Gerard Gavin, Stephen Naughton, Eddie Newman, Patrick Brady, Alan Crowley, Enda Seery, Patrick Mildoon, Siobhan Farry, Gemma Kelly, Liam McGlynn – The Mullingar Harriers team delighted with their efforts at the Leinster 10 mile in Raheny.

Harriers see lots of action on the road over Easter

Published: Mon 18 Apr 2022, 3:58 PM

Last updated: Mon 18 Apr 2022, 3:59 PM

Sinéad Whitelaw was back on the roads again on Easter Saturday, this time in in the annual Kilmovee 10k in her home county of Mayo. The race is a fundraiser for the Mayo-Roscommon Hospice and has donated over €100,000 to the charity in recent years.

Sinéad was in a class of her own as she led the ladies race from the start and finished first in a time of 38 minute 25 seconds, placing eighth overall of the nearly 300 total finishers.

Looking for something different to do on an Easter Saturday, many of the adult group ran in the Mullingar parkrun last Saturday morning. They met up at the clubhouse, ran the short distance to the course as a warm-up, ran the 5k, then ran back to the club again as a cool-down before heading off into town for some well-earned coffee. All in a morning’s work!

Leading the Mullingar group home over the 5k run was James Keegan in an excellent 16 minutes 10 seconds. Well done to all the Mullingar group.

On Holy Thursday evening, Vinny Connolly, John Whitelaw, James Cribbin and Emer O’Hanlon took part in the Streets of Kilkenny 5k on a fast paced course centred around Kilkenny’s Medieval City centre and the banks of the River Nore that attracted over 700 entrants.

Hosted by Kilkenny City Harriers, the race was round two of the Kia Race Series and attracted a very strong entry as a result.

Vinny Connolly impressed with a fine eighteenth place finish in 15 minutes 5 seconds, followed in by John Whitelaw only a few places behind in 15 minutes 26 seconds, his quickest time on the road for 5k.

Expertly paced by James Cribbin who ran with her and crossed the line alongside, Emer O’Hanlon was delighted to finish in 21 minutes 29 seconds, third in her master age category, and a big personal best for her.

All four could then retire to the comfort of the Langton House Hotel for the post-race refreshments and reflect on their fine performances.

Berlin Half Marathon

The iconic Berlin Half Marathon three weeks ago (Sunday April 3) attracted a massive entry of over 45,000 contestants and right in the middle of the throng was Ray Smyth and Martin Mullen, proudly flying the flag for Mullingar Harriers.

They ran nearly neck and neck throughout, only seconds separating them at any time and running progressively faster 5k splits as the race unfolded.

Ray was delighted to just dip under the two hour mark with 1 hour 59 minutes 56 seconds, followed very closely by Martin in 2 hours 2 seconds, just missing the two hour mark by the tiniest of margins, but still very pleased with his effort.

World Schools Cross Country

Everyone at Mullingar Harriers wishes the very best of luck to the Coláiste Mhuire team as they head to Slovakia this week to compete at the World Schools Cross Country Championships.

They’ll run in the main Championship event on Sunday and various other events have been organised, including a cultural day, a nations night and a friendship 4 x 1,500m relay next Tuesday, where four of them will be selected to run.

This is a fantastic opportunity for Ross Killalea, Diarmuid Fagan, Conor Liston, Pablo Lozano, Tadhg Sheridan and Conor Sherwin and something they’ll surely remember for a very long time.

Juvenile T&F Meeting

The club is holding a Juvenile T&F meeting at the club grounds this Sunday morning.

There is no charge and the event is open to all current members aged eight to 14 years of age. There will be a sprint, middle distance, long jump and javelin for each age.

All are welcome to compete and parents/guardians are very welcome to attend and support their children.