Week ending Saturday 30th May

Jamie Battle impresses on his Senior International debut

It’s been over three years since Jamie Battle ran for Ireland, the last time being at the European Cross Country in Turin where he won a bronze medal with the under 23 team. He returned to Italy last Saturday to make his senior International debut at the European 10,000m Cup in La Spezia. Even though the race was in the evening, it was still very warm and conditions were tough. Competing in the B race, Jamie dug deep and delighted to be making a return to International competition raced to an excellent twelfth place finish in 30:11.63. Gaining selection to represent Ireland at senior International level is a tremendous achievement and Jamie should be extremely proud to wear the Irish singlet [GD].

Notable win for Jack O’Leary

Regarded as one of the fastest 5k road courses in Europe and therefore attracting some of the very best distance runners, Jack O’Leary toed the line for the Mas 5k in Berlin last Wednesday evening, a World Athletics ranking event. Right from the gun, Jack raced out with the leading group, tracking the early leader closely. When the time came, he moved to the front and pushed on to the finish at the iconic Brandenburg Gate to win in 13:31, an impressive time for the road and actually a personal best for Jack for 5k on the road. This was a notable victory for Jack as he continues his build up to the season ahead [GD].

Big 5,000m PB by Diarmuid Fagan

Competing at the Comeback 5,000m in the Millennium Arena in Battersea Park, London last Friday evening, Diarmuid Fagan put in a great performance and had enough in reserve to pull clear in the closing stages after a close race to win in 13:44.13, a new personal best by a massive 23 seconds, a great result for all his hard work in training and this will give him a huge confidence boost for the season ahead [GD].

Success for Mullingar at Leinster T&F

A small but talented group of Mullingar Harriers athletes competed in the Leinster under 20, Senior and Masters T&F in a hot and sunny SETU Carlow last week-end. Early on Saturday morning Paddy Boyhan leaped to gold in his category in the masters high jump. He then moved to the masters long jump where after a cautious start taking two jumps to settle into the competition, he made a big improvement in round 3, which was to be the best of his four jumps and enough to win his second gold medal of the day. Paddy made it three medals on Sunday when he jumped to second place in the masters triple jump to win the silver medal. In her first outdoor competition of the year, Ramona Carey competed in the masters shot put where she put together a good series of throws but was unlucky to finish just out of the medals in fourth place.

On the track, Linda Cunningham raced to second place and the silver medal in her category in the masters 1,500m, delighted to record a time of 6:04.21, a new personal best by 3 seconds. Conor Walsh competed in the u/18 boys 2,000m steeplechase, which was a non-Championship event so there were no medals to be won, but that didn’t prevent Conor Walsh putting in a great effort in what is still a new event for him and while he would have liked to have run quicker, was still happy to take the win.

We finished Saturday back at the field events where Tom Walsh was competing in the masters weight throw, also called the heavy hammer. This is a new event for Tom and three foul throws meant the pressure was on to record a mark on his fourth and final attempt, but being the true competitor he is, Tom settled himself and threw the 16 pound weight out to 9.42m to win the silver medal in his category. He hadn’t much rest before he moved to the masters weight for distance where he threw the heavy 28 pound weight out to 7.70m, which was enough to take silver in his category. Tom rounded off his week-end on the podium again on Sunday when he comfortably won his category in the masters weight for height to take his third Leinster medal, a gold.

Saturday was warm, but Sunday was an absolute scorcher and while sprinters and field event athletes loved it, the conditions were brutal for the distance athletes. Despite the challenging hot conditions, Matthew Glennon put in a great performance in the senior 5,000m racewalk and while he had to concede to Olympian David Kenny who won the race, ahead of Matthew in second, as David was competing as a guest, the Leinster title and gold medal was awarded to Matthew. In the u/20 men 5,000m racewalk, Daniel Glennon showed his class and didn’t let the heat get the better of him and he raced to gold and the Leinster title too.

By the time Kris Foster toed the line for the senior 5,000m the temperature was 24degC and climbing, though felt much higher on the track itself, which proved to be extremely difficult over the twelve and a half laps of the race. Kris was in a medal place with three laps to go and though he dug deep he had to surrender his medal hopes in the closing stages and fell back to fourth place, which was disappointing for him but he still took a positive view and was very satisfied with his effort battling the heat [GD].

British Milers Club

The British Milers came to Belfast on a lovely dry day last Saturday and Mullingar Harriers had three athletes competing in the mile races. First up was Conor Sherwin but his race didn’t pan out the way everyone expected, as only one runner decided he would go with the pacemaker over the first lap, leaving the remaining group of runners well off the pace for three laps and the race only really started with one lap to go and turned into a 400m sprint, which didn’t suit Conor on the day coming home in seventh place.

The next race had two Mullingar men in action, Colin P Smith and Jamie Wallace. This was the last race of the day and the feature race with four of the field being sub-4 minute mile men, so it was expected to be fast from the gun and it didn’t disappoint. Colin went through the first lap in 57 seconds and Jamie further back in 59 seconds. Colin got himself into a lovely position during the race in the middle of the pack and Jamie sat out the back knowing this was a fast race. With one lap to go, Colin unleashed a serious turn of pace and flew home to finish third in 4:01.03 just outside a sub-4 minute but a big personal best by over 2 seconds. Jamie took a more conservative approach to his race as he was running against the best milers in Ireland and with 300m to go started moving from the back of the field closing all the way to the finish and ran a massive personal best of 4:08.39, which was over 5 seconds better than his previous best [TW].

