Martin Fagan Regains 5,000m National Title

Chasing the qualifying time for the World Championships in Osaka, Japan next month, Martin Fagan tried unsuccessfully to get the time in Belgium on Saturday 21st July so he came to Santry the following morning eager to try and get the time at the AAI National Senior Track and Field Championships. In his haste, he forgot to pack his Club vest so had to compete in plain white but despite the unfamiliar colour there was no problem following Martin’s progress during the race such is the characteristic ease of his running style. Despite the prospect of running two 5,000m races in 24 hours, Martin appeared unconcerned and in a thrilling race which eventually came down to a two man battle between Gary Murray, last year’s champion, and Martin, with 250m to go Martin kicked hard for the finish, and while Murray closed again, there was no passing Martin who won well to win back the title he last won in 2005. Unfortunately conditions were not ideal and the winning time (13.56.13) was outside the qualifying standard but Martin will continue to chase the time and we wish him the best of luck. 

Meanwhile, club mate Damien Bateman was having the race of his life in the chasing pack and finished a magnificent fifth in 14.36.42, a time that bettered his personal best by 25 seconds.

After safely coming through the heats of the 1,500m on Saturday, Mark Christie competed in the final on Sunday where he was in prime position with the leaders from the start and took the lead with 600m to go but was passed again and at the bell was forced back into fourth place where he remained to the finish posting a time of 3.51.15. Chasing World Championship qualifying times aside, Mark and Martin will soon be turning their attention to the World University Games in Bangkok in early August.

Continuing his come-back to athletics after a few years away, Brendan Marshall put a good series of jumps together in the long jump, including a new personal best, to finish a great fourth place with which he was very pleased.

For Kevin Duggan, this was his first time competing at the Senior Championships. He ran a very good heat and finished third in the 200m on Saturday but missed out on qualification for the final by one place. However, the following day he made no mistake and qualified comfortably from his heat of the 100m and took his place as the youngest in the final where he ran well but finished seventh. The transition from junior to senior is never easy but he ran well and was happy to have qualified for the 100m final at his first attempt.

Gold Rush for Mullingar at AAI Juvenile Championships

Three gold medals were won and several other excellent performances were unlucky not to result in more medals for Mullingar Harriers at Tullamore on Sunday 15th July in the AAI National Juvenile (under 13 to 19) Championships. For two athletes so young, it is hard to believe the wealth of experience that Shane Fitzsimons and Elizabeth Carr have, both being unbeaten on the domestic front over cross country, indoor track or outdoor track for the past few years.

They put this experience to full use last Sunday as they dominated their respective under 13 races over 600m where both sat with the leading group to 400m and then just injected explosive bursts of speed to pull well clear over the final 200m and win in great style by wide margins. Long may their gold medal winning success continue.

Making a come-back to athletics after a few years away is never easy but Jake Byrne did just that and all his hard work paid off handsomely in the u/16 boy’s 3000m. Jake was always in contention during the race and never strayed too far from the front and when the right time came to go on the last lap he made a decisive move and left the field trailing in his wake to record a fine win to the delight of the Mullingar contingent in the stands.

Shane Boggs and Lee Stenson were most unlucky in finishing just out of the medals. Shane ran a perfect race in the u/17 boys 3000m and always looked a certain medallist but when the final push came he just lacked the vital edge and was very disappointed to finish 4th, the cruellest position just outside the medals. Similarly Lee Stenson always looked threatening in the u/19 boys 3000m, but with 1000m of the race to go the leaders broke away and Lee was unable to respond and finished in 4th place too.

Following on the medal successes of Elizabeth, Shane and Jake, 4th places were difficult to bear for both of them but they’ll put the disappointment behind them and learn from the experience.

