At the AAI Senior Track and Field Championships in Santry on Saturday and Sunday 1st/2nd August, it was very disappointing to see Martin Fagan forced to drop out of the 10,000m on Saturday, shortly after the half-way point, due to a recurrence of an Achilles problem. Martin was in control of the race up to that point and though receiving close attention from the eventual winner, Josphat Boit (Clonliffe Harriers), Martin looked very comfortable and it was difficult to see how he could have been beaten if he had made it to the finish. The injury doesn’t impact on the forthcoming World Championships for Martin as he was not going anyway, but he intended competing in the New York marathon in November and the Achilles problem will hamper his preparations. Such is the occupational hazard for a top class athlete and we wish Martin well as he begins his rehabilitation to recover.

Also on Saturday, young Warren Walsh competed bravely in the heats of the 400m but didn’t advance from the extremely competitive heats. He has now had a taste of the big time, so to speak, and this will surely fire him up to train hard over the winter and approach 2010 with renewed determination.

Sean McMullin competed in the 10,000m walk on Sunday, where he was up against the very best in the Country, including some Berlin-bound World-class race walkers but that didn’t faze master-athlete Sean and he gave a good account of himself and was pleased with his performance. Brendan Marshall struggled to find the form that won him the long jump indoor title in February and though he put together a good series of jumps had to settle for sixth place, which is still a very respectable finish in a National final.

It was great to see Mullingar field two athletes, Damien Bateman and Mark Christie in the 5,000m. Alistair Cragg (Clonliffe Harriers) took out the pace from the gun, closely followed by Mark in second and Damien in fourth, with the rest of the 35-man field some distance behind. We’d expect Mark to go with the lead group, but it was great to see Damien also go with the lead group and run such a positive race as it wasn’t that long ago he would have stayed with the following group and not dare try to go with the lead group. This is a sure sign that Damien has really matured as a distance runner and his experience in the USA is really starting to show dividends.

It took a few laps, but Cragg slowly pulled away and built up a lead that took him to victory. Damien eventually had to drop off the pace and settle for fourth but Mark looked very comfortable in second place, though tracked all the way by Sean Connolly (Tallaght AC) who as the winner of the National 10km road race title in April was always going to be strong. Coming into the finish straight for the final time it looked like Mark would take silver, but he was passed by Connolly in the dying stages of the race and Mark finished in third place, with Damien finishing strongly to take fourth. Both Mark and Damien can be very proud of their determined performances that rounded off the week-end for Mullingar on the track.