Mullingar Harriers really made its presence felt with a strong squad of 26 Club members in action at the Dublin half marathon in the Phoenix Park on Saturday 26th September. It was the biggest mass sports participation event in Europe last weekend with a record field of 8,000 runners but despite the crowd, the Mullingar athletes were singled out by the race commentator for mention, such were their performances. The half marathon course through the Phoenix Park is fast but tough and includes the infamous “Khyber Pass” that is a real test of grit and determination. Tom McGrath has a great pedigree in middle-distance running, having been a Scholarship student in the USA in his youth and with a 2:16 marathon to his name, the long hours of training in recent months really paid dividend with a terrific 11th place finish overall (2nd in his master category) in a time of 1:13:14, which surely will earn him an elite athlete number in the Dublin City Marathon in 5 weeks time on October Bank Holiday Monday.

Next in was Maurice Looby in 1:17:25, a personal best (PB) time and placed him 10th in his master category, followed by Martin Lyons (1:19:20) 22nd senior man, John O’Reilly (1:19:51) also a PB (12th master), Matt Glennon (1:22:29) 18th master despite suffering from a bad chest cold, James McCormack (1:23:51) also a PB, Darragh Thornton (1:24:45) a PB and Kieran Nolan (1:25:37). First woman in for Mullingar was Mary Scully (1:26:12) 3rd in her master category, followed closely by Pat Muldoon (1:26:26) 6th master, Alwyn Kinane 17th senior woman, Vanessa McGovern home from the USA to finish 21st senior woman, paced along by husband Mike McGovern just behind her. Also competing and running strongly to the finish was JP O’Brien, Colm Walsh, Eva Ross, Ciara Dillon, Marie Louise Johnston, Michelle O’Halloran, Barry O’Brien, Emer Foley, Wendy O’Leary, Breda Daly, Louise McCartan, Emer Fitzpatrick and Yvonne Kane.