Jamie Wallace Wins Leinster Title On Difficult Day In Santry

Full round-up of Mullingar Harriers activity this week.

Matthew Glennon to compete on World stage

Athletics Ireland announced last week that Matthew Glennon has been selected to represent Ireland in the under 20 Men 10k Race Walk at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships to be held in Muscat, Oman on early March. Coached by Michael Lane, who will travel as Team Leader, Matthew is a rising star in the Irish race walking scene. This is a big step in Matthew’s International athletics career, but having represented Ireland at the European Athletics u/20 Championships in Tallinn in 2021 with a twenty second place finish, Matthew has shown that he is ready for the challenge.

Leinster Title for Jamie Wallace in mud soaked Santry

Despite Storm Dudley in full swing, as with all cross country events barring a red weather warning, the Leinster Schools cross country went ahead in Santry Demesne last Wednesday, where the weather conditions proved a test for all runners on the day. The organisers and the team of volunteers can be commended on preparing and running the event in the most challenging of conditions.

Ailbhe O’Farrell (St. Finian’s) was up first in the junior girls 2,000m. This was only her second cross country race, having made her debut in the North Leinster two weeks previously where she raced into the top 15 to qualify for Leinster. Ailbhe got out strong at the start in a top 30 spot and worked her way up through the field in the second lap to finish in nineteenth place, only a few seconds outside the automatic top 15 qualifying places. A great result for Ailbhe and she will have gained very valuable experience.

The junior boys 3,000m started just as the wind and rain began to worsen. The early pace was very conservative but as the race unfolded and the downhill muddy areas were met, the leading group began to split up and soon the Coláiste Mhuire pair of Jamie Wallace and Luke Greene found themselves in the front group of about ten and Donagh Carey and Matthew Molloy (St. Finian’s) and Niall Brady (Coláiste Mhuire) in the chasing group. An injection of pace going into the second lap quickly broke the field and the lead was down to two, including Jamie, well clear of the rest. With 500m to go it was clear the race was going to be between the two and with 100m left, Jamie struck for home, pulling clear to win his first Leinster schools cross country title in style. With Luke finishing a fantastic eleventh place and Niall finishing strong, they helped the Coláiste Mhuire team to second place. Matthew and Donagh had kept in contention throughout and running strongly to the finish, placed seventh and twelfth respectively to secure their places in the All-Ireland.

The intermediate girls 3,500m included several club members, representing Loreto Mullingar and Mercy Kilbeggan. Both schools had entered strong teams and were set for a battle like they had in 2020. Unfortunately, the Kilbeggan team was struck down with illness and a couple of team members missed the event, while Adele Geoghegan and Leah Geoghegan fell ill in the week leading up to event but bravely got stuck in to race on the day. Torrential rain and the windswept course made running conditions difficult. All the girls got out to the front from the start with Caoimhe Kilmurray (Loreto), Adele Geoghegan (Mercy) and Grace Byrne (Loreto) prominent, and the rest of the girls packing well behind. In the second half of the race, Caoimhe was in the top group of three and Grace in the chasing group. Caoimhe held strong and powered through to take second place, with Grace finishing fast for tenth place. For Loreto, Caoimhe Donohue held her place well, as did Siofra O’Halloran having a cracking run, and Jessica Cunningham and Muireann Donohue finished well to help Loreto to second team. The recent illness unfortunately took its toll on Mercy’s Adele Geoghegan and Leah Geoghegan, and Adele wasn’t helped by falling a couple of times during the race because of the dreadful underfoot conditions. Both were understandably very disappointed but can write off the event and look forward to next year. The majority of the Loreto and Mercy girls are underage again next year, making for an exciting prospect in next year’s schools cross country where Loreto Mullingar and Mercy Kilbeggan can battle it out once again.

The weather continued to deteriorate as the runners toed the line for the intermediate boys 4,500m. Leading the Coláiste Mhuire team home was Ross Killelea in a fantastic individual bronze medal position, a just reward for all his diligent training at the club. Among the large team following Ross in was club members Conor Sherwin (tenth), Pablo Lozano and Conor Liston to give team victory by a large margin and were presented with the Intermediate Cup. Not to have it all to themselves, a great run by David Burke (St. Finian’s) finishing fourteenth also secured individual qualification for the All Ireland. Philip McCartan, representing Clongowes Wood College, continued his return to full fitness with a strong run in difficult conditions.

Meabh Killelea, Phoebe Bate and Annie Kilmurray competed for Loreto Mullingar in the senior girls 3,000m and were looking to build on the second team place in North Leinster. Due to the weather conditions, the event organisers made a health and safety decision on the start line to reduce the race distance to just 1,500m and coupled with a false start mix up, the girls had a lot to do to work through from the back of the pack. The Loreto girls were very disheartened and disappointed with the results, which due to the reduced distance and the upset of being notified of the change only on the start line, were well short of where they expected to finish.

Moving to the senior boys 6,000m, Lorcan Mullen (Cistercian College, Roscrea) took to the start of what was supposed to be a 4 lap race, but it was reduced by one lap to just 4,500m. After confusion at the start of the race that resulted in a false start that wasn’t recalled, Lorcan fought bravely to get himself back into contention and ran strongly over the muddy conditions to finish well up the field in nineteenth place, outside the automatic qualification places, but he lodged an appeal, which was successful, so he’ll get a bye and can compete in the All-Ireland finals in Belfast.

