Mullingar Harriers mark 50 years with new classic race

When Bobbie Begley took on the role of chairperson of Mullingar Harriers at the AGM in January, as the club was in its 50th year, he made his intentions clear early on that he wanted to hold a road race as part of the celebrations to mark the milestone. Thanks to Bobbie’s vision and leadership, the Dysart 4 Mile Classic took place last Tuesday on a lovely summer evening. Based at Murphy’s Public House, the race was run on a straightforward out and back course, and an added bonus was that the road was closed to traffic for the race, greatly adding to the comfort and safety of the runners, officials and stewards.

It’s hard to predict entries for a new event, but we were delighted with the final entry of 375, of whom 314 ran and finished. Given that, we were glad we engaged My Run Results, who looked after the online entries and the results with their customary professionalism. Of note is that nearly 140 from the club raced, and seeing the big number of volunteers and stewards and officials from the club on the night, there’s no doubt but that everyone at the club really got behind the event to make it a success.

There’s a big list of people and organisations that deserve huge thanks. Front and centre has to be Bobbie Begley, a founding member who has been a driving force in the success of the club over the 50 years. It was also great to see more of our founding members at the event, including John Mulvihill (who measured and helped marked the course with his customary precision and attention to detail), Seamus O’Brien (MC on the night), club president Seamus Gibney, who started the race, Ollie Gallagher (who videoed everything), and John Kenny, another founding member from 50 years ago was also there.

Special thanks to Adrian, Deirdre and Eleanor Murphy for hosting the race at Murphy’s Pub and for the delicious burgers and post-race refreshments; their support was vital to the success of the race and came in for praise by athletes and spectators. Many thanks also to Ian McCormack for his work on the event and getting everybody in line before the race, and for organising the commemorative finishers medals. Thanks to Kris Foster for helping with the prize money and presentations, to Joe Fagan and his crew for helping to set up the course and organising parking; to Anna Bell and Matt Glennon for the use of their fields for parking, and to Adrian Murphy for other parking too.

There was a lot of background work in the months and weeks leading up to the event, and we express sincere thanks to Barry Kehoe (chief executive, Westmeath County Council) and Municipal District staff members Frank Dolan and William Ryan for their help in securing a temporary road closure, and to the council for its support under the ‘Festival and Events Grant Scheme’. Thanks also to Jason McKevitt for publicising the race so positively in the newspapers and on Midlands 103, which no doubt contributed to the high turnout. Also thanks to Anthony Cassidy and local residents for supporting the event and for putting up with any inconvenience caused.

On the night, we were grateful to Sergeant Ambrose Duggan and members of the Garda Community Policing Unit who directed traffic, enforced the road closure and ensured the event went off smoothly, to Westmeath Civil Defence, and Ger Flynn, who marshalled the race from the front on his bike. Thanks to Margaret Daly, Pauline Gaffney and Amanda Dalton, who managed registrations, to Chris Cole from Culinara Coffee for being there at short notice, and to all the volunteers. In addition to hot food at Murphy’s, we’re grateful to O’Briens Centra, who provided food, and to Avril Corbett and the local tidy towns committee for supplying sandwiches.

Organised primarily as a celebration of 50 years, it was great to see so many families, former members and training partners running together, among them Jack O’Leary, who was still recovering from winning the national 5,000m bronze medal only two days before and used the race as his second easy recorun of the day.

It was still a race and first to finish was Michael Murphy (Tullamore Harriers AC) in 19:42, clear of Vinny Connolly (Mullingar Harriers AC) second in 20:33 and Kevin Minnock (Tullamore Harriers AC) third in 20:48. In the women race, the winner was Laura Mooney (Tullamore Harriers) in 22:39, followed in by Elizabeth Carr (Mullingar Harriers AC) in 23:05, and Edel Gaffney (Trim AC) third in 23:30. The full results are online at My Run Results.

In addition to a 50-year celebration for the club, we also marked 30 years since Mullingar Harriers AC first won the National Senior Cross Country title (in 1995) and we were delighted to cheer on Cormac Finnerty, Tom McGrath, John Burke and David Burke, the members of that memorable team.

In a twist on the usual category prizes, we used categories like occupations, trades, student, farmer, locals, retired, which gave many people a chance to get a prize that they might not win in other races.

We must record a special thanks to honorary race director, John Burke, for his donation of a special spot prize of a Highland Escape in Scotland. We also received generous spot prizes from Wholesome Kitchen, Bell Lane Coffee, O’Briens Centra, Belvedere House and Gardens, The Greville Arms Hotel, Outdoor Escapes, Fran Kiernan of FJK Wood Turning, Mistervini Wine Bar and Shop, and from many individual members of Mullingar Harriers.

As well as the nearly 140 athletes from Mullingar Harriers, we welcomed athletes from neighbouring Westmeath clubs of Athlone, North Westmeath and Coralstown Kinnegad, and from clubs in Offaly, Meath, Kildare, Roscommon, Cavan, Dublin, Tipperary and Cork. A big thanks to all the runners and walkers who competed in the race and stayed on for the lovely food and refreshments after and help us celebrate 50 years.

PBs for Cormac Dalton and Claire Fagan

Competing at the IFAM (International Flanders Athletics Meeting) at the Putbosstadion in Oordegem, Belgium on Saturday, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, Cormac Dalton dropped down to race in the 1,500m and was recorded a new PB of 3:42.28 [GD].

Also last Saturday, Claire Fagan improved her PB for 5,000m to 16:04.40 at the British Milers Club Grand Prix in Trafford (Manchester), a World Athletics Challenger Tour meeting. Following a PB for 3,000m in July, Claire’s new best for 5,000m shows steady progress over the last few years [GD].

Sympathies

The executive and members of Mullingar Harriers express sincere sympathy to, Tom Conroy and family (Kilbeggan) on the death of his mother Margaret, and John Rafferty and family (Moate) on the death of his mother Ann (Nan). May they rest in peace.