Week ending Saturday 29th May

Track season off to a strong start in Belfast

The City of Lisburn AC track meeting last Saturday at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast was a very successful meeting for some of our junior athletes. First into action were Colin Smith and Diarmuid Fagan in the first of two 1,500m races. Both adopted very positive tactics and were rewarded with personal best times. For Colin it was a day to remember as he finished in a time of 3 minutes 59.60 seconds. This was a personal best by four seconds and his first time breaking the four minute barrier for 1,500m. Diarmuid finished in an impressive 4 minutes 7.86 seconds which is an excellent time for his age group. In the second 1,500m race, Lorcan Mullen ran a strong race to record a time of 4 minutes 14.67 seconds, with Ross Killalea having a very good season opener, finishing in 4 minutes 21.83 seconds. Both Ross and Lorcan also achieved personal best times. Eoin Quinn was back on the track over 800m in his first race in two years. He ran a very positive race, tracking the leader through 400m, before confidently taking control and striding to the front. From this point, Eoin increased his lead with every stride and finished a convincing winner in 1 minute 52.74 seconds. This was a personal best by almost 4 seconds, a huge margin at that level of 800m running. These were excellent performances by the Mullingar athletes and certainly augur well for the season ahead.

Cormac Dalton confirmed for European Cup

Athletics Ireland announced last Tuesday the selection of a team of five athletes, including Cormac Dalton, to compete at the European 10,000m Cup to be held in Birmingham, England in two weeks time. Athletics Ireland views the 2021 European 10,000m Cup as a performance development event, which can provide an opportunity to foster greater depth in the distance events, an opportunity to attain qualifying standards for upcoming Championships, and can contribute to enhanced team performances at the European Cross Country Championships, which of course this December will be held in Dublin and is an event that Cormac is targeting. Though no stranger to International competition, up to now it has all been underage and this will be Cormac’s first international representation at Senior level, so congratulations from everyone at Mullingar Harriers.

Rugby Club proves an excellent temporary base for Harriers

Last week we moved training to the Mullingar Rugby Club and they couldn’t have been more accommodating to the needs of our members. The rugby grounds are more than sufficient for the needs of our younger members and sprinters and these groups have settled in well, even if on Tuesday evening we had to run for shelter from a spectacular thunder and lightning storm in the middle of the session, but our athletes are made of hardy stuff and once the storm passed over, it was back to training again, regardless of the rain!

Buy a fundraiser raffle ticket

The temporary move to the rugby club is because construction of the new all-weather track is commencing and that leads us nicely into the raffle. We’re asking all members and friends of the Club to get behind our grand raffle and buy a ticket to be in with a chance of winning the top prize of €20,000 or one of the other 11 prizes on offer. The cost is €50 per ticket and the draw is limited to 2,000 tickets. Tickets will be on sale at the Club on training nights or you may purchase a ticket online at mullingarharriers.com/raffle. Please purchase a ticket and help Mullingar Harriers to deliver the new track.

Sympathy

Finally, the Executive and members of the Club extend sincere sympathy to the family of Mel Hughes who died recently. Mel took up running as an adult but quickly made for lost time and established himself as a master athlete of note, and one of his proudest was when he made his International debut in 1996 at the Home Countries Veterans International Cross Country (better known in recent times as the British & Irish Masters International Cross Country). Mel was a great Clubman and gave many years of great service to Mullingar Harriers. May he rest in peace.

Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.

PRO