Excellent performances at Leinster Schools T&F

The Leinster Schools T&F finals were held over two exciting days of top class competition in Tullamore last week. The Senior and Intermediate athletes competed on Monday, and the u/16, Junior and Minor athletes, and all the race walkers, competed on Wednesday. The twelve athletes from Mullingar Harriers competing for their schools and colleges performed to their customary very high level and were to the fore across a range of events. At the end of the two days, eight of the twelve had secured places in the All-Ireland Schools T&F finals at the end of May.

First up on Monday morning was Mathew Molloy (St. Finian’s College) who decided to try a different event, the Senior 2,000m steeplechase and it almost paid off with him finishing fourth after an exceptional race, unlucky not to have gained a medal but he did gain valuable experience. We followed with Lily Walsh (Loreto Mullingar) who won the Intermediate girls 3,000m with a polished performance, dipping under the 10 minute mark, to qualify for the All-Ireland Schools finals and she’ll also represent Loreto College at the Inter-Provincial T&F to be held in late June where she’ll race for Leinster. We ended the day with Jamie Wallace (Colaiste Mhuire) who lined up in the Senior boys 5,000m a distance he had never ran before on the track and his aim was to qualify for the All-Ireland finals with as little effort as possible keeping in mind he planned to race in Belfast five days later and that’s exactly how his race panned out. Jamie followed the pace in third until 400m to go then took the lead and when challenged with 80m to go he wisely let the winner go and held second place comfortably and qualify for the All-Ireland finals.

The race walks started the programme on Wednesday morning and it no surprise that it was a clean sweep of titles for the Glennon brothers competing for St. Finian’s College, gold for Gareth Glennon in the Junior boys 1,200m walk, gold for Daniel Glennon in the Intermediate boys 2,000m walk, and gold for John Glennon in the Senior boys 3,000m walk and all three advance to the All-Irelands finals.

Chloe Bell (St. Finian’s College) was in the middle of her Junior girls long jump competition when she had to step on to the track for the Junior girls 800m. Concentrating on one event is tough enough but two at the same time was a little bit much to ask. Although the 800m got away from her and she finished out of the medals, Chloe leaped to third place in the long jump, earning a place at the All-Ireland finals. John McManus (St. Finian’s College) raced in the Junior boys 800m where he finished a very creditable ninth place in a good time of 2:20. Oisin Clarke (Colaiste Mhuire) was very unlucky in the Intermediate boys 1,500m where he just missed out on a medal and a place in the All-Ireland finals with a fourth place finish in a close race. Donnacha Doyle (Colaiste Mhuire) cleared 1.45m in the Junior boys high jump to finish a fine eighth place in a tough competition.

After a very sedate early pace in the u/16 boys mile, Cillian Galvin (Colaiste Mhuire) settled in the middle of the pack and let the race develop around him. Then, with 500m to go he shot up on the inside lane and just ran away from the rest of the field in impressive fashion. An added bonus to winning the Leinster title was his invitation to join the Leinster team for the School’s Inter-Provincial finals. Antonio Bertolo (Colaiste Mhuire) had us looking towards the podium one more time when he earned a fine silver with a second place finish in the Junior boys 1,500m [TW/CW].

Bob Heffernan & Mary Hanley 5k

The annual Bob Heffernan & Mary Hanley 5k race hosted by Na Fianna AC took place last Tuesday (19 May) on a mild but wet evening over a fast, flat course on roads around Johnstownbridge, Co. Kildare. This race always attracts a quality field and this year was no exception as nearly 700 athletes chased fast times. The first six runners were home in under 15 minutes with the next 40 athletes finishing in under 16 minutes, giving an idea of the quick times achieved. Mullingar Harriers had 15 participants in the race and Euan Lagan had the honour of leading them home in 15:29. Ross Killalea was in close pursuit in 15:37. Also with great finishing times were Mark Ronan (16:54), Enda Seery (17:49), Joseph Doherty (18:53), Dara O’Shea (18:58), Conor Corcoran (19:03), Mark Dunne (20:34) and Thomas Gilligan (20:52). Orla Gillespie was our first woman home in 21:15, followed closely by Niamh Doherty (21:16), Laura Fitzpatrick (21:20) and Linda Cunningham (21:23) only seconds behind her. Leona Behan ran strongly finishing in 22:45, as did Kelly Dunne in 24:11 in preparation for the busy race season ahead [LC].

Coralstown NS 5k

The Coralstown NS 5k takes place this Wednesday evening (27 May) and given its proximity, we expect that a good number from Mullingar Harriers will make the short trip to Coralstown to support this local race, which takes place on a lovely scenic route including quiet country roads and stretches of the Royal Canal towpath. There will be no training at the club on Wednesday evening for our senior and master athletes to allow them compete in Coralstown.

Important Leinster T&F closing dates

Entries for the Children’s Games (u/9, u/10 and u/11) and u/12 and u/13 T&F in Tullamore on 31 May are closed, but late entries (with higher fee) can be submitted up to midnight this Tuesday (26 May). Entries for the sprint relays in SETU Carlow on 6 June and the Combined Events (also in Carlow) on 7 June close this coming Friday (29 May). Entries for the u/14 to u/19 T&F in Tullamore on 13 and 14 June close next Friday (5 June). Except for relays, everyone enters themselves in their individual events on-line and the link to entries is on the Athletics Leinster website homepage and there’s also a link on the Heja groups.

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

PRO