Plenty to celebrate at the Leinster Juvenile Indoors

Mullingar Harriers notes

Mullingar Harriers recorded another very successful weekend of competition at the Leinster Juvenile Indoors in TUS Athlone last week-end, winning a lot of medals, more qualifying for finals, and many recording personal bests.

The race walks are always a rich vein for Mullingar, and on Saturday morning Gareth Glennon won silver in the u/15 boys 1,000m walk, despite incurring a 30 second time penalty for a rule infringement, without which he would have won comfortably by a distance. Also falling foul of the tough rules was Daniel Glennon who also incurred a 30 second time penalty in the u/18 boys 1,500m walk but still won the gold medal.

It was great to see Scott Cogan continuing his venture into the sprints, though unfortunately he was disqualified in the u/17 boys 400m for a false start, always a risk in the sprints but he’ll learn from the experience and take it to the outdoor season this summer.

Moving to the 1,500m races, the stand-out performances came from Lily Walsh and Oisin Clarke. Lily took command of the u/16 girls 1,500m from the gun, going straight to the front and cruised to gold in great front-running style. Oisin was content to stay in the pack for the early laps of a tactical u/16 boys 1,500m race, but with four laps to go he went to the front and injected just enough pace to stretch the field. He was passed with two laps to go but bided his time before retaking the lead again with 300m to go, before unleashing a furious injection of pace at the bell he pulled clear with a swift 29 second final lap to win his first Leinster title. There was also great performances from Hannah Dunne (1,500m u/16), Beibhinn O'Reilly (1,500m u/17), Daniel Horohoe, Morgan Isdell and Cormac McGrath (1,500m u/17) with Daniel securing qualification to the National finals with a fourth place finish. In the u/18 girls 1,500m Eleanor Kiernan timed her finish to perfection in the closing lap to move from third to second and win the silver medal. Conor Walsh put in a determined effort in the u/18 boys 1,500m and was very unlucky to be pipped on the line to finish fifth in a close finish, just missing an automatic qualification place in the National finals. We finished with the u/19 boys 1,500m where Luke Greene worked hard throughout but had to settle for a place out of the medals.

Big entries for the u/12 boys 60m saw Tadhg McManus line up in heat 4 of 5 and despite a brave effort he didn’t advance from the very tough heats. No problem for Lucy O’Connor u/13 girls 60m where she finished second in her heat to advance to the semi-final but unfortunately that’s where her campaign ended and despite running a good race, she didn’t advance to the final. A fourth place finish for Ethan Byrne in his heat of the u/13 boys 60m wasn’t enough to advance to the semi-final. Majed Al Bashir was unlucky not to advance from his heat of the u/14 boys 60m to join Daniel Cummins who qualified for the final with a fine second place finish in his heat, but though he nearly matched his time in the final, he had to settle for a place out of the medals. John McManus placed third in his heat of the u/15 boys 60m and in the final ran quicker and stormed to fifth place, just out of the medal places, but top marks for effort. In the u/18 boys 60m, Cian Hyland sprinted really well in his heat but was unlucky not to advance to the final. We finally ended the 60m medal drought in the u/19 boys 60m. Running close to his personal best in his heat, Finn Roddy advanced to the final where he blasted from the blocks and crashed through the finish line in a new personal best time of 7.29 seconds to win the Leinster bronze medal.

There were Mullingar athletes busy in the field events too, including Sophie Doran (u/12 girls shot put), Saoirse Peters threw her way to a top-8 finish in the u/14 girls shot put, and Clodagh Doran matched this in the u/16 girls shot put with a top-8 finish of her own.

The action on Sunday started with the 200m sprints where Aoibhe Martyn and Emily Tully contested the u/16 girls 200m, but strong runs to finish third in their respective heats was enough to advance to the final.

