Week ending Saturday 28th August
National silver medal for Aidan O’Donoghue
Having won two silver medals at the Leinster Masters T&F in early July, Aidan O’Donoghue stepped up to the next level of competition when he competed at the AAI National Masters Combined Events in Tullamore last Sunday. Aidan competed in the “quadrathlon”, which is 100m, shot putt, long jump and 1,500m. Points are awarded for time run, distance jumped and distance thrown. The better the performance, the more points earned and Aidan was delighted to end a long day with a trip to the podium to receive a National silver medal.
The competition opened with the 100m. Coming from a field event background, principally high jump, a 100m sprint was always going to be a challenge for Aidan, especially as some of his opponents are very accomplished sprinters, but Aidan ran well to put points on the board and place second place in his master category heading to the 6kg shot putt. This is when Aidan began to make his mark in the competition. After the first round he was third in the shot, his second round attempt moved him to second place, but he kept the best to last and won the shot with his best effort of 8.44m in the third and final round. The points gained by winning the shot putt closed the gap on the leader in his age category heading into the long jump. Continuing to gain points in the long jump, but still adrift of the leader, Aidan faced into the final event, the 1,500m run, a tough ask after a long day of competition, and though he gave a good account the gap was too large to close and he finished the competition in second place, but was still delighted to have competed. Earning points in each event, especially winning the shot putt, gave Aidan great satisfaction and he is hoping to improve for future competitions.
Sinead Whitelaw excels at Slane
Better known as a venue for large open air concerts for the last 40 years, new trails and paths were recently added in the grounds of Slane Castle to provide an excellent venue for trail running. Last Sunday week, the Slane Castle 5k Trail Run took place and the limited number of just over 150 runners could take in the scenic views of the Castle and its grounds beside the River Boyne. Among the entrants was our own Sinead Whitelaw who had a terrific run to finish in 20 minutes 40 seconds, placing her eighth overall and the first woman to finish, a great way to mark her first time competing on the new course.
Disappointment for Maurice Looby
We had hoped to be reporting on how Maurice Looby fared in the Anglo Celtic Plate 100k Home International at Mondello Park in Naas, Co. Kildare last Saturday morning. Maurice had been selected for the Irish team, but unfortunately he had to withdraw during the week due to illness. Maurice was delighted and honoured to be selected to represent Ireland, so this was a huge disappointment for him. Everyone at Mullingar Harriers wishes him the very best in his recovery and given his abilities, there’s no doubt but there will be future International opportunities for him.
Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.
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