In addition to the Intermediate Cup, when the results of all the boys races were combined, Coláiste Mhuire was also presented with the boys overall cup. Well done to all who represented the club and their schools with distinction and Mullingar Harriers will have a strong interest at the All-Ireland in Mallusk, Belfast in March.

Big 3k PB for Claire Fagan in the USA

Having set a new personal best for 3,000m only a month ago, Claire Fagan was clearly in excellent form going into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships in Spokane, Washington last Saturday. Competing for the University of Portland (Oregan) in a very competitive 3,000m where many of the 21 finishers recorded personal bests or season’s bests, after a fast opening lap, the pace settled a little but not too much, which suited Claire and unleashing her customary fast finish on the last lap she crossed the line third in a close finish in 9:36.96, knocking just over nine seconds off her personal best, a massive improvement equating to nearly 50m over the distance. The US Collegiate T&F circuit is certainly suiting Claire!

NIA Live

Competing on the third night of the series of four NIA Live events at the National Indoor Arena last Wednesday was a number of Mullingar athletes using the event to help their preparations for the upcoming National Senior Indoors. Shauna Leydon competed in the 60m. Blasting from the blocks she quickly settled into her running to finish second in 8.21 seconds, a new personal best. Being a multi-eventer, Shauna returned to the track later in the evening for the 800m where she finished fifth in an extremely competitive race in 2 minutes 25.45 seconds, a good time for a multi-eventer that will give her encouragement for future multi-event competitions. Charles Okafor also competed in the 60m, which was a very keenly contested race from gun to tape and in a close finish he was narrowly beaten into second place. His time of 7.07 seconds was the second fastest time of the evening and though it was outside his best, was a satisfying performance nonetheless. Last on the track was Colin D Smith in the 800m where he was very competitive up to 600m but had to ease off the pressure a little in the closing stages but still ran a good race.

Rás na hÉireann Cross Country

Hosted by Dunleer AC, the final cross country fixture of the season for most, the Rás na hÉireann Cross Country, took place last Sunday at a rain lashed and windswept “Battle of the Boyne” site in the stately grounds of Oldbridge House, near Drogheda, Co. Meath. The course was relatively flat but of course heavy rain made it very mucky and the high winds, an early sign of the arrival of Storm Franklin later in the day, were a real test suited only to real cross country die-hards. First into battle was Linda Cunningham who opted for the shorter open 3,000m event where she finished in second place. Gerard Gavin ran the longer men 6,000m race, finishing well up in nineteenth place, second in his master category. Weather aside, it was a beautiful setting but no doubt Linda and Gerard were just glad to finish and get out of the elements and head home without delay and straight into nice hot showers.

Turgesius Island 10 Mile

North Westmeath AC hosted the second edition of the Turgesius Island 10 mile in Collinstown Village last Sunday. The starting line was in Collinstown, the course ran along the scenic county roads around North Westmeath, and the finish line was on the shore of Lough Lene, overlooking Turgesius Island. In contrast to the first holding of the event on a hot sunny morning in June 2021, the weather this year couldn’t be more different. Despite yellow wind warnings for Storm Franklin that was on the way, the organisers saw no reason to cancel the event, and neither did the more than 230 that took part in cold, wet and windy conditions. Braving the elements and leading the group of ten from Mullingar Harriers home in tenth place was Kedagh Geoghegan in 60 minutes 31 seconds, a fine performance in tough conditions. Also running very well was Eoin Clarke (60:38), Johnny Morrissey (63:36), Tony Doran (64:14) and Enda O’Carolan (65:55). First woman finisher from Mullingar Harriers was Siobhan Farry (75:43), who was followed home by Eva McMorrow (80:10), Brian Boyle (88:27), Caroline Boyle (93:47) and Kevin Reihill (97:43). It takes a certain breed to run a 10 miles race, but an altogether tougher breed in such inclement weather and well done to them all. Well done too to the organizers from North Westmeath AC who persevered and saw the fixture completed despite the challenges of the day.

Streets of Clane 5k

The inaugural Streets of Clane 5k was held on a wet miserable windy evening last Tuesday. There were two races on the night, the open 5k and the elite 5k, and proving that runners are hardy people, the dreadful conditions weren’t enough to deter the 152 runners that ran in the elite race or the nearly 400 that ran in the open race, each three laps around the Streets of Clane, Co. Kildare on a fast flat course. Running his first 5k in over 6 years was Vinny Connolly who was very satisfied with his 15 minute 48 second time in the elite 5k and is looking forward to his next race. Joan Flynn also ran in the elite race, finishing in 18 minutes 32 seconds which was good enough to win her master category. Among those running in the open 5k was Gordon Ward (22 minute 45 seconds), Muireann Reihill (22 minutes 54 seconds), second Junior girl, and Kevin Reihill (26 minutes 45 seconds) bravely battling the elements and no doubt happy to finish and get out of the wind and rain and back to shelter again.

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