Medals galore for Mullingar at Leinster Cross Country

Adamstown, Co. Wexford was the venue October 25 for the first round of the Leinster Cross Country Championships with competition for boys and girls under 12, 14, 16 and 18 and for novice and master men and women.Apart from honours to be won on the day, at stake was a chance to compete in the All-Ireland Finals in front of a home crowd at Kilbeggan Race Course in November. Adamstown was a new venue for a Leinster Cross Country and it turned out to be an excellent course, well laid out and good firm dry ground, which was just as well given the awful weather the day before; not many course would have held up as well.Despite missing a number of key athletes due to illness, such is the depth of talent in the Club at the moment that Mullingar still emerged as the dominant Club by a very long way winning 6 juvenile Club titles, a Club second place, two County titles, two second County and a third County place, in addition to 17 individual juvenile top twelve places. Our crop of newcomers showed great talent and it looks like we'll remain very strong for years yet. With team medals for the Novice men and women, and a number of master men and women age-group medals, Mullingar was clearly the Club of the day. A great feature of the day was the performances of so many of our newcomers, with many showing great talent and a bright future in athletics.Meabh McNulty provided a great start to the day with an impressive 6th place finish to lead the Under 12 girls team of Laura Whitelaw (12th), Claire Fagan, Niamh Quinn, Ellen Cronin, Rachel Glennon, Adeola Ojoma-Amaka, Lucy McCartan, Dorothy Bane, Emma Derham, Ciara O'Looney, Hilary Harris, Emma Glynn and Katie Daly to 1st Club and 1st County titles. For some of these young girls this was their first taste of Championship racing and many of them are also giving away a year, so it will be very interesting to see them in action in the Under 11 race in Tullamore in two weeks time when they should feature strongly among the medal places.In the boys Under 12, Cormac Dalton ran a brilliant race and went clear of the very large field of athletes at the half way point to win by a wide margin in very convincing style, and with strong support from Michael Moran (4th), Kevin Giles (11th), David Mimnagh, Declan Brady, Jack Moran, Jonah Kelly, Tom Molloy, Eoghan Gallagher and Craig Clinton led the team to 1st Club and 3rd County. Like the girls Under 12 team, many of the boys Under 12 are giving away a year and will be in action in the Under 11 race in Tullamore. Linda Conroy had to see off a late challenge in the girls Under 14 but such is her talent and experience that she dug deep and crossed the finish line in 1st place, with great support from Edel Glennon (9th), Caoimhe Shaw (10th), Aisling Moody, Lorna Moody, Lauren Casey, Aisling Bracken, Victoria Harris and Faye Walsh to finish 1st Club and 2nd County.Padraig Moran had to settle for second place in the boys Under 14 after a thrilling race that came right down to a sprint finish to the line. Following in and packing well behind him was Glen Gaffney (9th), Jack Reid (11th), Oisin Quinn, Mervyn Harris, Eoghan Moore, Philip Doherty and Ian Martin to finish first Club and first County and continue Mullingar's winning streak of Club titles. Liam O'Reilly exemplified the kind of team spirit that marks Mullingar out. Despite being quite unwell he didn't want to let his team mates down and prepared for the race as usual. However, he really was unwell and Club officials withdrew him at the start line but he can earn his chance in training to compete in Kilbeggan.The girls Under 16 saw Mullingar win 1st Club again, courtesy of Ciara Hewson with an exhibition run of strong front running to win comfortably, supported by Lorraine Daly (4th), Elizabeth Carr making a good return to fitness, Donna Kiernan with a welcome return to action again after a recent lay-off, Anna Ryan and Aine O'Reilly. Shane Fitzsimons made winning the boys Under 16 look decidedly easy and led the team to 1st Club thanks to great team racing by Thomas Lynn (4th), Stephen Nea with a spectacular sliding finish, Ryan Blundell, Ian McCormack, Eoghan Lynam, Philip Giles Jonathan Daly, David Small and Joshua Kelly.We had no team in the girls Under 18 but Rachel Yorke and Amie Giles still gave their best in a very competitive race but finished out of the individual medals. We had a full team in the last underage race of the day, the boys Under 18 where Jake Byrne showed why he is regarded as a real emerging force in middle distance running with a fine display of controlled running that took him to victory with plenty to spare. Thomas Fagan (8th), David Mahon, Shane Kelleher, Warren Walsh and Adam Daly with a terrific sprint battle to the line provided great support to finish second Club. A problem with the results computer system meant their second County finish couldn't be confirmed when we were leaving for home, but they'll get medals of some colour. Another man not wanting to let his team mates down was Robert Yorke and he took to the line despite being barely over recent illness, but it had taken its toll and Club officials advised him to stop on the last lap to avoid serious injury.Moving to the Novice women, Mary Scully was the runaway winner, and with Riona Murtagh running a fantastic race, followed by Alwyn Kinane, Sinead Roche, Sarah Mescall and Aine Devaney back in the Club colours after too long a break all running their hearts out, this fantastic team were popular winners of 1st Club and 2nd County. In the corresponding Novice men's race, first to finish for Mullingar was Tomas Navickas, closely followed in by Paddy Kelly, Liam McGlynn, Andrew