Heading up to Down for the weekend

Mullingar Harriers club notes

There’ll be an exodus of athletes and supporters from Mullingar this weekend, heading to County Down for two important cross country fixtures. Regarded by many as the highlight of the masters calendar, the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country is on Saturday morning in the Billy Neill Country Park near Dundonald, where the best masters cross country athletes from Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales will compete. Among the Irish team will be Maura Dervin, Brigid McCabe, Eddie Newman and Sean McMullin, swapping the maroon and white of Mullingar for the green of Ireland.

On Sunday, Cormac Dalton will look to defend his Senior title at the National Senior, under 20 and Juvenile Even Ages cross country at Enniskillen, and hopefully lead Mullingar to team medals, having come close last year with a fourth place finish. A big contingent of supporters is travelling in the hope of seeing them succeed. Hopefully our juvenile athletes and their parents will stay to see both the senior women and senior men races and give them their support.

Mullingar has entered more than 50 underage athletes and nearly 20 adults, so the Mullingar colours will be prominent in Enniskillen. Mullingar will have teams in five of the eight underage races, teams in the under 20 women and men races, and senior women and senior men teams too.

The senior and under 20 races are trials for the European Cross Country in Turkey in December, so the Mullingar athletes in those events will be looking to perform to their best. In addition to representing Mullingar and Westmeath, 13 juvenile athletes will also be on Leinster teams, the largest number from any club in Leinster.

Everyone has been training hard in recent weeks, at the club during the week and in Belvedere at the weekends, and should reap their rewards on Sunday when we expect many of them will return with national medals.

The first race is at 11.30am and the crowds at a national are much larger than at Leinster, so allow extra time for traffic and parking at the venue and look for the club banners to collect your race numbers. It will take longer to collect and sort race numbers, so you should be at the course by 10.30am at the latest. If for any reason you cannot compete, please let club officials know as soon as possible.

You have to wear your club vest in a championship. Please bring water or sports drink and a light snack, wet gear and a change of clothes, suitably long spikes, and of course four safety pins for your race number. We advise spectators to bring waterproof footwear and to dress appropriately for the weather.

Polish Independence Run

Fresh from her first marathon in Dublin two weeks ago, Linda Cunningham returned to Dublin last Sunday morning to take part in the annual Polish Independence Run, organised by Polish Runners Club Ireland. More than 240 runners ran a 10k course around St Anne’s Park, Raheny.

In ideal conditions, with light wind, a cloudy but dry morning, on a course that was mainly flat, no stranger to the twisting and quite slippery 10k route in the park, Linda was delighted with a strong performance and placed third woman overall in a time of 46:21 [LC/MO’S].

Road Safety

The evenings are dark early now, so all club members have to wear reflective clothing when running on the roads. That includes all who use club grounds and who run from the clubhouse on training nights. Remember, you might see the cars, but the drivers might not see you. Safety is a must at all times.

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