Week ending Saturday 5th January
Christmas greetings and happy New Year to all members and friends of Mullingar Harriers
The officers of the Club extend Christmas greetings and a happy New Year to all members and former members of the Club, particularly those who have returned home to Mullingar for Christmas. Also to the very many people who helped in any way during the year, especially our sponsors, local press, our coaches and volunteers, our grounds staff for all their work maintaining the Clubhouse and grounds and to the Principal and Board of Management of Mullingar Educate Together National School for the generous use of their car park on training nights.
Indoor Action
At the final NIA Live Indoor Series Meeting of 2018 a week before Christmas, on Tuesday evening 18th December, Mullingar Harriers was represented in both Juvenile and Senior races. Shane Fitzsimons and Colin Smith were in action in the men’s 800m. Both had raced over 1,000m in previous weeks and welcomed the return to a standard distance. Shane adopted familiar front running tactics and was rewarded with a comprehensive victory in an excellent time of 1 minute 51.90 seconds, which was an excellent run in a time trial race. This was Shane’s first 800m race in eighteen months and he can now approach the 2019 season safe in the knowledge that he is back to his very best. Colin was in second place for most of the race and was just passed in the final strides and had to settle for third place but he can be pleased with a season opener of 1 minute 54.56 seconds.
Our juvenile athletes also showed that the transition from cross country to track will be smooth with Conor Liston recording a comfortable win in the 600m u/12 in 1 minute 41 seconds and Aimee Wallace winning by a big margin in the 600m u/13 in 1 minute 44 seconds. Like Shane in the senior race, both Conor and Aimee led every step of the way and produced strong front running performances. Jamie Wallace also featured prominently in his 600m u/12 race and is rapidly getting back to full fitness.
Post-Christmas Races
Conditions were perfect for running for the annual Kilbeggan 6k fun run on St. Stephen’s Day. A great entry of 373 toed the line for the event to burn off the excesses of Christmas dinner and raise money for the Crumlin Children’s Medical and Research Foundation. The race was well supported by athletic clubs both local and further afield, including Mullingar Harriers of course. As well as those just looking to enjoy the mild weather and soak up the great atmosphere, there was a competitive edge too. Race winner was Timmy Murphy (19:32), followed by Jack Moran (19:54) third, Euan Lagan (20:03) fifth, James Keegan (21:07) sixth, Andrew Daly (21:29) seventh and first junior man. Also running well and enjoying the race was Paddy Daly (22:43), first in his master category, Nollaig McEntegart (25:04) also first in his master category, Sean Liston (25:07), Ray Martin (25:44), Robin Jackson (26:15), Joe Fagan (27:03), Criona Reid (27:52), Linda Cunningham (28:38) and Caroline Mullen (29:07). It was good to see members of Mullingar Harriers out in good numbers to support a local race like this and also support a great cause.
Eddie Newman competed on St. Stephen’s Day in the Fields of Athenry 10k in Galway. Organised by local club Athenry AC this race is regarded as one of the top road races in the country and this year had 1,171 finishers. Running in perfect conditions, Eddie finished well up in twenty first in 36:35 to comfortably win his master category.
The Rita and Robbie Christmas 5k organized by Navan AC last Thursday morning attracted a large crowd of 372 who competed in very pleasant conditions. Among the big entry was Mullingar’s Enda Seery who finished well up in 19:35, so was very pleased with his race.
Westmeath Juvenile Indoors
Earlier than in previous years, Athlone IT AC will host the Westmeath Juvenile Indoors on Friday evening 18th January at 6pm. There will be events for boys and girls under 9 to under 18 years of age, but this fixture will be of particular interest to our younger members aged 8, 9 and 10 that are too young to compete in the Leinster Indoors. Full details of ages and events are available at the Club, where entries will also be taken this week and next. Entry is €3 per child and entries must be submitted by Friday 11th, so please let Margaret know by Thursday evening 10th at the latest.
Leinster Star Awards for 2018
Athletics Leinster recently announced the winners of the Leinster Star Awards for Westmeath for 2018. Based on the results in Leinster Championships in 2018, the award winners for Westmeath are Mullingar’s Vicky Harris (senior athlete) for the sixth year in a row, Awa Fane (juvenile girl), Eoin Quinn (juvenile boy), and Sarah Glennon who will receive the race walk Award for Leinster.
Vicky won gold in the 60m indoors and silver in the 200m outdoors, Awa won gold in the indoor 200m in a new Championship record and outdoors won gold in the 200m and silver in the 100m, Eoin won gold in the outdoor 800m and silver in the outdoor 1,500m, and Sarah won the indoor race walk in a new Championship record. The Awards will be presented at a Gala Dinner in the Bridge House Hotel in Tullamore this Saturday evening.
After the hugely successful cross country season when of the eighteen underage races in Leinster cross country, Mullingar won team medals in sixteen of them, there’s no surprise that we retained the Morrissey Cup for best juvenile Club in cross country in Leinster. This marks eighteen years in a row for the Club, so congratulations to all our underage athletes that played a part in this success. The cup will also be presented in Tullamore.
Annual General Meeting
The Club’s Annual General Meeting will take place in the Annebrook Hotel, Mullingar on Friday 25th January at 8pm. We hope see all our adult members attend and the parents of the very many underage athletes who receive training, coaching and guidance throughout the year. The meeting will take about an hour and a half and we urge everyone to show your appreciation of the work done at the Club by attending the AGM. There will be light refreshments served after the meeting.
Membership for 2019
As we head into the New Year, we’re asking members to please renew their membership as soon as they can. If you’re not registered, you’re not insured and can’t train at the Club or take part in Club competition. We’ll be holding a few registration renewal nights at the Club in January to encourage early renewal, but membership can be paid any night at training.
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.
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