Week ending Saturday 28th September

Excellent start to the cross country season for Mullingar

Anyone who decided not to travel to the Star of the Sea AC cross country in Co. Meath last Sunday morning because of the early morning very heavy rain in Westmeath really missed out because there was little or no rain in Meath. The event was run off in a few hours in overcast but very warm conditions with only one very light shower midway through the event. The Star of the Sea AC open cross country has been the traditional opening fixture of the cross country season for Mullingar for many years and this year a good group of 37 Club members competed and our underage athletes recorded 24 top-ten finish places, including four individual winners, and they won six sets of team medals. Just two adult members took part, both winning prizes.

First into action was Isabelle Mulligan, our sole representative in the u/9 girls 500m where she battled hard, finishing strongly, out of the medals but still a very positive debut race for the Club. Also running solo in his race, Odhran Flynn was all smiles at the end of the u/9 boys 500m despite not winning a medal, but he really enjoyed the race and experience of competition. We had another solo performance in the u/10 girls 500m where Roisin Flynn ran a fine race, finishing very fast in eighth place, just missing an individual prize by a narrow margin in a tight race. We had our first team in the u/10 boys 500m where Greg McDonnell (eighth), Jack Geoghegan (tenth) and Zack O’Leary (twelfth) won the first set of team medals for Mullingar, team silver.

Tianna O’Leary impressed in the u/11 girls 1,000m producing a terrific sprint finish to take second place. Despite good team support from Eleanor Mulligan, Aiveen Lynch and Kiera Vitale, the girls finished just out of the team medals. Oliver Lynch had no team with him in the u/11 boys 1,000m so nothing for it but to run as hard as he could for an individual prize, which he did by finishing in an excellent fourth place. Lydia McDonnell ran a conservative pace in the early stages of the u/12 girls 1,500m so had plenty of pace in reserve for a fast finish, out of the prizes on this occasion but the experience will give her great confidence for future events. Matthew Molloy was our first individual winner, in the u/12 boys 1,500m where he looked very strong, and with Luke Greene producing a terrific sprint finish in second place, and support from Donncha Flynn finishing well up, it was team gold for the boys. Orla Manning bided her time over the long one lap course of the u/13 girls 1,500m and produced a very fast finish to take sixth place and win an individual prize.

Four in the top ten assured Mullingar of team gold in the u/13 boys 1,800m with great performances from Conor Liston (third), Jamie Wallace (fourth), Luke O’Leary (sixth) and Alex Lynch (tenth) to keep team gold coming Mullingar’s way. We had our biggest team in the u/14 girls 2,000m where Caoimhe Kilmurray (third), Adele Geoghegan (seventh), Leah Geoghegan (ninth), Shauna Traynor, Ellen Foran and Lucy Donnelly packed really well to win another team gold for Mullingar. No surprise that our second individual winner of the day was Philip McCartan in the u/14 boys 2,200m and with Callum Costello (third), Conor Sherwin (fifth) and David Burke (eighth) running brilliantly and packing well, it was another team gold for Mullingar. Ross Killalea was just too good for the opposition in the u/15 boys 2,500m and dominated from early on to win well clear in an excellent performance. We finished the underage programme with the u/17 girls 4,500m where it was all about competition between the Mullingar girls, Amy Geoghegan eventually pulling clear to win, ahead of Phoebe Bate (second), Meabh Killalea (fourth) and Annie Kilmurray packing tight to easily win team gold to end on a high note.

The Star of the Sea Shield for best juvenile Club was retained by Ratoath AC when they recorded a narrow two point victory over Mullingar with a score of 66 points to 64 points. With the conclusion of the juvenile programme, our attention turned to the final race of the day, the men’s 6,000m, which was a combined race for junior, senior and master athletes where Mullingar was represented by James Carton and Sean Liston, both competing really well over the four laps of the tough hilly course, with James coming home first in his master category and Sean second in his master category.

We saw some great individual performances in Meath, especially from some of our newcomers in the younger ages, which we hope will translate into success in the Leinster Championships in October. Thanks to the parents and other supporters who travelled to Meath to support and cheer on our athletes.

Dublin Half Marathon

The final race in the Dublin marathon series, the Dublin Half Marathon, took place last Sunday morning in the Phoenix Park on a very challenging course with some rolling hills and some steep inclines, in warm conditions but with a significant headwind on sections of the course proving difficult and testing for the nearly 7,000 finishers, among them a number from Mullingar using the race to gauge how their training is progressing for the Dublin City Marathon at the end of October.

Leading the Mullingar group home was Kieran Nolan in 1:23:19, followed by Ger Brady (1:25:46), Stephen Naughton (1:37:11) fourth in his master category, Joan Hickson (1:46:18), Mervyn Kennedy (1:47:04), Michael O’Sullivan (1:50:05), Siobhan Farry (1:52:45) and Tommy Archbold (2:04:10). These were good performances by the Mullingar group in testing conditions and will give them all a boost of confidence ahead of their big test in October.

Help needed for Westmeath Schools Cross Country

We know it’s a week day, but we’re appealing to Club members and friends to help out at Westmeath Schools Cross Country this Wednesday in Belvedere. Help is needed with parking, stewarding, assembly, finish line etc, so if you can spare a few hours, please be there before 10am; it will be over by 2pm at the latest.

Autumn Fit4Life Group

Fit4life is an Athletics Ireland programme targeted at beginners and improvers, which helps you to achieve improved levels of fitness and wellness in a fun and sociable environment.

Participants are grouped by ability for training sessions allowing runners/walkers to train at an appropriate level. There is progression from walking to jogging to running and no previous experience is needed. The good thing about starting out on a beginner’s programme is that the terms “walk” and “rest” are used quite a lot!

The new Fit4Life programme begins at 7pm on Monday 30th September at the Mullingar Harriers Club Grounds and runs for 10 weeks at a cost of €30 per person. Please wear weather and sport appropriate clothing. See www.mullingarharriers.com or email info@mullingarharriers.com for further details.

Road Safety

The evenings are starting to close in, so all Club members are reminded that they must wear reflective clothing when running on the road in the evenings. That includes all who use our Club grounds and who run from the Clubhouse on training nights.

October Committee Meeting

The October meeting of the committee will be held next Tuesday 1st October in the Clubhouse at 8.20pm after training and a full attendance is requested.

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.

PRO