Hot weather and pace at Westmeath Road Championships

Mullingar Harriers Notes

This year, the Westmeath Road championships were staged on the Royal Canal Greenway, utilising the parkrun route. In splendid sunshine last Wednesday evening, some 70 athletes took part. The organisers, led by Philip Burke and Joanna Tyrrell, made excellent provision for the warm conditions, with plenty of water stations throughout the course and at the finish area. All the runners remarked afterwards on the intensity of the heat, so plenty of water was taken on board during the race and again at the finish.

In the race, Kevin Moore stamped his authority on proceedings from the early stages and coming around to the finish area for the first time he had opened a gap of more than 30 seconds on the chasing pack. Heading out on the longer 5k loop, he continued to increase his lead. Just Eoin Clarke and Alan Crowley from the chasing pack could keep him in their sights. Kevin came home in a fine time of 27:25 to take the gold medal in the senior men race. Eoin got the better of Alan in a tight finish securing silver in 28:58, and Alan took the bronze in 29:03. The ladies race saw Orlaith Flanagan continue her impressive season taking the ladies’ title. Criona Reid took silver, and the bronze medal went to Aisling Corcoran.

In the master categories, there were many intriguing battles for championship honours. In the M35 category, Stephen Underwood took gold, James Keegan, who held back a little given the Leinster championships in Gowran were a priority, still had enough to pick up silver. Leona Behan won the F35 category, finishing strongly and very satisfied with a best for the 8k distance.

In the F40 category, Fiona Fagan held off the strong finish of Laura Fitzpatrick to take top spot an d Kate Plunkett was delighted to be heading home with the bronze medal. The M40 category saw gold going to Enda Seery, recording a best for the distance. Darren Carroll picked up the silver medal and Thomas Galligan took bronze. Orla Gillespie took gold in the F45 event, where in a great battle for the second spot, Linda Cunningham held off Aine O’Reilly for the silver medal. Kieran Nolan was a clear winner of the M45 race followed home by Brian Collentine, and Mark Dunne picked up his first Westmeath championship medal with bronze. Mary Goldsberry (Coralstown Kinnegad AC) pushed the pace strongly and was rewarded with gold in the F50 category, and in the men’s equivalent, Gerard Gavin was an impressive winner, followed home by James Cribben and Mick Fagan in bronze position. Mark Cunningham was delighted to take home the bronze medal in the M55 category, and Michael Purdue took silver.

Emer O’Hanlon took gold in the F55 category and Caroline Mullen picked up silver. In the men’s equivalent, Mel Carty (Coralstown Kinnegad AC) showed well throughout the race to take gold. We had a strong field in the M60 race, where Eddie Lynch took gold from Jim Whelehan (Coralstown Kinnegad AC) in second and Paul Ginnell came through for bronze. John Bannon in M65 and the timeless Sean McMullin in the M70 category won gold in their respective categories, both adding to a long list of Westmeath championship medals over the years.

The full results are available on the club website, where athletes can compare times, especially between training partners, given the large number of masters who took part and who on most Wednesday evenings are training together at the club grounds. A special word for Kieran Dodrill, who swapped his runners for a role as timekeeper and results co-ordinator on the evening.

With Kieran’s work, we were able to quickly compile results at the end to allow delighted winners head home with their medals.

Westmeath Civil Defence provided valuable assistance and while their expertise was not called into action on the evening, they are always available to Mullingar Harriers when we stage events, and are ever helpful to athletes, stewards and spectators in ensuring a safe event [MO’S].

Leinster Novice and Masters Road Championships

A squad of 22 athletes from Mullingar Harriers travelled to Gowran, County Kilkenny last Saturday afternoon for the Leinster Novice and Masters Road Championships.

The weather was absolutely perfect for racing and everyone could stay outside near the finish area in the lovely afternoon sunshine to cheer others on in every race. The course in Gowran is made up of 1,500m laps, with a downhill start followed by a gradual long climb, an excellent course for a championship race. Gowran AC again proved excellent hosts for the event with every facility provided, including a large hall for registration, bag drop and medal presentation, toilets, public address, lead car, lots of race marshals and stewards, and plenty of refreshments after.

After four excellent competitive races, Mullingar won 4 individual masters medals, 1 individual novice medal, 3 sets of club team medals and 3 sets of County team medals, excellent results for the club.

The first race was the master women 3,000m, covering two laps. Finishing well up overall to lead the Mullingar team home was Aisling Corcoran (winning bronze in her category), followed by Caroline Mullen (fourth in her category, narrowly missing a medal) and Brigid McCabe (winning her category). The team was delighted to finish third club. Thanks to a great performance by Anna Marie O’Dowd (Athlone AC) finishing between Aisling and Caroline, the icing on the cake was that Westmeath finished first County too.

Always the biggest race of these championships, over 80 men lined up for the master men 6,000m. With 4 laps of the course, everyone got plenty of encouragement as they passed the finish area. Having the honour of leading the Mullingar men home was James Keegan (winning silver in his category), followed by Steven Underwood, Eddie Lynch (winning bronze in his category), Kieran Nolan (fourth in his category, narrowly missing a medal), Jason McKevitt and Nicky McCabe (fourth in his category, narrowly missing a medal). Great racing by all but unfortunately no team medals were won.

