Tullamore Harriers Enjoy Successful Week Both At Home And Abroad

Aaron Mangan was on form at collegiate level in the United States.

Tullamore Harriers Hospice Mile

Resulting from the very successful Tullamore Harriers Hospice Mile on Christmas morning, Mr Humphrey O'Connor, Chairman of Offaly Hospice was presented with a cheque for just over €9000 in support of the Midlands Hospice Building Fund. All funds raised will help fund the building of a specialist palliative care unit in Tullamore to serve the midland counties. Liam Hennessy(Club Treasurer) and Tom Beatty (Management Committee Chairman) made the presentation on behalf of all who supported our Annual Hospice event and made generous donations.

Rafter and Grennan Race NIA 1500m

Claire Rafter and Emily Grennan lined last Wednesday in the 1500m at the NIA Live event in Abbotstown, Dublin. Both women stuck to their task well and were able to run clear of the field of ten runners in the second half of the race. Claire won in a seasons best time of 4.36.54 and Emily was second in a time of 4.46.88.

Mangan and Donegan Race in USA

Aaron Mangan showed the great form he is in as he raced to 1:52.96 at the Nebraska Tune-Up in Lincoln, Nebraska on Friday. He placed second in a tightly fought race and this follows on from the 1.52 clocking he had last week in Kansas.

Nadine Donegan was part of the Iona College women's indoor track & field team competing at the 2022 MAAC Championships at the Armory Track & Field Center in New York City. Her first race was on the 1200m leg of the Distance Medley Relay. Her leg of 3.35 set the team up well and they broke a six-year old record set by Monmouth, a 11:44.68 in 2016. The teams time was 11.41.79.

Leinster Schools’ Cross Country Championships 2022

The Leinster Schools Cross Country Championships took place in Santry Demesne, Dublin last week and it was great to see dozens of Tullamore Harriers young athletes in action. Conditions were tough all day long with very strong winds and the underfoot conditions treacherous on long sections. Still the full program was run off and most of the Harriers young runners were happy with their performances. Thanks to the teachers from the Sacred Heart School, Colaiste Choilm, St. Mary’s, Killina, and Gallen who have done great work with the runners this year.

Minor Girls

Eabhadh Multaney-Kelly was first in action and she raced straight to the front. Along with Sholah Laurane from Green Hills, Eabhadh broke clear of the field of over one hundred runners. In the final sprint Eabhadh had to settle for silver but this was a great run by the young Sacred Heart athlete.

Minor Boys

Patrick Duffy and Charlie Heffernan had solid runs to finish 20th and 54th respectively. When you consider over 130 lined out in this race these are good performances for the Colaiste Choilm runners.

Junior Girls

Killina’s Niamh Garvey had a great run over 2000m in the Junior Girls race. Her 10th place secured a spot in the All Ireland as does the runs of Kara Daly in 14th and Aoibhe Moore in 15th. Saoirse Murtagh was unlucky to fall in the latter stages but still got up to finish 27th.

Junior Boys

Eoin Rouse had a decent run over the two miles distance to finish 18th. Eoin has improved hugely in the last year and can expect big improvements in the year ahead if he sticks with his running.

Intermediate Girls

There were two teams in the Intermediate race with Tullamore Harriers athletes- Sacred Heart School and Killina. Sinead Walsh led the runners home and her 6th place finish was a really strong run from a young woman improving throughout the winter. The other girls in action were Andrea Ryan 19th, Jane Maher 29th, Rachael Donegan 30th, Polly Duffy 33rd, Meabh Rouse 42nd, Aisling Cotter 48th, Emily Cunningham 50th and Eimear Cotter 72nd. The Sacred Heart team finished in the medals in third, while Killina finished a creditable sixth.

Intermediate Boys

St Mary’s Luke Mahon battled hard all the way and finished well up the field in 28th place.

Senior Girls

The race distance was cut short due to the deteriorating conditions but Sacred Hearts Imelda Lambe raced well to finish 7th.

Senior Boys

For Colaiste Choilm Cian Law, Luke Duffy and Jack Donegan all ran well in a race which was very testing considering how bad the conditions were. Cian finished 13th with Luke 16th and Jack 27th.

Rás na hÉireann

Over thirty young Tullamore Harriers travelled to The Larry McGuill Rás na hÉireann last weekend. The races took place at the Battle of the Boyne Site, Oldbridge which is near Drogheda.

This has been a destination for Harriers squads every February for over a decade. All those competing seemed to enjoy themselves despite the tough conditions with heavy rain showers and a very mucky route. With four individual medal winners and three sets of team medals there was some great performances, but all concerned seemed just as happy with the stop at Supermac’s.

Under 9 Girls

Ciara Condron raced well to finish 11th over 500m circuit.

Under 11 Girls

The girls Under 11 raced over 1000m with Grace Connolly having a big run to finish in the individual medals with a 6th place finish. Grace Maher finished 22nd, while Matilda Cusack and Samantha Corbet also in the top thirty.

Charlie Larkin, Alice Cunningham, Nia Grace Kelly, Kate McLaughli, Paula Sikora, Rayana Dimitrova and Iseult Lawlor all ran well too.

Under 11 Boys

Three Tullamore Harriers raced the 1000m with Daire Garvey first home. Tomas McDonagh finished 48th and Sean Condron crosses the line in 56th.

Under 13 Girls

Mia Gallagher led the Tullamore team in this age group finishing 8th. Next home was Elise Cusack who finished in 16th after passing people all through the second lap. Diana Sikora finished well to come 19th and the team was completed by Jessica Dooley 39th and Niamh McDonagh 42nd.

Under 13 Boys

Aaron Maher was the club’s sole runner in this race. Despite being out of his age Aaron raced well and finished 11th.

Under 15 Girls

The Harriers squad were clear winners of the team race in this race. Niamh Garvey and Eabhadh Multaney- Kelly finished 2nd and 3rd respectively and were with the leader until five hundred meters to go. Not far behind were Saoirse Murtagh, Aoibhe Moore and Monika Stopka who finished 7th 9th and 25th.

Under 15 Boys

The clubs under 15 Boys finished third with all four packing well! Darragh Stewart led the way finishing in 10th. On his heals were Gavin Connolly 11th, Conor Murtagh 12th. Also running well to complete the team were Luke Maher 17th and Jack Cunningham 23rd.

Under 17 Boys

Luke Mahon was at the front right from the started whistle. After the first kilometre of the 3000m race Luke and Shea O’Donnell of Ace AC had pulled clear of the chasing pack. They continued to stretch their lead as the race went on and it was only with four hundred meters to go that O’Donnell pulled clear. Still a silver medal is a great run.

Cuddly Competes in College Mountain Running Championships

Dearbhail Cuddy was competing last weekend at the college mountain running championships on Trooperstown Hill. She had a great race to finish fourth in very tough conditions.

Condolences

Tullamore Harriers would like to offer our condolences to the Farrell and Owens families on the passing of Dolores (Dody) Farrell.

Tullamore Harriers 5k Road Race

We are back!! The annual Tullamore Harriers 5k race is on 13th of March. A race not to miss – a flat fast course and on closed roads for added safety. This is Race 1 in the Offaly 5k Road Race Series 2022 and offers prizes in all age groups. Register on www.popupraces.ie