Entries in the 600m races are always very big, with lots of heats and qualification to the finals is extremely difficult. Maisie Walsh finished fourth in her heat of the u/12 girls 600m and was very unlucky to miss a place in the final by only two places. Tadhg McManus also didn’t advance from his tough heat of the u/12 boys 600m. Ruth Whelan and Caitlin Doyle didn’t advance from their heats of the u/13 girls 600m

To join Helen McGrath whose fourth place finish in her heat earned her a place in the final where she battled well but finished out of the medals. Mel Bohan won his heat of the u/13 boys 600m to qualify for the final, but not so Donagh Bourke and Olly Loughrey who competed well but didn’t advance from their heats. In the final, Mel ran even quicker but was extremely unlucky to finish fourth in a near photo finish, just missing a medal by a fraction.

Aoife Dunne was our sole representative in the u/14 girls 800m but unfortunately fifth in her heat was enough to qualify for the final, but can take consolation from running a new personal best. Having their first experience of indoor 800m racing, Cillian Gavin and Conor Gavin didn’t advance from the heats of the u/14 boys 800m to join Daniel Cummins who won his heat to qualify for the final where he stormed through the last lap, making up several places, to finish a very creditable sixth place. Chloe Bell finished second in her heat of the u/15 girls 800m to reach the final where she ran even quicker but was very unlucky to finish just out of the medals in fourth place. Amelie G Kelly had placed fourth in her heat but missed qualification for the final by just two places, and Siomha Leonard also ran well but didn’t advance from her heat.

It was great to see three Mullingar boys advance from the heats and qualify for the final of the u/15 boys 800m. In the final, John McManus went out hard storming to the front and setting a ferocious early pace. He was only caught on the final lap but had enough in reserve to hold on for a terrific silver medal finishing in a new personal best of 2:17.25, followed in by Gareth Glennon in fourth place in a very close finish in 2:18.13, a new personal best, and Rian Gavin behind in a very creditable seventh place. Muirin Dunne contested the u/16 girls 800m but despite a good performance where she ran a personal best she didn’t advance to the final. Fresh from victory over 1,500m the day before, Oisin Clarke returned for the u/16 boys 800m where he proved simply too good for the opposition and swept to victory, his second Leinster title of the week-end. We also had three boys in the final of the u/17 boys 1,500m where Scott Cogan raced to a fine sixth place, followed by Daniel Horohoe in seventh, and Cormac McGrath also finishing strong.

Heather Kelly placed second in her heat of the u/12 girls 60m hurdles to advance to the final, where she clipped the first hurdle but recovered brilliantly to storm through for second place and the silver medal, in a new personal best of 11.83 seconds. Kate Horohoe and Caitlin Doyle contested the u/13 girls 60m hurdles but were unlucky not to advance from the very competitive heats. Finally, Morgan Isdell hurdled his way to fourth place in the u/17 boys 60m hurdles, guaranteeing a chance to go again with a place at the National finals.

Over in the field events, Donnacha Doyle jumped to fifth place in the u/15 boys high jump, missing fourth and qualification to the National finals only on count-back. Aoibhe Martyn leaped to a fine top-8 finish in the u/16 girls long jump after a very good and consistent series of jumps. Also competing in the field events was Heather Kelly (u/12 girls long jump), Daniel Cummins, Cillian Gavin, Conor Gavin and Cillian Martyn (u/14 boys long jump), and Kate Horohoe (u/13 girls high jump).

It was great to see so many Mullingar athletes trying new events, and very satisfying seeing some new faces on the podium. Well done to all who competed, and best of luck to everyone that has qualified for the National finals [CW/GD]

National 50k Bronze for Sinead Whitelaw

Over 320 athletes lined up to start the National 50k Championship, which was held in Donadea Forest Park in Kildare last Saturday morning. Among them were two Mullingar athletes, Sinead Whitelaw and Dara O'Shea. The morning was very cold and dry, but the recent wet weather left some of the trails in poor condition and the terrain was difficult in places along the route, which consisted of ten 5k loops in the forest.

