Record setting race walk by Aisling Lane
As a joint venture between Germany and Czechia (Czech Republic), EU funding brought the Lusatian Race Walk, a World Athletics Tour Silver event, to Germany last Saturday week (24 Oct).
With most of the athletes and officials accommodated just over the border in Czechia, the Germans provided excellent facilities and a picturesque competition site in Zittau. After a few days of rain, come Saturday, the clouds parted to give a cool but refreshing morning, ideal for high level endurance competition.
With simultaneous starts to the marathon and half marathon race walks on a relatively narrow course, Mullingar's Aisling Lane had to work hard to keep control of her pace and position over the early laps of the half marathon race walk, but she managed it with poise and focus.
With a pre-race plan to average 5:05 per kilometre, Aisling settled in to this rhythm by 3k.
Following a period of sustained endurance training for the last two months, Aisling kept the pace lap by lap all the way to 17k.
At that point, the inevitable fatigue set in, but she fought hard to maintain a good rhythm over the last few laps and used the bell for the last lap to dig deep and drive hard for the finish line and pulled back any seconds lost over the previous few laps to cross the line in seventh place in 1:47:25, a personal best by over five and a half minutes.
With a top-10 finish in a race won by Peru’s Mary Luz Andia, the Pan American and South American Champion, followed by national champions from Czechia, France, Canada and Germany, Aisling has laid down a marker for the 2027 international season.
As international racing distances in racewalking moved from 20k to half marathon (21.1k) two years ago, this performance is the fastest ever by an Irish woman for the half marathon and subject to ratification is as a new Irish record and is most definitely a club record.
Competing in the men’s equivalent half marathon race walk, Oisin Lane did not have anywhere near the same fortune as his sister. As things were not going well for him, he withdrew soon after the halfway mark.
It was just as well, as suffering from a bad allergic reaction, he needed to get medical attention immediately on arriving back to Dublin Airport. Oisín is recovering well and is already planning his next important race [ML].
National and Leinster marathon medals
Following the Dublin Marathon last week, the results for the National and Athletics Leinster Marathons that were run in conjunction with the main event were announced last week and included National and Leinster medals for some of our athletes.
In the national event, Eddie Newman placed third in his master category, picking up a national bronze medal, while our master women over 50 team of Criona Reid, Marie Louise Johnston and Emer O’Hanlon combined to place second club.
Just missing out on a podium place was the senior women team of Ciara Foy, Joan Flynn and Aideen Tansey, who placed a creditable fourth club.
In the Leinster marathon, Dan Morris placed third in his master category, while Eddie Newman took first place in his master category. Our senior women team (Ciara Foy, Joan Flynn and Aideen Tansey) placed third club, and our master women over 50 team of Criona Reid, Marie Louise Johnston and Emer O’Hanlon went one better by taking second club.
Just to complete our coverage of the Dublin marathon, we missed out on two of our athletes in the results last week. Well done to debutant marathoners, Paul O’Reilly (2:54:29) and Conor Collison (3:22:30), who certainly made their mark on the streets of Dublin along with their 36 colleagues to give Mullingar Harriers one of its largest number of finishers in the Dublin marathon [MO’S].
Frankfurt Marathon
A record field of 18,500 athletes took to the streets of Frankfurt last Sunday week (25 Oct) for the annual Frankfurt Marathon through the city. In cold but dry conditions, the course was a mix of flat narrow streets mixed in with some difficult undulating hills across the outer suburbs. The city centre start and finish was well packed with large crowds, and there was also street entertainment to keep the atmosphere lively for spectators. Among the participants was Darragh O’Donoghue who completed his first full marathon in a time of 4:06:44 [MO’S].
Longwood 5k and 10k
The Longwood 5k and 10k took place three weeks ago (Sunday 18 Oct). Starting and finishing in the local GAA club, the course took the 130 runners on a circular route around the town on local country roads that had some nice little hilly stretches, adding to the atmosphere of the race.
Shane McLoughlin had a great battle with club-mate Alan Crowley before pulling away in the final 500m for victory in 16:44, while Alan struggled a little after his great effort in the final stages but still had enough to hold on for second place in a time of 17:29.
In her first competitive run in several months, Ann Hall was pleased to lead home the women’s race with 20:43, while Breda McDonnell was happy with her effort and recorded a time of 58:04.
In the 10k race, a total of 230 runners completed two laps of the 5k course. Joan Flynn was the sole representative from Mullingar Harriers and used the race as a final blow-out before the Dublin Marathon.
She had a great battle for the women’s title, just missing out by less than 30 seconds to the winner, but held on to take second place in 40:56 [MO’S].
All roads lead to The Curragh
This coming Saturday, a squad of more than 100 Mullingar athletes have entered the second round of the Leinster cross country, at The Curragh, all chasing Leinster cross country glory and looking to qualify for the national finals in December.
We have athletes in every race from under 11 years to senior. Many of the girls and boys on the U11 teams moved up to run U12 in Gowran, but for the rest of them, this will be their first experience of Leinster championship racing and we wish them well and encourage them that, no matter what, it’s only a race and they should do their best to enjoy the experience.
Club officials will be on hand to provide encouragement and to settle any last minute nerves if necessary. Parents and supporters are asked to get behind all our athletes and encourage them as usual, especially our young under 11 teams.
There will be non-championship races for girls U9 at 11am and for boys U9 at 11.05am. The first championship race will be the girls U11 at 11.30am, followed by the boys U11 and the rest of the programme in succession. If for any reason you can’t compete, please let club officials know as soon as possible so we can arrange a substitute.
The timetable for the day is on the Athletics Leinster website and Facebook page. Please allow extra time for traffic delays entering the venue in order to arrive on time and get to know the course.
Aim to be at the course at least one hour before your race and head for the club tent and flags to collect your race number.
Bring a change of clothes, a packed lunch, water or sports drink, rain gear, club vest, four safety pins for your race number (most forgot pins last time) and check that you have the correct length of spikes.
Parents and adults are advised to bring rain gear and proper footwear. Newcomers in particular are reminded that they must wear a club vest (buy one at training or borrow one).
Dressing for the cold
We’re starting to get a reminder lately of how cold it can get at training, so it’s a good time to remind all athletes that they should wear appropriate running gear for the cold weather.
Warm clothing is essential and that includes going to and from training and competition. A pair of lightweight gloves, a woolen hat and a few layers of warm clothing is all it takes.
Having a warm sweatshirt, fleece or jacket for after training is especially important. Parents of younger juveniles should insist that they wear the proper clothing.
Also, lightweight running tights or leggings are recommended and will give much needed protection against the cold. Athletes not properly dressed against the cold weather will not perform to their best.
Road Safety
As the evenings are now dark very early, all club members are reminded that they must wear reflective clothing when running on the road at night. That includes all who use our club grounds and who run from the clubhouse on training nights. Safety is a must at all times.
See mullingarharriers.com and the Facebook page.