Arlene Coughlan just failed to qualify for the final of the u/15 girl’s 800m despite a courageous run. Damien Palfreyman started well in the u/18 boy’s 3000m but as the race developed he found the pace too fast but still competed bravely in a National final. Also competing in Tullamore were the two Aoife Hogans. On the Saturday, Aoife from Longford qualified well for the final of the u/17 girl’s 100m where she ran well but finished out of the medals. This is the first year in serious athletics for this Aoife and to make a National final is a tremendous achievement and is only a taste of better things to come for this fine sprinter. The other Aoife, the one from Moate, is no stranger to the big stage but decided to compete in the u/17 girl’s 300m rather than opt for the more familiar 800m. She qualified very comfortably from her heat to draw a good lane in the final where she battled well but just lacked the vital experience of sprinting at this level and finished 5th but she is new to this event and still learning and there is no doubt but the best is yet to come.

Good performance by Damien Bateman at Irishtown Meet

Damien Bateman finished second (3.53.98) in a very competitive 1500 metres race at the Irish Milers Club event in Irishtown Stadium, Rinsend on Saturday 14th July. This was was a very good run by Damien who is getting back to his best form.

Mark Christie's excellent performance at European u/23s

At the European under 23 championships in Debrecen, Hungary on Thursday 12th July), Mark Christie was initially disqualified for an alleged offence in the 5,000m and had to await an appeal by the Irish team management. He finished the race cut and bruised in 6th place in a time of 13:58.83 with spectators left wondering why he was disqualified but the appeal was successful and thankfully Mark was reinstated to his 6th place finish. With 22 in the event there was alot of close contact throughout the race and congratulations to Mark on another excellent performance in international competition.

Double medal sucess for Kevin Duggan at AAI National Juniors

Kevin Duggan recorded significant improvements in his personal best (PB) times for 100m and 200m when he competed at Tullamore on Sunday (8th July) in the AAI National Junior Championships. There were a couple of very heavy rain showers but otherwise competitors enjoyed near perfect weather conditions of bright warm sunshine and barely any wind, which were conducive to good performances and a welcome relief from conditions of recent weeks.

Qualifying comfortably from his heat of the 100m, Kevin powered to an early lead in the final, which he held to the 80m mark before being slowly caught in the final stages and edged into third place on the line, narrowly missing the silver medal place by the narrowest of margin of only one hundredth of a second. Any disappointment he might have felt was soon dispelled when he learned that he had broken through the 11 second barrier for the first time to improve his PB for the distance by over two tenths of a second, which equates to about 2m. Buoyed by renewed confidence, later in the afternoon he advanced easily from his heat of the 200m and in the final ran a blistering race to again finish third and again record a new PB, this time improving by over three tenths of a second. Kevin’s performances are just rewards for all the hard work and dedication he has shown in training in recent months to overcome injury that stopped him training to the full over much of the winter months.

Also competing in Tullamore, in the junior 1500m, were Lee Stenson and Paul Flynn. As both are still underage again next year, it’s quite a step up to this level but both fought hard to keep in touch. Despite not featuring in the medals, both competed very well and finished strongly.

June

Cork City Sports
Martin Fagan tested his speed over 1,500m at the Cork City Sports on Saturday 30th June at the mardyke, finishing 8th in a good time of 3:46.93 in the windy conditions.

Dublin Graded Meeting
Fresh from victory over 5km at the Rathowen Road Race recently, Damien Bateman dropped down to the more familiar 800m at the Dublin graded meeting on 27th June, where he recorded a very respectable time of 1:56 given the weather conditions, to place well up in a closely packed finish.

Europa Cup
Well done to Martin Fagan for his fine performance on the Irish team at the European Cup in Vaala, Finland on Saturday, 23rd June. Martin finished third in a slow tactical 5,000m to gain valuable points and help place Ireland 5th overall after day 1.

Leinster Juvenile Track & Field Championships

The Leinster Track and Field Championships for Girls and Boys Under 13 – 19 years took place on Saturday and Sunday June 16th & 17th in Tullamore. There was a very good turnout of athletes in all the age groups and competition was of a high standard with medals hard won. Mullingar Harriers athletes once again featured prominently in the results winning a great haul of medals and the club had many qualifiers for the National finals, which take place next month.

