Harriers mark 50 years with impressive book

A half century of sporting excellence was acknowledged by Mullingar Harriers Athletic Club as members launched a commemorative book marking their historic milestone last week.

Since its formation on December 1, 1975, when 18 people gathered at a meeting in St Mary’s CBS, the club has blossomed into a significant social force in the midlands, a hothouse for aspiring athletes.

Bloomfield House Hotel provided the backdrop for the launch of the book cataloguing five decades of this unique sporting collective.

The venue was a fitting location for the party as the hotel has played a part in the history of the club, as Bobby Begley explained: "Bloomfield was for many years our home, and we even held an international cross country here in 1987."

All around the hotel patrons were sporting the book fronted with the livery of the club, the maroon of Westmeath was tucked under the majority of arms. Blending humour with history the master of ceremonies, Joan Mulvihill, led guests on a brief tour of the illustrious past of the Harriers.

Club stalwarts Bobby Begley, Bridget McCabe and Michael O’Sullivan were the guests joining Ms Mulvihill on stage. They provided insights into the experiences of club members as they participated in the steadily growing running community that nurtured athletes from all over the region.

"The book really is the best of all of us, because we all perform best as a team," the MC informed the guests.

In his contribution, Michael O’Sullivan outlined some of the 46 club records set by club members, many of whom have represented Ireland. From the club pioneers to present day race walker like Oisín Lane, who was the first Irish athlete to compete in Tokyo in the current world championships, Michael’s encyclopedic knowledge of members achievements were laid out.

The passion of the trio on stage is obviously emulated throughout the club: "We have the coaches and we have the role models from our current athletes," the MC said. "When you read through the book, you see we have 132 people who achieved international status over the last 50 years."

Those accomplishments were also noted by Bridget McCabe: "We have two Olympians. I’m confident that with the coaches we have, and with the role models our current elite athletes have, it won’t be 50 years, but in 10 years’ time, there’ll be considerably more than 132 people on the lovely board that Seamus Gibney donated to the mark when you get your international caps."

Taking centre stage was the book tracing the activities and events of the club over the last 50 years. In a delightfully packaged work it presented a view from members past and present along with a host of photographs capturing many events and memories across the years.

The book was coordinated by the committee of Bobbie Begley, Declan Costello, Rodney Farry, Jason McKevitt, John Mulvihill, Michael O’Sullivan, Patrick Muldoon, who worked on collating the memories and achievements of the club and its members.

The many different contributors researched the notes of club activities over the half century, in addition to reproducing much of the material from the 25th anniversary book from 2000, edited by the late Joe Weafer. A special presentation was made to Joe’s wife Agnes.

The book presents an opportunity to relive many great occasions, reflect on individual memories and get a sense of what the club means to its members and supporters as it grew out of a seed that was germinated from the Westmeath committee of the National Athletic and Cycling Association and the Knockdrin Athletic Club.

The launch was an entertaining evening. Part of that amusement came from a special guest. With a mix of self-deprecating humour and wit Michael O’Leary suggesting he was drafted in "to generate a bit of notoriety".

The veracity of Mr O’Leary’s claim that he was one of the few people in the world who can say no to Bobby Begley was undermined by his presence."This is a very welcoming, very inclusive club," he stated, "it would give you confidence in the future. At a time when children want to be on computers or mobile phones, Mullingar Harriers are a model for the way they encourage kids to participate in sport.

"We should take great pride and joy from the 50 years contribution Mullingar Harries have made to this town and this region in promoting athletics and physical activity for our children," Mr O’Leary said.

In concluding matters, Ms Mulvhill thanked Liam Hayes and his publishing company ‘My Club History’ for their work on creating the beautiful publication.