National senior racewalk title for Ballymore's Oisín
In the worst weather conditions for many years, the final National Championships of 2022 were held in windswept St Anne’s Park, Raheny last Sunday morning.
Normally a pleasant place to stroll through with its beautiful serene avenues and parkland, it was the opposite as flying leaves, twigs and debris created ongoing obstacles for all the racewalkers who braved the strong winds and random gusts that assailed their determined progress.
However, Ballymore's Oisín Lane took the Senior Men's 20k race by the scruff of the neck and led out the combined fields for all events straight from the gun. While his pre-race targets were definitely not to be, the Mullingar Harriers athlete still showed great physical strength and also strength of character to battle on to a big new personal best of 86 minutes for the 20k distance and a clear cut first National Senior Championship gold medal.
Leaving some Olympians in his wake and still only 20 years old, Oisín can now look forward to continuing his winter build-up program in preparation for bigger events next summer.
His Mullingar Harriers colleague Matthew Glennon attempted his first ever 20k, as he moves up into the Senior ranks in 2023. Matthew fought hard with the main group of racewalkers, which included several racewalkers from Europe and the USA.
He was able to stay with this group at a strong pace until the last quarter, but at this stage his youth showed and he suffered over the final few kilometres but still hung on to finish just outside of the medal places in the Irish 20k Championships. Matthew will have learned a huge amount for the future from this challenging experience.
In the Men Open 10k (non-championship), his younger brother Andrew Glennon also put in a brave display to come second man overall in a respectable 48 minutes 40 seconds in the swirling winds.
The race also included the Irish Masters 10k Championships and Harriers stalwart Sean McMullin showed that he is still well able for the hard road as he again produced a top finish in his master category. Many of the young guns could learn a lot from his controlled effort and consistent performances.
In the Women's Open 10k (non-championship), the U18 Aisling Lane was first home leaving in her wake all the ladies young and not so young from both far and near. As Aisling prefers the summer warmth she can definitely look forward to showing even greater speed in warmer environments devoid of wind alerts.
Starting an hour after the Senior and Masters Championships were a selection of juvenile races over various distances and age groups. Mullingar Harriers was ably represented by Daniel Glennon in the 2k and by John Glennon in the 5k. Both must have been keeping an eye on each other as they each finished ninth in their respective competitions.