On Saturday Aoife Hogan from Moate was in brilliant form, winning a very competitive Girls Under 17 300 metres in great style and then less than an hour later finishing third in the 800 metres. Shane Boggs in his first club race in quite a while was back in form with a good victory in the Boys Under 17 3000 metres after a quick final lap. Lee Stenson too was in good form leading the Boys Under 19 3000 metres from start to finish for a convincing victory, with Paul Flynn also running well to claim the silver medal.

Both Lee and Paul were back in action in the 1500 metres on Sunday. Lee again had a great run and was just beaten into second place in a very exciting finish while Paul won a deserved bronze medal. Damien Palfreyman had a good run in the Boys Under 18 3000 metres finishing third while Aoife Hogan from Longford showed her speed in the Girls Under 17 100 metres winning the silver medal. Jake Byrne had an excellent weekend finishing third in a very exciting Boys Under 16 1500 metres on Saturday and followed it up with a brilliant win in the 3000 metres on Sunday.

Arlene Coughlan also had a great weekend wining bronze in the Girls Under 1500 metres on Saturday and then showing some great speed to finish second in the 800 metres on Sunday. Thomas Fagan had his best ever run in the Boys Under 15 1500 metres coming through with a great finish to take the bronze medal. Dean Stenson and Warren Walsh finished fifth and sixth respectively in the final of a very competitive Boys Under 16 200 metres. Dean also qualified for the final of the 100 metres but Warren missed out.

Aaron Glynn was unlucky not to get a medal in the Boys Under 13 Long Jump and also qualified for the final of the 80 metres. Philip Giles was just out the medals in fifth place in the Hurdles. Conor Dolan also competed well in this age category in the Long Jump and 80 metres in his first Leinster Championships. Mairead Sayeh ran well in heats of the Girls Under 13 Hurdles on Saturday and finished a very good fourth in the final of the 80 metres on Sunday. Caroline Keaveney also ran well in the Girls Under 14 Hurdles.

On Sunday Shane Fitzsimons set a new Championship Best Performance when running away with the Boys Under 13 600 metres leading from start to finish. Thomas Lynn just missed out on a medal by a few metres finishing fifth after a very good run. In the 80 metres Leigh Walsh also ran well. Elizabeth Carr was a most convincing winner of the Girls Under 13 600 metres final with some fine front running and a very strong finish. Beth McGuire ran the best race of her life and was most unlucky in finishing fourth, just inches off a medal. Beth also finished seventh in the 80 metres. Adam Boardman ran an excellent personal best time when finishing second in the Boys Under 16 800 metres showing some great speed.

Overall it was a great weekend for the club with some excellent performances in many events as many of our athletes qualified for the National Championships on July 14th, 15th & 28th in Tullamore, a great achievement.

BMC Grand Prix

Well done to Mark Christie on his excellent performance at the BMC Grand Prix in Manchester on Saturday June 9th where he recorded a personal best time of 13.52.05 when finishing 3rd in the 5000 metres.

Leinster Senior & Master T&F Championships
The day after the All-Ireland Schools was a much more pleasant day for competition as even though there was still some light rain on and off, the fierce wind had died down. Tullamore was a busy track again and was the venue for the Leinster Senior and Masters Championships.

Sean McMullin started the day with a well-earned silver in his master’s age-category in the 3,000m race-walk and later he rounded the day off with another silver medal, this time in the 5,000m flat race. Sean was our only master competitor and was pleased with his performances. In the senior long jump, Brendan Marshall was in winning form and jumped well to take the gold medal.

On the track, Kevin Duggan eased comfortably into the finals of the senior 200m and 100m. The 200m final was a very close race and Kevin was just edged into bronze medal position by a very narrow margin. Due to awkward timetabling, the 100m final had to be held only a few minutes after the 200m final, which was quite unfair to the athletes, but needs must, and they took to the line in very tired condition. The effects of the 200m were clearly visible in all the runners and despite a good start, Kevin had to settle for 4th place, just out of the medals.

