Another masters world record for Brigid McCabe

MULLINGAR HARRIERS NOTES

Having dropped down an age group to be part of the Irish master O65 women 4x800m relay team that set a new world record in May, Brigid McCabe was selected again by the Irish Masters Athletic Association to be part of a six-strong squad of master women in her own age group, to target the world record for O70 women 4x800m relay of 14:45.88, held by Germany since September 2013.

Trials were held and Brigid’s time was fast enough to be selected to be part of the racing four, with Eileen Kenny (Tullamore Harriers AC), Margaret Glavey (Mayo AC), and Mary Lynch (Raheny Shamrock AC).

Thanks again to Dublin Athletics, a 4x800m relay race was added to the programme at the Dublin Graded Meeting in Santry last Wednesday evening, where conditions were ideal for the record attempt. Running the final leg, thanks to a great team effort that had them always ahead of world record pace, when Brigid took the baton, the team were well inside schedule and she brought them home in 13 minutes 26.87 seconds, a new world record, a huge 79 seconds off the previous record. To have one world record holder in our midst is terrific, but to have a double world record holder is incredible. Congratulations to Brigid and the Irish team on setting another masters world record [GD].

Impressive medal tally in Tullamore

Mullingar had seven athletes competing in Tullamore last Saturday at the National U20 and U23 T&F Championships, and they amassed an impressive tally of four medals.

First into action was Aisling Lane in the U20 women 3,000m walk, where she hit the front after 800m and with a dominant solo effort, she powered to victory in a new personal best time of 14:13.04, well clear of second place.

In the U20 men 5,000m walk, Andrew Glennon kept pace for the early laps with the silver medal winner at the recent European U18 Championships, Seamus Clarke (Moy Valley AC), but couldn’t sustain the effort and had to settle for second in the finish, coming home in 23:00.64. Following him in was his brother, John, in third place (24:43.74) after battling the rest of the field for most of the race but pulling clear and finishing strong over the last two laps.

Colin P Smith ran with intent from the start of the U23 men 800m, settling on the shoulder of the leader from the outset. When the final push for home came with 200m to go, the pack closed in and he lost a few places around the final bend, but rallied in the home straight to finish strongly. Less than one second separated the top five, and Colin crossed the line just out of the medals in fifth place. He deserved more from the race but can take consolation from finishing in a good 1:55.21.

Aimee Wallace was the pre-race favourite in the U20 women 1,500m as the fastest Irish athlete over the distance in 2023 and 2024. Aimee confidently moved to the front at the start and led every step of the race to claim the national title. She held a commanding lead with 200m to go, and despite experiencing cramp in the final stages, she had enough in hand to take the title in 4:28.93 and add to the Mullingar medal total.

That rounded off a great week for Aimee, who had competed in the Athletics Northern Ireland Open Meeting at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast last Thursday evening, where she recorded a personal best of 2:09.92 for 800m, a 3s improvement.

We ended the day with the U20 men 5,000m, in which Conor Sherwin and Ross Killalea toed the line. Both battled well but finished just out of the medals, Conor in fourth (15:55.89) and Ross in fifth (16:07.75) but top marks for effort [ML/JR/GD].

National medals for the Mullingar masters

The National Masters T&F were held in a blustery and at times wet Tullamore last Sunday, when the Mullingar masters were in excellent medal-winning form, and gathered an impressive total of seven individual medals among the five of them, and we even had a sprint relay team winning medals too.

A long day of competition started with the shot putt, where Ramona Carey was competing in her first national masters competition, and while she might have been disappointed to finish of the medals with fifth place in her category, she will have learned much from the experience. Later in the day, Ramona contested the discus and came close to the medals, fourth in her category.

No stranger to national competition, Colm Walsh put all his experience to excellent use and with a terrific performance in the 5,000m walk, he won his category, his 10th national walk title.

Aidan O’Donoghue had a busy day, starting with the 200m, where he finished third in his category in a time just hundredths outside his personal best, so an excellent performance. He followed that up with another bronze in the 100m hurdles, and rounded off his day with his third bronze, in the javelin.

Fresh from mid-week World record 4x800m relay exploits, Brigid McCabe cruised to easy victory in her category in the 3,000m.

Tom Walsh is by far the dominant master man in his category in the weight for distance event and reinforced his reputation with another win by a big margin, propelling the 28 pound weight out to 7.72m.

It was great to see Mullingar field a 4x100m relay team and with excellent sprinting from Claire Lennon Gavin, Naomi Battle, Caroline Mullen and Linda Cunningham, the women finished second overall in a close race to win silver medals, the final medals of the day for Mullingar [GD].

On the road

Mullingar Harriers athletes were busy at road races near and far over the August holiday weekend.

The Sean Lowry Memorial Birr 5k last Friday evening, hosted by Birr AC, marked the conclusion of the 2024 Healthy Offaly Athletics 5k series. A good entry of more than 350 athletes participated in the event, which was the opening activity for the Birr Vintage Week celebrations. Birr AC did a commendable job hosting the race, which featured an undulating route through the outskirts of the town, capped off with a downhill finish, after a steep incline for over 700m at the 4k mark.

In a competitive race up front, Kevin Moore was always in contention and only lost out to the fast-finishing Peter Somba (Ratoath AC), but still claimed second in a fine time of 15:26. Eddie Newman again captured a master category prize, running 18:13. Orlaith Flanagan, fresh from her first sub-20 run recently, showed consistency with an exact 20:00 on this occasion. Caroline Mullen was well up in her category and pleased with a season’s best of 22:10, while Martin Mullen also had a season’s best, coming home in 23:34 [MO’S].

Also last Friday, the annual Streets of Athboy 5k attracted more than 500 runners on a bright evening. On a noted fast course, two Mullingar Harriers athletes, Matthew Glennon (15:33) and Andrew Nevin (15:58), mixed it up front throughout and came home second and third respectively. Both were satisfied with their times as they prepare for the national half marathon later in the month [MO’S].

Though they were on holidays in Banna, County Kerry, some of the Glennon family used the opportunity to compete in the St Brendan’s AC Banna 5k and 10k road races last Sunday morning. Susan Glennon opted for the longer distance, a race that attracted nearly 180 runners to the start line of a nice, relatively flat route. Taking full advantage of having a few men of similar standard to run with and to pace off, Susan was happy to finish well up in 10th place overall in 39:52, first woman by a comfortable margin. Also using their time in Kerry well, Gareth Glennon and Daniel Glennon ran in the 5k, a smaller event that attracted just under 100 entrants, where Gareth finished a fine seventh in 19:22, followed by Daniel in 12th with 20:35 [GD].

Also last Sunday, on a showery and blustery morning, the Kilbeggan 10 mile took place. Starting on the Moate Road at the junction of the Clara Road, the race proceeded into Horseleap village, and took a left turn to country roads towards of Clara. Before Clara, the runners took another left turn, which put them on the final, nearly three-mile, straight back into the finish at Kilbeggan GAA grounds, close to the race start. The course was challenging and while there were no big hills, there were numerous smaller, challenging inclines including a steep motorway bridge ascent at the 9-mile mark.

Nearly 200 athletes completed the course. James Keegan was always with the leaders before having to settle for third on the run-in, posting a good time of 55:39. Alan Crowley was satisfied with his time of 61:13, followed closely home by Enda O’Carolan in 61:25. Enda Seery returned home in 65:06, and John Long (74:16), Lorraine Claffey (79:41) and Michelle O’Halloran (85:36) were all pleased with their morning’s work and found the race a good preparation for the Tullamore Half Marathon later in the month [MO’S].

Check the club website at mullingarharriers.com and Facebook page for more news.