No complaints about the weather and facilities in Athlone IT on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd August for the Community Games National athletics finals where everyone was treated to very pleasant conditions that added to the enjoyment of the excellent track and field athletics finals in which several members of the Club battled to give of their best representing their local areas and County Westmeath.

Adeola Ojomo-Amaka (under 12) and Mairead Sayeh (under 16) qualified easily from their heats and semi-finals of the 100m but in the finals despite some great sprinting, they were unlucky to finish out of the medals. Anthony Moran (under 8 boys 80m) and Jack Moran (under 10 boys 200m) qualified from their sprint heats but didn’t advance to the final from the extremely competitive semi-finals. Race-walker Declan Brady finished 3rd in his semi-final of the under 13 boys event, but couldn’t find the vital extra edge to put himself into the medal positions in the final, but top marks for effort.

In the under 12 boys 600m semi-final, Cormac Dalton looked quite comfortable as he qualified for the final, but just finished out of the medals in the final. Meabh McNulty also qualified well from her semi-final of the under 12 girls 600m, but in the final disaster struck when she took a nasty fall that put paid to her medal chances. It was a case of déjà vu in the final of the under 14 girls 800m where Edel Glennon also took a fall and despite getting quickly back on her feet, finished out of the medals, which was a real shame given her very comfortable 2nd place finish in the semi-final that showed she was serious medal prospect.

No such misfortune for Linda Conroy in the under 16 girls 1,500m where despite giving away a year finished in the silver medal position to give Westmeath a well deserved medal. In the under 14 boys 800m, Glen Gaffney qualified well from the semi-final but found the early pace of the final a little too quick for his liking and though he ran extremely well, finished out of the medals.

In the girls 7km marathon, the Club had three athletes in action, Ciara Hewson, Lorraine Daly and Lorna Moody. Not long back in training after a painful knee injury that sidelined her for most of the summer, Ciara looked full of running and was delighted to win gold, though running for her native Kildare we can’t claim the medal for Westmeath, but thanks to some fast finishing by Lorraine, her 4th place finish put Westmeath on the podium, with Lorna also having an excellent race in the National Finals. It was also a 4th place finish for Thomas Lynn in the boys 7km marathon, which was run in difficult hot and humid conditions. Ryan Blundell also had a great run and finished strongly to record a good finish place to round off the week-end in Athlone IT.

Well done to one and all and after a well earned short break for some, we’ll see them back in training again very soon in preparation for the upcoming cross country season for the middle-distance runners and the indoors for the sprinters.