Victory for Mullingar athletes in the opening three races of the Antrim International Cross Country on Saturday 3rd January prompted the race commentator to wonder what could stop the “mighty Mullingar machine”, such was the Club’s dominance in these opening races.

The Antrim International Cross Country is one of a series of top class events and it drew the best underage athletes from England, Scotland and Wales competing over longer distances than we’re used to in Ireland but that didn’t stop the Mullingar underage athletes getting right in the mix and proving that not only can they win in Ireland but are more than a match for the best British athletes too. Moving from the more familiar Stormont venue of previous years, Antrim proved an excellent choice with very good underfoot conditions, a challenging but fair course and great facilities for spectators, including great vantage points from which to enjoy the races.

The first race was the under 13 girls 2,000m and Linda Conroy showed why she is the current Irish Champion as she controlled the race from the start and timed her finish to perfection to win in convincing style pulling away over the final 400m and leaving three of the best English girls in her wake. Running well also was Lorna Moody but unfortunately we didn’t have a third runner to make up a team as the girls would have been close to winning a team prize too.

Mullingar had a full team in the under 13 boys 2,000m and they were led home by Padraig Moran after a thrilling race where he sat and bided his time to break for home and when he did so with about 500m to go he pulled away with ease and crossed the line first with a good margin of victory over some very well regarded English boys behind him. Also running very well in support with a terrific sprint finish to take 6th place was Liam O’Reilly, followed home by Glen Gaffney and Oisin Quinn who battled it out with each other up the finish straight for 12th and 13th place respectively to ensure very well deserved team prizes for first Club.

Confidence was high for the under 15 girls team competing over 3,900m and when Ciara Hewson went to the front near the end of the first lap, she looked so full of running that it was difficult to see how she could be beaten. She didn’t have it all her own way though and had some close attention from Georgia Bell (Ealing, Southall & Middlesex), one of the best underage athletes in Britain, but in the closing stages Ciara found an extra gear and pulled away with a terrific sprint finish to record Mullingar’s third individual victory in a row. Finishing very strongly and next in for the Club was Lorraine Daly in a terrific 18th place, followed by Donna Kiernan and Arlene Coughlan running well to secure team prizes for third Club.

It’s hard to believe that Vincent Connolly is only running a few months with the Club as he battled well in the under 17 boys 5,800m. Racing over three laps, Vincent did his best to keep in touch with the leading group and was rewarded with an excellent 18th place finish against some really top class opposition. Great to see Vincent had a terrific sprint finish at the end of a long race. Still on the road to recovery from recent illness, Thomas Fagan ran very well in support and considering he is still underage again next year, made full use of the valuable experience and was second man home for Mullingar followed by Warren Walsh with a great finish surge, and Adam Daly also underage again next year running well to make up the four. All found the course very challenging but expressed quiet satisfaction with their performances against top class opposition. Unfortunately, no team prize but such was the standard of competition.

The final race with a Mullingar interest was the Master Men 7,800m over four laps where Ben Vaitkavichius was first home for the Club in an excellent 15th place overall and winning his master age-category. Finding the course very long and tough, Liam McGlynn nonetheless stuck to the task and finished strongly, with John Bannon also running well and completing the team. We also got to cheer for Padraig Daly, a native of Ballinagore and a brother of Gerry Daly and Nuala Moran (neé Daly) running for St. Ronan’s AC in Roscommon. This was a very tough race but full credit to them all for giving their best efforts. Kieran Nolan also competed in the men’s race and ran very well.

We stayed to watch the Senior Men’s 9km race, which was a great race and we saw some very useful African athletes up close and the consummate ease with which ran compared to the European opposition demonstrated why the African nations currently dominate distance racing. Who among the group of underage athletes from Mullingar will be competing in the senior race and taking on the African athletes in the years to come?

As always, the Mullingar athletes were brilliantly supported throughout the day by a good group of parents and others that travelled in support and enjoyed the venue, facilities and races. Many thanks to them.