone to clear the town and head out into the countryside before returning again to finish in the town park. While the half marathon is 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 the more competitive runners ran hard from the start looking to record a good time on a fast mostly flat course.
Timmy Murphy was first Mullingar man home in a very strong time of 1 hour 11 minutes 47 seconds, which placed him third overall, and the first women home was Mullingar Harriers Elizabeth Carr in an excellent 1 hour 19 minutes 56 seconds, an impressive twenty fourth place overall. Following Timmy in was James Keegan sixth (1:14:42), Eddie Newman (1:18:33) first in his master category, Kedagh Geoghegan (1:20:42), Alan Crowley (1:22:24), Tony Doran (1:24:21), Johnny Morrissey (1:24:22), Kieran Nolan (1:24:44), Stephen Shanahan (1:24:46), Tom McGrath (1:29:10), Stephen Naughton (1:29:22), Mary Stuart (1:32:13) first in her master category, Rachel Glennon (1:36:33), Máirtín Savage (1:38:32), Eva McMorrow (1:41:33), Colm Walsh (1:41:32), Tommy Byrne (1:41:54), Joan Hickson (1:42:05), Stephen Olwell (1:43:22), Ciara Dillon (1:44:35), Criona Reid (1:46:34), Andy Quinn (1:49:26), Orla Ginnell (1:49:40), Caroline Mullen (1:49:42), John McNamara (1:50:04), Jane Creevy (1:50:21), Doug Bates (1:51:05), Gemma Kelly (1:51:37) a big six minute improvement for the distance, Terri Greene (1:52:20), John Bannon (1:52:25), Eithne Spellman (1:55:09), Garrett O’Brien (1:55:29), Kevin O’Brien (1:56:36), Linda O’Driscoll (1:57:22), Richie Kelly (1:59:26), Aidan O’Donoghue (1:59:30), Marna Groenewald (2:01:14), Ray Smyth (2:01:17), Martin Mullen (2:09:55) and Geraldine Walsh (2:21:57).
An event like this of course needs good pacemakers, and a good number of Mullingar Harriers members fulfilled this vital role, including Evan McCormack, Susan Glennon, Philip Burke, Joanna Tyrrell, Jason McCabe, Pauline Faulkner-Troy and Ger Langtry. Apologies if we missed anyone in the crowd!
This year there was also a 5k race on offer, with the proceeds going towards the cost of hosting the Fleadh in Mullingar this summer. The half marathon race started first, followed by the 5k a few minutes after and it finished in the town park where everyone could wait to welcome the half marathon runners back in, which contributed great entertainment to fill the gap in time while the half marathon runners went out into the countryside. The 5k attracted nearly 250 runners, fourteen from Mullingar Harriers, led home by Matthew Glennon in first place in 16 minutes 59 seconds, followed by Andrew Glennon fourth (19:18), Michelle Bohan fifth (19:26) second woman, Amy Mahony sixth (20:14) third woman, Aisling Corcoran eighth (20:39) fourth woman, Callum Costello (23:03), Bernard Groenewald (23:38), Brigid McCabe (25:15), Vera McCool (25:41), Nicky McCabe (26:10), Sean Liston (26:23), Declan Costello (26:24), Paul McCool (29:09) and Liam McGlynn (34:11).
Streets of Portlaoise 5k
It was a family affair in Portlaoise on St Patrick’s Day where John Whitelaw and Sinéad Whitelaw represented Mullingar Harriers in the Streets of Portlaoise 5k. This 5k was the first race of the 2022 Kia Race Series and it attracted a very competitive core group of athletes among the over 550 entrants from all over the country. These athletes, combined with a good race route, made for some fast running conditions with both the male and female course records broken on the day. John ran an impressive race and clocked his fastest 5k time ever, crossing the line in 16 minutes 1 second, taking 11 seconds off his previous best time. Sinéad was delighted to finish in 17 minutes 50 seconds, her fastest 5k in a few years. Both athletes left Portlaoise happy and they are now looking forward to more 5k races in the coming months.
“Pob Lwc” to Jamie and Caoimhe, and congrats to Ross
We only learned during last week, too late for last week’s notes, that as well as Jamie Wallace being selected for the junior boys team at the SIAB Schools International Cross Country in Wales this coming Saturday, that Caoimhe Kilmurray has also been selected to compete for Ireland, on the intermediate relay team. For Jamie, this will be his International debut but it will be the second time that Caoimhe runs for Ireland. Congratulations to them both and everyone at Mullingar Harriers wishes them the best of luck, or “pob lwc” as they say in Welsh!
We also learned last week that Ross Killalea will lead the Colaiste Mhuire intermediate team that will represent Ireland at the World Schools Cross Country Championships to be held in Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia on the 22nd to 27th April. This will be his International debut and everyone at Mullingar Harriers is delighted for Ross, who has worked so hard in training and competition in recent years and thoroughly deserves this honour.
Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.
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