Sharon O’Dowd and Linda Cunningham had entered the master women race but knowing they had no team in their age group, they selflessly opted to run the novice women 3,000m race instead, which gave Mullingar a team. Always in touch with the leading group, Susan Glennon went into the second lap in third place. Digging deep in the closing stages, she pulled clear of the chasing pack and stormed through to a terrific third place finish to win the individual Leinster novice bronze. Attention then turned to her team-mates and with strong finishes from Orlaith Flanagan and Sharon O’Dowd, and with Linda Cunningham working hard all the way and providing the vital fourth score for the team, the women were absolutely delighted to finish third club and third County, adding nicely to the team medal haul for Mullingar.

The final race of the afternoon was the novice men 6,000m, where Mullingar was always to the fore throughout the four lap race. The lead group gradually whittled down but Mullingar remained in good numbers. With a terrific last lap and sprint finish, Dan Morris raced to an excellent fifth place, and with Ian McCormack close behind in seventh, Kris Foster (ninth) and Paul O’Reilly finishing strongly to provide the vital fourth score, it was little surprise that the Mullingar men finished first club by a good margin, winning the club title that Mullingar has now won for four years in a row. With great team support and packing from Kedagh Geoghegan, Mark Ronan, Kieran Dodrill, Conleth Mullen and Barry White, the men finished second County, nicely capping off a great afternoon for Mullingar, and leaving everyone in high spirits for the long journey home [GD].

Westmeath links to recent noteworthy national news

Congratulations to Niamh Fogarty (Raheny Shamrock AC), who threw a best of 58.40m in the USA two weeks ago to break Patricia Walsh’s ,national record of 57.60m, which had stood for 41 years. Niamh is from Kinnegad and started her athletics career with Mullingar Harriers AC, before joining North Westmeath AC and then joining Raheny Shamrock AC.

Also two weeks ago, Peter Lynch (Kilkenny City Harriers AC) broke the Irish senior marathon record in the Düsseldorf Marathon in Germany, clocking a time of 2:09:36 to take 6 seconds off the previous record held by Hiko Tonosa (DSD AC) since the Dublin Marathon last October.

His link to Westmeath? Sean, his grandfather, is originally from the Castlepollard/Finea area and retains strong links to the area.

Not a record, but congratulations and best of luck to Aaron Keane (Tullamore Harriers AC), who was selected to compete in the World Athletics Relays in China this coming weekend.

Aaron has been named on both the 4x400m and Mixed Relay squads. Aaron hails from Rosemount and his father was a member of Mullingar Harriers AC in his younger days.

West of Ireland Women’s Mini Marathon

The annual West of Ireland Women’s Mini Marathon took place in Castlebar last Sunday morning and some 2,200 ladies took to the streets in the 10k female-only event. Sinead Whitelaw was delighted to be back home in Mayo for the event, along with her daughter Sophie Whitelaw. Sophie completed the ‘Mini-mini marathon’, a 2k fun run in which 800 children ran through the town.

The main 10k race went out fast, top Irish juvenile athlete, Freya Renton from Westport AC, leading from the gun, and she continued with that pace to cruise home to victory. Sinead put in a good performance, running with a chasing pack of five athletes for the first 5k along the hilly route, eventually finishing in sixth position in 39:20.

MHAC Spring T&F

We’re holding a track and field event for juvenile members of the club on Sunday May 11. The event is targeted at members up to U14, but as in previous years, there is a mile race for U15 and 16, and due to the low number of girls in those age groups, entry may be opened to U17 girls too.

There is also a long jump for U15 and U16 girls and boys who don’t want to run the mile. Entry is free, but registration using the link on the Heja app is necessary.

Club’s youngest athletes to compete in Tullamore

The Midland Inter-County Juvenile T&F Match between Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath will take place in the Tullamore Harriers Stadium on Friday May 16 at 6pm. This is an ideal competition for our younger members to take part in and boys and girls from U9 (born 2017) to U14 (born 2012) can compete.

Despite the title, it really is a low key, friendly competition and a chance for everyone to try several events, choosing any two events from sprint, middle distance, long jump, turbo javelin and shot. If you run in the upcoming Mullingar Harriers Juvenile Spring T&F Meet, you’re in for a treat in Tullamore, as it will be just as much fun.

Entry is €5 per child (covers up to two events) payable at training, and entry for spectators is €3 at the gate. You must register for the event and we’ll use the Heja groups to find out who wants to take part and in what events.

This is an ideal competition for younger athletes and newcomers and we expect to see all our younger club members take part. It’s an inter-county competition, so wear your club vest, so everyone knows you’re from Westmeath.

Finally, just like our own all-weather track, 5mm spikes or runners only on the track in Tullamore. Entries must be submitted by this coming Sunday, May 11.

Closing dates for entries to Leinster Outdoor T&F

Please take note of the following closing dates for Leinster competitions. Entries for the Juvenile relays and for the combined events close on May 16; entries for U9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 T&F close on May 23; entries for U20, Senior and Masters T&F close on May 30; and finally, entries for juveniles U14 to 19 T&F close on June 6. Don’t leave it too late to submit your entry in case you have problems with the online entry system.

As always, if anyone has any difficulty submitting their entries, please don’t hesitate to contact Greg.

Important dates for your diary

Please make a note of the following important events that will be taking place in late summer and in the autumn.

The MHAC 50th Anniversary Dysart 4 Mile Classic Road Race on Tuesday August 5, the launch of our 50th Anniversary Book on Wednesday September 24, and our 50th anniversary celebration dinner on Saturday November 29. Mark these dates in the your diary now. Details will follow in the coming weeks and months.

Sympathy

Finally, the executive and members of Mullingar Harriers wish to extend sincere sympathy to Emily Wallace and family on the recent death of her mother, Concepta Curran, grandmother of Eve, Aimee and Jamie. May she rest in peace.

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