National Cross Country medals hard to win

Mullingar Harriers club notes

The domestic cross country season concluded for the year with the National Novice and Juvenile Uneven Ages Cross Country in Tramore, County Waterford last Sunday. Despite a big squad of nearly 50 juvenile athletes and over 20 adults, and Mullingar competitors in every race, medal honours proved difficult to win.

We still celebrate the successes of fourth place for Lily Walsh (U15), Grace Byrne (U19), fourth place and leading the U19 women’s team to silver medals, and five of our juvenile athletes winning medals with Leinster teams. Good results considering how many of our underage athletes are only barely recovered from recent illness but still ran so as not to let their team-mates down.

Our adult athletes too gave spirited performances and though they won no medals, all were satisfied with their efforts in what are regarded as the most competitive races in national cross country.

On a tough but fair course with good running in most parts despite heavy rain during the week, the Mullingar athletes weren’t found wanting for effort and application. Despite the forecast, the weather conditions on the day were good for competitors and spectators, as the rain stayed away, it was unseasonably warm and everyone could enjoy the bright sunshine we had at times.

Lauryn Smith led the big Mullingar squad home in the U11 girls 1,500m with a strong finish but despite the great efforts of Emily Rose Coyne, Helen McGrath, Maisie Walsh, Caitlin McCormack, Aoibheann Lynam, Roisin Keane, Rose Harte, Heather Kelly and Kate Horohoe, the girls finished out of the team medals. They will have gained experience from competing in a national final.

In the U11 boys 1,500m, Mel Bohan finished fast and well up in the large entry, followed in by Donagh Bourke, Olly Wright, Killian Hardman, Huw Keaveney and Senan Clinton, but the boys finished out of the team medals too.

Finishing well up and leaving nothing behind, Chloe Bell led the Mullingar team home in the U13 girls 2,500m and as Amelie G Kelly, Caoimhe Lynam, Siomha Leonard, Clodagh Keane and Liadan Gavin packed well in support, the girls were finished fifth club, and fifth at this level is an excellent result and improves on their position relative to the other teams from Leinster, so a positive result.

Gareth Glennon just had the better of Daniel Cummins, who finished close on his heels in the U13 boys 2,500m, supported by Harry Flanagan, Adam O’Donoghue and Aaron Robinson packing well in support, but out of the medal places. Gareth and Daniel scored on the Leinster team who came close but just short of the medals, in fourth.

Lily Walsh moved up an age to compete in the U15 girls 3,500m and with a polished and confident performance, she was always in contention for honours and took fourth place with a great sprint finish, delighted to win an individual top 12 medal. A bonus was that Lily also led the Leinster team to first place in the Inter-Provincial competition to win a gold team medal as well.

We had a good team in the U15 boys 3,500m, led home by Antonio Bertolo finishing well up, and though Oisin Clarke, Greg McDonnell, Daniel Horohoe, Morgan Isdell and Cormac McGrath battled hard throughout, the boys were unlucky to finish out of the medals.

Eleanor Kiernan was our sole representative in the U17 girls 4,500m, where she was competing with the Leinster team, running strongly throughout the tough, hilly course to win a bronze team medal with the Leinster team.

On paper, the Mullingar team in the U17 boys 4,500m were serious medal contenders but there can be no givens at national level and despite strong performances and great team packing and support, Matthew Molloy, Oisin Kehoe, Conor Walsh, Luke Greene and Txema Lozano had to settle for a place out of the medals on this occasion. Matthew just missed a bronze medal with the Leinster team by one place.

Grace Byrne has had a terrific cross country season and was delighted to round it off in style with an excellent fourth place in the U19 women 5,000m to win an individual top 12 finish medal. Better though was seeing Jessica Cunningham and Ailbhe O’Farrell finishing fast behind her to finish second club and put Mullingar on the team medal board.

Grace made it three medals as she also won a gold team medal with the Leinster team. We didn’t have a team in the U19 men 5,000m but we had three in action competing for the Leinster team. Finishing inside the top 20 after a strong second half to the race, Jamie Wallace led the Mullingar trio home, followed closely by Conor Sherwin and Donagh Carey, who packed well and all three were happy to win bronze team medals with the Leinster team.

With the conclusion of the juvenile programme, attention turned to the novice races, which with more than 120 women and nearly 220 men, are justifiably regarded as the most competitive races in national cross country. Susan Glennon finished just outside the top-20 in the novice women 4,000m and despite the efforts of Linda Cunningham, Caroline Mullen, Gemma Kelly, Claire Lennon Gavin and Naomi Battle, the team placed out of the medals but were happy with their efforts.

We finished the day with the novice men 6,000m, where Timmy Murphy was very happy with his race, and though well supported by James Keegan, Kedagh Geoghegan and Conleth Mullen, there were no team honours for Mullingar, but top marks for effort on the tough hilly course that sapped the energy of the best.

Well done to everyone that competed in Tramore and special thanks to the parents and coaches who made the long journey either on the morning or the day before to attend in numbers to cheer all our athletes on.

This concludes the domestic cross country season for the year.

Cormac Dalton to compete at Euro Cross

Best wishes to Cormac Dalton, who will represent Ireland at the European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey this coming Sunday. Cormac gained selection following his third place finish at the national championships.

Cormac is a vastly experienced international athlete and this will be his fifth consecutive appearance for Ireland at the European Cross Country Championships.

This is the third consecutive year that he has been selected for the senior race, having competed in the previous two years in the U23 category. Last year Cormac finished eighth, the highest Irish finisher in the senior men’s race in more than a decade. He will again look to feature among the best endurance runners in Europe at the weekend.

Valencia Marathon

After a minute’s silence as a tribute to the victims and those affected by the devastating floods in late October, the Valencia Marathon began early last Sunday morning. Among the huge entry was Kris Foster and Eddie Newman, who reported that the course was nice and had a beautiful finish but temperatures climbed during the race from the low teens to the low 20s, making the second half warm and tough as a result. That didn’t prevent Kris recording a terrific eight-minute improvement for the distance as he posted a great 2:49:42, and Eddie was happy to finish in 2:52:53, second in his master category.

Christmas holidays

Next Thursday (12th), the boys and girls who train in the 6pm groups will finish for a well-earned Christmas break. We’ll be holding an open day at the club in late January when membership for 8, 9, 10 and 11-year-old boys and girls for 2025 will be taken and they’ll return to training in early February. Membership for these young boys and girls will be taken on a first come, first served basis and when the groups are filled, we’ll take no more.

An important rule in 2023 was that everyone had to take part in certain club organised events or they will not be allowed to register again for the next year. We’ll be enforcing this rule again this year.

With the conclusion of the long cross country season, many of our older juvenile members will now take a short break and will return after Christmas to prepare for the indoor season. Of course, many adult members won’t get much break at all and will continue to train through Christmas to prepare for competitions early in the new year. Check with your coaches to confirm training arrangements over the Christmas period.