Great showing by Mullingar Harriers at Autumn Open

Club notes

It was cold but dry in Dublin last Sunday for the first big cross country fixture of the season, the Autumn Open International Cross Country Festival, at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, where the dry, firm underfoot conditions were perfect for running.

The day started with the National Juvenile Cross Country Relays, where Mullingar fielded a strong team in the U13 girls 4x500m. Amelie Kelly took the lead leg and, racing hard from the gun, she quickly moved into second place and tracked the leader before handing over to Chloe Bell only a few metres down on first place.

Chloe lost no time catching the leader and moved quickly to the front, continuing to race hard, and opened a good gap to second place. Kate O’Donoghue took the baton in the lead and, with a spirited run, kept Mullingar in front before handing over the Clodagh Keane. Clodagh ran a brilliant leg and gave the opposition a tough challenge to catch her, but she was slowly caught and passed with about 200m to go, to move into second place.

Continuing to race hard, she was terribly unlucky to be pipped right on the line to finish a close third – but third place in a national final in a near photo finish is a brilliant result for these four talented girls.

The adult races commenced directly after the juvenile relays and the athletes enjoyed competitive runs over the fast cross-country course at Abbotstown. All the master women and the older master men over 65 years ran 6,000m and the younger master men ran 8,000m. Mullingar Harriers was well represented in the master races. The Autumn Open was a trial race for selection for the Irish team to compete in the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country, which will be held in Belfast in November.

In the 6,000m race, Sinead Whitelaw ran a strong race to finish a creditable fifth in her master category, but with only the top four guaranteed selection on the Irish team, unfortunately she is unlikely to be selected. Maura Dervin had a fast finish to take second place in her master category, guaranteeing her spot on the Irish team. She was closely followed home by Brigid McCabe, who put in a great performance to also finish second place in her master category, guaranteeing her selection on the Irish team.

Sean McMullin backed up his strong masters performances earlier this year and finished third in his master category to guarantee his selection on the Irish team. In the 8,000m race, Eddie Newman ran a good race to finish fourth in his master category, and that should be enough to seal his place on his Irish team.

Overall, this was a successful day for Mullingar, with bronze for our U13 girls relay team, and our master athletes can look forward to wearing green Ireland singlets in November in Belfast.

Excellent 10k by Elizabeth Carr

The An Cosantóir 10k was held in the Phoenix Park last Wednesday afternoon. An Cosantóir is the official magazine of the Defence Forces. Open to all ranks of the Permanent and Reserve Defence Forces, staff from the Department of Defence, and retired and invited personnel, the race attracted an entry of more than 450. Finishing well up in 17th place overall, and first woman with over a minute and a half to spare, was Elizabeth Carr in 38 minutes 08 seconds, a good time on a tough course in the Phoenix Park. Well done to Elizabeth on a good performance, showing it’s possible to mix a busy military career with competitive racing.

Leinster Cross Country

This coming Sunday, the Leinster Novice, U20 and Juvenile Even Ages Cross Country Championships take place at Dunboyne. Mullingar will have athletes in all 12 races on the programme; in fact we’ll have club and county teams in every age group except one. We’ve entered a huge squad of nearly 100 club members, ranging from 11 years up to novice.

Juveniles can only move one age group in cross country, so U11 can run U12, but U10 cannot run U12. The U10 athletes will get their first taste of Leinster Championship racing in the U11 race in Tinahely, County Wicklow in three weeks. If for any reason you cannot compete in Dunboyne, please let club officials know as soon as possible.

This is the first major fixture of the season and a big crowd is expected. Newcomers in particular are reminded that as this is a championship they have to wear club vests (buy one at training this week or borrow one). Please bring a change of clothes, a packed lunch, water or sports drink, four safety pins for your race number and check that you have at least 9mm spikes in your running shoes.

Dunboyne AC and Athletics Meath are the hosts for the championships and before the main events, there will be 800m races for girls and boys U10, so younger siblings can also run if they wish; there is no need to register for the races; just turn up on the line ready to run. The girls race is at 11am, followed by the boys race at 11.15am.

The first championship race proper, the girls U12, will start promptly at 11.30am, followed by the rest of the underage races in quick succession and the programme will conclude with the novice races.

There will be a large attendance from all across Leinster and in order to arrive in time to get to know the course and do a proper warm-up, you are advised to allow extra time for traffic delays and the long walk from the car parks. We’d advise aiming to get to the course by 10.30am at the latest. When at the course, head straight for the Club tent and flags to collect your race number.

Club vests

A reminder to all athletes representing the club in competition, that they have to wear the club colours. Club vests can be purchased any evening at training.

Road safety

A reminder, that with the evenings now drawing in quickly, all club members must wear reflective clothing when running on the road. That includes all who use our club grounds and who run from the clubhouse on training nights. Safety is a must at all times.

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