Sinead, an experienced marathon runner, was making her debut at ultramarathon running and taking a step into unknown territory. However, she took it in her stride and placed herself in second position from the start, completing the early laps at a steady pace, and even clocking the fastest female lap of the day in the middle section of her race. Sinead held her second position for almost 49k, when she was passed in the closing stages of the race. She crossed the line in 3:41:23, in third place, achieving her first individual National senior medal, a wonderful achievement.

Dara, who completed the race last year, was eager to return to the course again this year. He ran a steady race, with perfectly paced laps to finish in 4:05:35, and achieved an impressive new 17 minute personal best [SW].

Claire Fagan PB in Barcelona Half Marathon

Mullingar Harriers stalwart Claire Fagan travelled to Spain last Sunday to compete in the Barcelona Half Marathon. Claire ran a controlled race from the start and was rewarded with a new personal best of 1:13:56, a 40 second improvement on her previous best, which she set in Paris last March. Claire covered the first 5k in 17:38 and was able to pick up the pace marginally over the next 5k, which she covered in 17:28, followed by 17:35 to take her to 15k, then 17:23 to reach 20k, an extremely well balanced pace throughout. Congratulations to Claire on an excellent performance.

A mud bath for National Intermediate and Masters Cross Country

Given the rain that fell in Dublin in recent weeks, it’s no surprise that the course at the Sport Ireland Campus in Abbotstown was so badly waterlogged and even flooded in places, that there was a lot of uncertainty in the days leading up to the National Intermediate and Masters Cross Country last Sunday that the event would even go ahead, but go ahead it did. To address the inclement weather, Athletics Ireland took the wise decision to reduce the race distances, and the course was confined to a 1km loop, which was very muddy and sticky for the athletes.

In the master women 3,000m race, Eva Ross led the team home, followed closely by Maura Dervan, then Clare Ross, Linda Cunningham, Caroline Mullen, Terri Greene and Pauline Troy. With the Athlone AC athletes working well, Anna Marie O’Dowd and Triona Kinane, the Westmeath over 60 women team finished a very creditable fifth County. Sean McMullin and Nicky McCabe contested the over 65 master men 3,000m where they both ran very well throughout and were satisfied with their performances.

The next race was the master men 6,000m and with the course deteriorating after each race, the men had nothing easy in getting around the loop. Kevin Moore, just back from his exploits at the European Champion Clubs Cross Country in Portugal, led home the Mullingar men with a fine performance, followed by Steven Underwood and Eddie Lynch finishing very strong in his category {CM].

The Downs 5k and 10k

The Downs LGFA staged their annual 5k and 10k races last Sunday morning when early morning heavy showers had moved away, to leave cold and bright conditions for the runners. For many Mullingar Harriers, it was an opportunity to get some racing time in ahead of the Mullingar Half marathon, which will be run over some of the course used for the Downs races.

The 10k race attracted an entry of 112, which was won by Euan Lagan in a solid time of 34:19. Enda Seery was next home in fifth place in a time of 38:24, followed by Kieran Nolan in ninth place in 40:05. Orlaith Flanagan was first woman in 40:44, which placed her tenth overall in the race. Mick Fagan ran 41:45 and Jason McKevitt was pleased to return to racing after some injury issues over the past few months to come home in 42:19. Evan McCormack ran with Orla McLoughlin for most of the race, getting a finishing time of 42.25, just ahead of Orla on 42.27. Niamh Doherty finished just ahead of husband Joe, with a time of 45:29, Joe just 2 seconds further back on 45:31. Martin Fitzpatrick ran 49:41, Lisa O’Brien (49:55), with Brendan Rice completing the distance in 50:03. Jessica Crowley had her first run since the Dublin City Marathon and finished in a time of 51:48, with Colm Brennan running 52:24, Martin Mullen (52:55), Kevin O’Brien (53:23) and Catherine Gavin with a finishing time of 55:40.

In the 5k race, Stephen Nea led the field of over 110 from start to finish coming over the finish line in 17:20, ahead of Mark Ronan in second place in 18:07. Joe Curley was next home for Mullingar Harriers in 20:06 with Conleth Mullen finishing in 21:47 and Lorna Moody ran 25:23 [MO’S].

PRO