Kinane, Paddy Daly, Aidan Gorry and Colm Walsh all packing well to win team medals, though their colour was unknown when we left for home due to a combination of computer problems and a mix up over race numbers. Suffice to say, Paddy Kelly got his "birthday wish" of a Leinster medal!As with all masters races, the women masters race was an intriguing affair, with lots of age categories in action together, so spectators are never fully sure how individual are faring against their competitors in the same age category. First in for Mullingar was Vera McCool (3rd in category), followed by Brigid McCabe (2nd in category), Breda Daly, Nuala Moran, Terri Greene, Breda McDonnell (2nd in category) and Geraldine Walsh (1st in category). No team medals but all were nonetheless pleased with their performances. The final race of the afternoon was for master men where Ben Vaitkavichius was very pleased with his 2nd place finish in his age category, as was Christy Creagh with his 1st place in his category. Also competing was Greg Duggan, better known as a sprinter, who despite the best efforts of the very vocal Mullingar support, finished well outside any medal places and was just glad to finish the race at all, safe in the knowledge that his cross country season is over now and the next time he dons the Mullingar vest it will be for a sprint race.These were exemplary performances from every one of the very large Mullingar squad, from the very youngest to the most senior master. The underage teams once again showed almost merciless dominance at Leinster cross country, as has been the case for many years now, but it was particularly good to see strong adult teams in action and making their marks too. Now that so many underage Club and County teams have qualified for the All-Ireland Finals in Kilbeggan in a month's time, competition for places on the teams will be fierce, so all our underage athletes need to keep training hard over the next few weeks to earn their places.With nearly 90 athletes from the Club competing last Sunday, the logistics involved in arranging transport was considerable and sincere thanks to all those who made their own travel arrangements and to those who travelled on the team bus and provided supervision. The Club is extremely fortunate to have so many members and supporters who never hesitate to give a much needed helping hand when required. The fruits of their support were evident last Sunday.The second round, for boys and girls under 11 to 19 and for Intermediate men and women will be in Tullamore in two weeks time. The names of those selected to compete are on the notice board in the Club house. If you can't compete for whatever reason, please let Club Officials know so a substitute can be arranged.Great South RunMartin Fagan was hoping to build on his impressive victory a few weeks ago in the Boston Half Marathon when he tackled the BUPA Great South Run in Portsmouth last Sunday, October 25. The Great South Run is Europe's largest 10 mile race with 21,000 runners and Martin took his place on the start line alongside some of the top distance runners in the World, wearing number 3 in the elite men's section.Staying with the leading group up to 5km, he was forced to drop back a bit when the push came between 5km and 10km and was in the chasing pack to the breakaway group of three, led by Britain's top distance runner, and 2006 European Cross Country Champion, Mo Farah. By the 15km mark, Martin had dropped to 6th place, a position he held up to the finish line at 16.1km. The athletes that finished in front of him are World class and it's great to see Martin having no fear of them and running right up there with them as an equal.Registrations for 2010Club Registrar, Nuala Moran and her team are continuing to take registrations for 2010 and we encourage everyone to pay their membership as soon as possible. In order to improve notifications about competitions, we want all existing members to complete a new registration form to make sure we have the most up to date and complete contact details, particularly mobile phone or e-mail. Anyone who and paid membership recently is automatically registered for 2010, but please check that we have your details recorded correctly. The subscription rates for 2010 are unchanged from 2009.Dublin City MarathonCongratulations or commiserations as the case may be to those from the Club that took on the arduous challenge of the Dublin City marathon last Bank Holiday Monday. Publication deadlines mean we have no results of how they got on but we hope to provide full details next week.Halloween ClosurePlease note that there will be no training at the Club grounds this coming Thursday, October 29 but we expect a full attendance at Belvedere on Sunday morning at 11am. It is absolutely vital that everyone keeps training at the Club and especially at Belvedere on Sunday mornings between now and the second round of the Leinsters and the All-Ireland Finals to make sure of their places on teams.Cross country fixtures8th November. Leinster Cross Country (uneven ages, Intermediate). Charleville Castle, Tullamore14th Masters Home Countries Cross Country, Birmingham22nd AAI Cross Country (even ages, Inter-Counties) Kilbeggan Racecourse6th December. AAI Cross Country (uneven ages, Novice) Coleraine, Co. Londonderry13th European Cross Country, Santry Demesne, DublinTrainingTraining continues each Tuesday and Thursday from the Clubhouse in Grange at 7pm and in Belvedere on Sunday morning at 11am. The ground is still firm enough to train in flat running shoes, which provide much better support than spikes. For the latest results, news and details of all upcoming fixtures check the Club's website <>at www.mullingarharriers.com.