Debutant Wallace shines on Ireland duty in Germany

Mullingar Harriers Notes

Aimee Wallace made her international debut over 1,500m at the Junioren Gala in Mannheim, Germany last Saturday afternoon. In a tactical race held in 30 degree heat, Aimee finished in fourth place in a time of 4 minutes 33.03 seconds. Aimee placed herself in the lead group from the outset and looked very comfortable at this level. She remained in contention for a top three finish for the entire race but ultimately had to settle for fourth in an age category that she has two more years eligibility in. This was an excellent performance from Aimee and she will benefit hugely from gaining competitive experience on an international stage.

Representing Ireland for the first time is a huge milestone for any athlete and is well deserved for Aimee, who looks to have a very bright future as an international athlete. Now that Aimee has made her international debut for Ireland, her name will be added to the International Roll of Honour in the clubhouse, the one hundred and twenty fourth name on the marble wall plaque.

Medal winning performances from Grace and Conor

SETU Carlow was the venue for this year’s Tailteann Inter-Provincial T&F last Saturday. The blustery and humid conditions made for difficult middle distance running, however both Grace Byrne and Conor Sherwin acquitted themselves very well on the day with both finishing on the podium.

Grace Byrne was first to compete, in the 1,500m steeplechase, and went off with the leaders. As she met the water jump for the second time a stumble caused her to drop to fourth place, however, she regained her composure and fought bravely over the next two laps to regain third position and held that place to go on and win a bronze Tailteann medal. This is Grace's first season competing in the steeplechase and is surely a sign of success in the future.

Conor Sherwin was next to compete, this time the 1,500m was the event. After a cagey first lap the pace increased over the next two and with 300m to go a flat out burst saw Conor pull clear of the opposition and he led them home in first place. This win also qualified Conor for the Irish Schools team that will compete in Scotland in July.

Community Games T&F Finals

The Westmeath Community Games T&F Finals were held at the Club Grounds last Sunday afternoon. The forecast was for warm sunny conditions with occasional showers but despite the build-up of dark clouds for a while half way through the programme, the showers never came and the whole games were held in the dry, which was an absolute bonus for the athletes and parents and supporters that attended. With the all-weather track we only had to mark and line the infield area for the sprints and hurdles events and thanks to the Trojan work of a few volunteers, everything was in tip top shape for the games.

There was a good attendance and the programme ran very well to time thanks to the volunteers from Westmeath Community Games and from Mullingar Harriers who gave up their time to help. Thanks to the principal and board of management of the Mullingar Educate Together National School next door for allowing the use of their car park. Finally, thanks to those club members who turned out in good number to officiate and ensure the smooth running of the event.

Congratulations to all the athletes who have now qualified for either the Leinster regional finals or directly to the national finals. In order that they are as well prepared as possible to represent Westmeath, they and their coaches and team managers are very welcome to train at the club on Tuesdays and Thursdays between now and the finals.

Mullingar Harriers honoured by Athletics Leinster

Last week we noted that Oisin Lane and Grace Byrne received Athletics Leinster Star Awards for 2022, presented during breaks in the programme at the Leinster Juvenile T&F two weeks ago. Oisin earned an award for outstanding performance in Race Walking in 2022 and Grace won the Star Award for Best Juvenile Girl in Westmeath, based on her performances in Leinster Championships in 2022.

We have since learned that after the very successful cross country season in Autumn 2022 where Mullingar Harriers won club team medals in eleven of the eighteen underage races in Leinster cross country, it was announced that our juvenile athletes retained the Morrissey Cup for best juvenile club in cross country in Leinster. Mullingar has won this trophy every year since it was first presented 2001. Congratulations to all our underage athletes that played a part in this success.

Clonee 10k

Dunboyne AC hosted their annual 10k at Clonee last Thursday evening. Linda Cunningham was the sole representative from Mullingar Harriers athlete in the race. Linda, who is building towards the Dublin City Marathon in October, was very pleased with her race and finished well up in her master category with a time of 46 minutes 44 seconds.

Derravarragh 5 Mile

The shores of Lough Derravaragh provided a beautiful setting for the start and finish of the Derravarragh 5 Mile last Saturday morning. The race was organised by Ballinafid-Multyfarnham Community Services to fundraise for their work in the local area, especially with the elderly and the isolated. Four athletes from Mullingar Harriers joined nearly 80 others in support of an excellent cause and took on the hilly, scenic and challenging 5 mile looped course around the outskirts of Multyfarnham in very warm and humid conditions. Andrew Nevin took the early lead and pulled away on the final mile to win with a very lively time of 27 minutes 28 seconds and Sinead Whitelaw had an excellent race to finish first woman in 30 minutes 57 seconds. Ken Whitelaw finished strongly in second place in 29:52, followed by Declan Costello who is making a return to racing after a period away from races and was happy to finish in 46:22 as he builds up his mileage for later in the year and a possible shot at the Dublin City Marathon.

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