Leinster title for Aidan O’Donoghue

It was overcast but mild and humid with only the occasional light rain shower in Tullamore last Saturday, reasonably good conditions for the Leinster Combined Events. Aidan O’Donoghue competed in the master competition, which was a pentathlon comprising long jump, javelin, 200m, discus and 1,500m.

Starting off slowly with a below par performance by his own standards in the long jump, Aidan was in second place after the first event. Confident of pulling back points in the javelin, Aidan was delighted to launch the javelin out to close to his personal best, which put him into the lead in the competition by 91 points.

His next event was his first competitive race over 200m and even though his lead was reduced to 30 points, he was happy to have got through the race without injury.

Throwing near his personal best in the discus he increased his lead again to 129 points, giving him a good cushion going into the fifth and final event, the 1,500m. Combined event athletes dread the 1,500m at the end of a long day of competition but Aidan dug deep and was glad to have the 129 point cushion as he saw his lead shrink to just 20 points by the end, but this was enough to win the Leinster title.

Relay Silver for Mullingar

Mullingar had only one team at the Leinster Juvenile Relays held in Tullamore last Sunday, a team in the u/17 boys 4 x 400m relay. For all the four team members, it was their first competitive race over 400m, but that certainly didn’t show as each gave a sterling performance over the unfamiliar distance.

Better known as a 100m and 200m sprinter, Finn Roddy led the team out with a strong run over the longer distance, handing over in second place to the first of our 1,500m and 800m runners dropping down distance, Matthew Molloy, who dug deep to hold on to second place, followed by Jamie Wallace running extremely well to keep Mullingar in second and in the hunt for honours, before Pablo Lozano took the baton for the final leg and running a great leg he consolidated the team’s position in second place to earn the silver medals.

Mary Stuart wins National 5 Mile Silver

Held in the Phoenix Park last Sunday morning in warm muggy conditions, the AAI National 5 mile attracted over 1,300 finishers, and of course that included a squad from Mullingar seeking National honours.

Leading them home was Eddie Newman in 29 minutes 17 seconds, followed by James Cribbin (30:18), Pauric Brady (31:47) and Patrick Muldoon (31:54).

Our first woman to finish was Mary Stuart (34:14) winning National silver in her master category.

Following in quick succession was Paul Byrne (35:29), Linda Cunnigham (36:36), Emer O’Hanlon (36:46), John Meehan (35:45), Stephen Naughton (38:06) and Cormac Murray (39:34). Unfortunately, Gemma Kelly had to stop around the 3 mile mark, nothing serious, just a precaution, and we wish her a speedy recovery.

Mary’s silver medal proved the only honour won the day, but well done to the team of Eddie, James and Paul who placed fifth Club in the o/50 master category and the team of Mary, Linda and Emer who placed fifth Club in o/35 master category, which are very creditable team results in a National road race.

Daingean 5k

Naoimh Mhuire AC hosted the penultimate race in this year’s Offaly Race Series last Friday evening, the Daingean 5k. It was a warm and humid evening, but a stiff breeze was welcomed by the athletes as they completed three circuits around the town and surrounding streets.

Mullingar Harriers had nine athletes in the field of just over 300 runners. With our master women team vying for a podium finish in the overall race series, it was particularly vital to get team scores.

First home in 17 minutes 59 seconds was Kieran Nolan, with Padraig Beglin next in for Mullingar Harriers in 19:27. Padraig was followed by our first woman finisher, Aisling Corcoran in 20:29, placing third in her master category.

Linda Cunningham ran a very determined race and was delighted with a new personal best of 22:00, followed in by Caroline Mullen (23:09) third in her master category, then the ever-consistent Brigid McCabe taking first place in her master category with a time of 23:54, then Nuala Moran in 24:44. Ray Smith (25:17) and Martin Mullen (25:25) made up the remainder of the Harriers contingent.

In the all-important race for positions in the team event our women team of Aisling Corcoran, Linda Cunningham and Caroline Mullen placed second on the night. This leaves the team poised for a top 3 finish in the series, with the final race coming up later in the month in Rhode.

Braveheart 5k

The Trim AC “Braveheart 5k” took place last Friday evening at the Porchfields in Trim. Since its inception in 2010, the race, which is organised by Trim AC has grown into one of the most popular events in the running calendar.

The location and route of the race along the banks of the historic river Boyne is a run back through history. It takes the runners among one of the finest collections of medieval monuments in Ireland.

Four hundred and 40 athletes took part this year and conditions were warm and humid throughout the course, with a feature being its challenging off-road tracks.

Enda O’Carolan was happy with his run crossing the finish line in 18 minutes 7 seconds, followed shortly after by Susan Glennon in a fine 19:22, the second woman finisher. It was good to see Michelle O’Halloran back to competitive action and she was pleased with a steady 23:30, while also earning the bragging rights at home for the moment with her daughter Siofra finishing behind her in 25:03.

Peugeot Race Series update

This series consists of eight races over different distances across the country. This year’s series commenced in Portlaoise on St Patrick’s Day and with four races completed with the Aisling Murphy 4 mile in Tullamore recently, Mullingar Harriers is well positioned in the team standings.

Based on the top 3 women and top 3 men finishers in each race, at this stage the top three teams are Dundrum South Dublin (40 points), Clane AC (28 points) and Mullingar Harriers close behind (23 points).

The next three races are relatively local, starting with the Dunshauglin 10k this coming Saturday, then the Roscommon 10 mile two weeks after, before finishing with the Edenderry 10 mile a week after that.

This is a a great opportunity for our athletes to chase the team prizes and perhaps improve on their current third place.