Although still juveniles, Lee Stenson and Paul Flynn were experiencing their first taste of Senior Championship competition in the 1,500m where Lee led the field out at a brisk pace that soon split up the runners and approaching the bell there was only two in the leading group. Lee dropped back to second place going into the final lap but with 200m to go he made a decisive break and pulled away to win by a good margin and equaled his personal best for the distance. This was Lee’s first Leinster gold medal at any age-group. Behind him, Paul ran well and although he finished down the field, he was only marginally outside his personal best. Well done to both for having the courage to run the senior 1,500m and both benefited greatly from the experience.

 

All-Ireland Schools T&F Championships
The weather was very unseasonable and very unkind to the athletes in the All-Ireland Schools Track and Field Championships at Tullamore on Saturday (2nd June), being a mixture of heavy showers and high blustery winds. Despite the conditions, the show had to go on and in the junior boys 1,500m the Club had two athletes representing their schools.

Jake Byrne (St. Joseph’s, Rochfortbridge) ran a magnificent race and with 300m to go made a decisive move to pull away from the pack and try to chase down the leader. Jake had to settle for silver, but this was a fantastic result in such a high quality race that was won in a new record. Jake is a natural athlete and deserved his medal. Thomas Fagan (Moate Community College) ran well but finished out of the medals. Thomas is still new to athletics and to reach a school’s All-Ireland final in his first year is a brilliant achievement.

A touch of ‘flu robbed Adam Boardman (St. Joseph’s) of his best in the junior 800m where despite running well he was unlucky to finish just out of the medals in fifth place. A disappointment for sure, but Adam will know he is better than this and will now focus on the Club season ahead to make amends.

Well done also to Mark Christie who finished second in the IMC Ronnie Delany Mile in 4.04.79.

May

Leinster Junior T&F Championships
Running into a very stiff headwind, Kevin Duggan was in sparkling form in the Leinster Junior Championships on Sunday 27th May on the new all-weather track in Greystones, Co. Wicklow where he easily won the 200m but was narrowly beaten in the 100m a short while later to be denied a sprint double but was still very pleased with his performances overall.

Lee Stenson and Paul Flynn took to the line in the 800m and ran very well despite giving away a year to most in the race. Lee ran a controlled even paced race while Paul admitted after that he might have gone a bit too quick on the opening lap and suffered on the back-straight on the second lap. They both finished out of the medals, with Lee only narrowly beaten into 4th place, but both recorded personal bests, which is great and shows that they put the maximum effort in and the recent speed sessions are paying dividends.

Schools Regional T&F Championships

The Provincial School’s track and field finals last week saw some exciting results from several Club members representing their schools, with many of them qualifying for the All-Ireland Finals in Tullamore on Saturday 2nd June.

In Connaught, Arlene Coughlan was a runaway winner of the minor 1500m, Thomas Fagan fought hard and was rewarded with bronze medals in both the junior 800m and 1500m, and Aoife Hogan (Longford) was unlucky to just miss out on a medal as she finished 4th in the intermediate 100m.

Meanwhile, in Leinster, gold medal winners were David Lynch (minor 500m) and Jake Byrne (junior 1500m) while there was a silver medal for Adam Boardman (junior 800m). Also competing in Leinster but finishing out of the medals was Louise Darby, Amy Drew, Amie Giles, Sarah Whelan and Lee Stenson.

Well done to all.

Dublin Graded Meeting

In weather conditions more suited to cross country running than track and field, Paul Flynn ran in the 1500m development race at the Dublin Graded Meeting in Santry on Wednesday 16th May. Despite the terrible wind and rain, many athletes set personal bests, which is the great benefit of running in competition like this. Paul ran well but was outside his personal best.

