Week ending Saturday 4th December
European Cross Country selection for Cormac Dalton
Congratulations to Cormac Dalton on being named on the Irish senior men team to compete at the European Cross Country in Dublin in two weeks. The recent AAI National Senior Cross Country was the trial for the Europeans but only guaranteed the first three finishers a place on the team, with the selectors free to consider three others, such as US based student-athletes like Cormac, who secured his place on the team thanks to a magnificent showing in the NCAA Cross Country Championship in Florida only days before.
Cormac made his debut in a Major Championship at the corresponding event in Lisbon in 2019 when he competed on the under 23 team, finishing in an excellent 49th place, the fourth finisher for Ireland to help the team to a very creditable 7th place. He can draw on that invaluable experience this year and everyone at Mullingar Harriers wishes him the very best of luck.
Mullingar looking to build on All-Ireland Cross Country success
One team gold and two team bronze in Santry two weeks ago sees Mullingar among the leading Clubs in the overall juvenile Club standings and will be looking to reinforce its reputation in cross country this Sunday at the AAI Novice and Juvenile Uneven Ages Cross Country Finals in Gowran, Co. Kilkenny. Over forty underage athletes are entered on teams and we will have Novice women and men teams too. In addition to representing Mullingar and Westmeath, twelve of our underage athletes will also be on Leinster teams, the biggest representation from one Club. The teams for Gowran have been circulated by WhatsApp but if for any reason you cannot compete, please let Club officials know as soon as possible. Everyone has been training very hard in recent weeks and expectations are high of more excellent medal winning performance in Gowran.
The first race is at 11.30am and as the crowd at an All-Ireland is much larger than at Leinster, leave in plenty of time, allow extra time for traffic and parking delays entering the venue, and head straight for the Club flags to collect your race number. It will take longer to collect and sort race numbers, so you need to be at the course by 10.30am at the latest.
You must wear your Club vest in a Championship. Please bring water or sports drink and a light snack, wet gear and a change of clothes, suitably long spikes, and of course four safety pins for your race number. Spectators should watch the weather forecast and dress appropriately.
Clonakilty Marathon
Despite the bitter cold last Saturday morning, over 1,600 runners, joggers and walkers gathered in Clonakilty for a variety of distances from 10k to half marathon to marathon. A massed start saw the big crowd make their way through Clonakilty and out on to their respective routes before returning to the finish in Clonakilty. After the 10k and half marathon runners had finished, focus was on the marathon runners and after completing the hilly 42.2km route and finishing well up in seventh place was James Keegan in 2 hours 53 minutes and 5 seconds. James was very pleased with this excellent result. Also pleased with his race was Kedagh Geoghegan, finishing in 3 hours 14 minutes and 46 seconds, getting closer to the 3 hour mark with every competition.
Online shop open for business
The Mullingar Harriers online club shop is open for business. We have partnered with local firm KC Sports and you can check the full range of club gear by clicking on the link on the homepage of the Mullingar Harriers website. So, get ordering and wear your club colours with pride. We have also sent the link to Santa, in case anyone wants Mullingar Harriers gear for Christmas.
Dressing for the cold
Last week we got a good taste of the cold at training in the evenings, so it’s time to remind all athletes that they should wear appropriate running gear for the cold weather. Warm clothing is essential and that includes going to and from training and competition. A pair of lightweight gloves, a woolen hat and a few layers of warm clothing is all it takes. Having a warm sweat shirt, fleece or jacket for after training is especially important. Parents of younger juveniles should insist that they wear the proper clothing. Also, lightweight running tights or leggings are recommended and will give much needed protection against the cold. Athletes not properly dressed for the cold weather will not perform to their best.
Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.
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