Excellent performances by Westmeath Juveniles in Tullamore

Given the very large numbers of young athletes in the Club, it was no surprise that with over 40 athletes from Mullingar and a large number from North Westmeath AC, that Westmeath had a very large team in action in the Juvenile (u/9 to 14) Inter-County competition on Friday 4th May in Tullamore. Representing Westmeath against the Clubs of Offaly and Laois, our young athletes excelled throughout the evening. As in 2006, the idea of the competition was to give the younger athletes in particular some valuable experience of competition before the Leinster Championships that are drawing very near.

The enthusiasm of the young Mullingar athletes was refreshing and they took full advantage of the opportunity to try different events. Most competed in all the events – sprint, middle distance, long jump, and ball throw (shot putt and javelin for the older ones). Their enthusiasm was infectious and even some of the quieter youngsters got fully involved in the action and competed in every event they could.

The sprint heats and finals provided some great action and it was great to see so many Mullingar athletes taking part, even though for some the sprint is not their event of choice. The first gold medal went to Nicole Gorry with Niamh Quinn in silver medal place in the u/9 girls 60m. Aisling Bracken won the u/11 girls 80m and Elizabeth Carr won the u/13 girls 80m with Mairead Sayeh in a close second place. Simon Carr won the u/9 boys 60m with Patrick Leydon in third, Kevin Giles took silver and Gareth Carr took bronze in the u/10 boys 60m, Glenn Gaffney took silver and Oisin Quinn bronze in the u/11 boys 80m, Boidu Sayeh was an impressive winner of the u/12 boys 80m with Padraig Moran in third. Mullingar packed the final and made a clean sweep of the medals in the u/13 boys 80m where Shane Fitzsimons took gold, Thomas Lynn silver and Aaron Glynn bronze.

The medals continued to come thick and fast for Mullingar/Westmeath in the middle distance races, where Nicole Gorry and Niamh Quinn took gold and silver respectively in the u/9 girls 300m. Aisling Bracken and Faye Walsh were second and third in the u/11 girls 600m, and Elizabeth Carr and Beth McGuire dominated the u/13 girls 800m to take gold and silver. The boys fared even better in the middle-distance races. Simon Carr was third in the u/9 boys 300m, Kevin Giles and Gareth Carr were second and third in the u/10 boys 300m, Glenn Gaffney and Oisin Quinn were first and third in the u/11 boys 600m, and Padriag Moran was a runaway winner of the u/12 boys 600m. Shane Fitzsimons was an equally impressive winner of the u/13 boys 800m, with Thomas Lynn taking silver.

In the field events, Nicole Gorry missed the u/9 ball throw because she was busy with the track events but she took part in the u/10 ball throw where she finished third. Elizabeth Carr showed great versatility as she took bronze in the u/13 shot putt. Simon Carr was third in the u/9 long jump and second in the ball throw, his brother Gareth Carr was second in the u/10 ball throw and won the long jump with Michael Moran third, Conor Duncan was third in the u/11 long jump, Padraig Moran was second in the u/12 long jump, Ciaran Fagan was second in the u/12 ball throw and moved up an age to u/13 where he took silver in the javelin. The number of medals won in the field events was testament to the versatility of the Mullingar athletes who thoroughly enjoyed having a go at something different.

Also competing in Tullamore was Eoghan Bracken, Ciaran Bracken, Shane Collins, Jennifer Coughlan, Stacey Darby, Conor Dolan, Cody Gaffney, Philip Giles, Edel Glennon, Rachel Glennon, Emma Glynn, James Lenihen, Maolíola Lenihen, Jane Leydon, Moya Leydon, Shauna Leydon, Jack Moran, Aileen Murtagh, Holly Walsh, Leigh Walsh and Eva Whelan, who competed very well in several events but were unlucky to miss out winning medals.

By any standard the entire meeting was a resounding success, whether medals were won or not, and the Mullingar athletes did themselves, Club and County proud. As it was an Inter-County Match, it’s only fair to record the achievements of athletes from North Westmeath AC. Paul Collins won the u/14 shot putt, Rachel Grennan was third in the u/10 girls 300m, and Jenny Brady was second in the u/14 girls 100m and third in the shot putt, with many more athletes finishing just out of the medals. While the focus was on fun and participation, just for the record, based on the results for first second and third in each event, it was a very close competition and in the end Offaly won just ahead of Westmeath with Laois a very close third.

April

PB for Martin Fagan in USA
Competing at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Stanford University on 29th April, Martin Fagan smashed his personal best by over 27 seconds when he finished in a time of 28:18.30 in the 10,000m invitation This was a quality field and Martin took full advantage of the class opposition to record a magnificent improvement in his time and moves closer to the qualifying standard for major championships.

Dublin Graded Meeting
Lee Stenson and Paul Flynn used the Dublin AAI Graded Meeting in Irishtown Stadium, Ringsend on Wednesday 25th April) as their first outdoor race of the season and to hone their racing skills ahead of the Schools Championships this week. Competing in ideal warm and calm conditions in the men’s 3000m development race, Lee finished just outside 9 minutes and expressed satisfaction with his performance so early in the season. Paul finished some places behind Lee. With more track sessions and speed work, they’re sure to cut their times significantly over the season.

Irish Universities T&F Championships
There were several Club members in action last weekend competing for their Colleges in the Irish Universities Track and Field Championships. Santry Stadium was the venue and the weather was beautifully warm and sunny. Mark Christie (competing for DCU) was in fantastic form on the Friday evening and was a runaway winner of the 10,000 in 29:53, which is a good time so early in the season. He led for most of the race and finished a long way ahead so is sure to improve his time with better competition. Mark followed with an impressive double when he won the 5,000m on Saturday.

Brendan Marshall (DCU) and Stephen Moran (Sligo IT) were in action on the Friday evening in the long jump. This was a very long drawn out competition due to the large number of entrants but Brendan and Stephan put together a good series of jumps each and at the end, Brendan was just pushed into 4th in the last round while Stephan finished 7th overall, which is a good result in his first proper senior competition. Stephen also competed in the 100m but despite finishing 3rd in his heat, he didn’t advance to the final.

Meanwhile, Kevin Duggan (NUI Galway) cruised easily through the heats of the 100m and 200m and qualified for the finals on Saturday while also managing a spectacular improvement of nearly half a second for the 200m in his heat. Despite his comparative youth, Kevin lined up for the 100m final on Saturday as a medal favourite and did not disappoint as he took bronze in a closely fought final to secure his first Inter-Varsity medal. The 200m was a tougher race and despite running close to his personal best again in the final, Kevin was forced to settle for 5th place, again in a very close race, but he was still extremely pleased with his performances overall.

Mount Sac Relays
No weather problems for Martin Fagan who ran in the 5,000m invitation race at the Mount Sac Relays in sunny California on Friday 13th April and finished 13th in a large field of 33 quality athletes in a time of 13:42.29, not far off his personal best of 13:39.62. Martin was the first Irish man to finish, ahead of Mark Keneally and Gary Murray.

Crookstown-Millview AC Open Sports
Well done to Boidu Sayeh and Mairead Sayeh on their medal successes at the Crookstown-Millview AC Open Sports in Carlow on Easter Monday. Boidu took silver in the 100m, missing gold by the narrowest of margins, and took bronze in the 600m. Mairead won her heat of the 100m quite easily but the final was run very soon after where she took silver. Tight timetables like this are common at open sports, which make open sports great preparation for the challenge of Championships where heats, semi-finals and finals must be run, sometimes in more than one event. This is why proper training is so important to prepare for competition.

March

USA News
Damien Bateman, competing for McNeese State University at the rain drenched "Cowboy Relays" on Saturday 31st March at Lake Charles, Louisiana, won the 1,500m in a time of 4:02.62, which though some way off his best, is not too bad considering the appaling conditions that forced the cancellation of many events and even prevented some Colleges traveling to the event, such was the weather. A bit of rain doesn't put a Westmeath man like Damien off though.