Tullamore Harriers report – March 2026

Tilly Cusack wins All Ireland Schools Cross Country

There was some superb racing by Tullamore Harriers athletes at the 123.ie All Ireland Schools cross country at the Mallusk Playing Fields in Newtownabbey, County Antrim on Saturday the 7 th of March. The day started off in style with victory for Tilly Cusack in the Minor Girls race. Eight days ago, Tilly had a fantastic win in the Leinster Schools in Navan and came into the All-Ireland as hot favourite. She stuck to her task and was in a lead pack of five runners right from the start. With 600m to go Aisling Hegarty of Skerries Community College got a lead of five metres over the chasing girls. However, in the final straight Tilly’s devastating kick saw her charge into the lead and to win comfortably by five seconds in the end. Tilly led her Killina Secondary School team to a creditable seventh place finish alongside teammates Sarah Whitaker and Muireann Kelly.

Tilly’s victory marks the 5th individual All-Ireland Schools Cross Country title by a club member, continuing a proud tradition of success for athletes representing Killina School.

Previous winners:

Niamh Garvey – 2022 Junior Girls

Ann-Marie Larkin – 1995 & 1996 Intermediate Girls

Ann-Marie Larkin – 1997 Senior Girls

A brilliant result for Tilly. Ally Duffy was in the thick of it from the start too in the Intermediate Girls race. With Freya Renton from Westport gapping the field from the starters pistol Ally sat back in the chasing group of five and bided her time. Despite having played an All-Ireland Gaelic Football semifinal on Thursday Ally was right in the mix until the finishing sprint. She finished fifth and secured a spot in the Irish Schools team for the upcoming SIAB Schools International Cross Country which will be held at The Faenol Estate (Vaynol), in Wales in a fortnights time. In the same race Rachel Keaney led her Newbridge College team to a podium finish. Rachel raced well tactically and her top twenty finish was crucial to the team winning bronze medals.

Minor girls

1 st Matilda Cusack- Killina Secondary School

25th Sarah Whitaker- Killina Secondary School

90th Muireann Kelly- Killina Secondary School

Intermediate Girls

5th Ally Duffy- Moate Community School

19th Rachel Keaney- Newbridge College

49th Elise Cusack- Killina Secondary School

Intermediate Boys

28th Danny Rigney- Colaiste Naomh Cormac

Sarah Wins at Kinvara.

We had four athletes representing the club at the annual Kinvara Rock ‘n’ Road event in Kinvara, Co. Galway, competing across three different races - the 10K, Half Marathon, and the challenging ¾ Marathon. The scenic courses start and finish at Kinvara Quay and feature rolling terrain with some gentle uphill sections along partially traffic-closed roads.

Sarah Flanagan delivered a fantastic performance to take 1st Lady in the ¾ Marathon, finishing in an excellent 2:19:24. Michael Brennan had a strong run in the Half Marathon, finishing 4th overall in 1:15:49. Also in the Half Marathon, Darren Ghee crossed the line in 1:54:10. Melissa Hogan took on the 10K, completing the course in 1:38:32.

Track & Field Live

Rory Deverell competed at Meet 6 of the Track & Field Live Indoor Series in the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena on March 4th. Lining out in the 200m, Rory had a great run, clocking a personal best of 25.56 and winning the O40 age category. Jack Donegan competed in the 800m where he ran 2:01. Jack was back in action again on Saturday, March 7th, at the Irish Universities Athletics Association Indoor Track and Field Championships, also held at the National Indoor Arena. Competing in the 1500m, he produced another strong run to clock 4:06. Ally Duffy wins silver in Wales. After a tough winter of rain, rain and even more rain it was a welcome change for Ally Duffy and the Irish Schools cross country team to compete with the sun shining on Saturday last the 21 st of March. However, neither the hot temperatures nor the rolling hills at the Faenol Estate in Wales which hosted this year’s SIAB Cross Country Championships, were enough to suppress the frantic pace of all those competing in the Intermediate Girls race. The underfoot conditions were challenging too with some marshy conditions at points and an uneven surface in places as well. Ally in only her second international, dealt well with these challenges and can be rightly proud of her twelfth-place finish. It wasn’t a surprise to any of the Irish supporters that Freya Renton would go out aggressively in the Intermediate Girls race. The fast pace she set quickly stretched out the field and after the first kilometre a group of three had pulled clear. Ally was well placed in the chasing pack and Ireland at times looked to be in the lead in the team competition. It was only after 3000m that Sonny Allen from England made a decisive move and surged into the lead. Freya fought on and well deserved the bronze individual medal she won. Ally had in the meantime made steady progress despite tired legs from an All-Ireland Schools Under 16 football final in Thursday was a vital scorer on Irish the team that won silver medals.

Team Result Silver 49 Points

3rd Freya Renton

4th Ava Colreavy

8th Madison Welby

9th Holly Renton

12th Ally Duffy

13th Elizabeth Reamsbottom

17th Lucie Cawley

23rd Aoife Murphy

Banagher 5K

Round 2 of the Healthy Offaly 5K Series in Banagher proved a resounding success, attracting close to 600 finishers on a bright and sunny morning on Sunday the 22 nd of March. The prospect of a fast course drew a large crowd, and by all accounts there were numerous personal bests recorded, making for an exciting day of racing. Well done to Banagher AC on hosting a superb event. The race was won by Simon Farrell in a new course record time of 14:40.

Tullamore Harriers was very well represented with 57 lining out. Leading the charge was Cian Law, who finished 4th overall in an impressive 14:47. He was followed by Kevin Minnock in 6th place, while Ronan Keaney finished 8th and claimed the 1st Junior prize. Elise Cusack was first lady for Tullamore Harriers in 7th place, followed by Evelyn Herlihy in 8th and Niamh McNihill in 11th. Along with Ronan the club claimed further age category wins, with Killian Nolan taking 1st O40, Barry Minnock winning the O50 category, and Mary Galvin 1st O60.

The women’s team of Evelyn Herlihy, Niamh McNihill, Rachel Henry and Charlotte Abbott took first place, while the men’s team of Cian Law, Kevin Minnock, Ronan Keaney, and Killian Nolan also secured top honours.

Tullamore Harriers results:

Cian Law 0:14:47

Kevin Minnock 0:14:54

Ronan Keaney 0:15:21

Killian Nolan 0:15:33

Barry Minnock 0:15:43

Daniel Rigney 0:15:56

Barry Mooney 0:16:14

Nigel Cunningham 0:16:39

Ciarán Reynolds 0:16:52

Shane McGuinness 0:17:19

Nick McGowan 0:17:52

Darren Butler 0:18:03

Jack Marron 0:18:04

Alan Heffernan 0:18:22

Brendan Abbott 0:18:32

Fergal Leonard 0:18:36

Elise Cusack 0:18:56

Alan Mitchell 0:19:00

Evelyn Herlihy 0:19:02

Jack Cowman 0:19:12

John Donegan 0:19:15

Niamh Mc Enhill 0:19:21

Fionnan Minnock 0:19:31

Rachel Henry 0:19:34

Justin Murtagh 0:19:41

Charlotte Abbott 0:20:13

Bryce Fraser 0:20:28

Karen Nolan 0:20:53

Forrest McCormack 0:21:17

Roisin O'Brien 0:21:25

Finian McDermott 0:21:43

Maeve Larkin 0:21:40

Elysia McCormack 0:21:46

Conor Morrissey 0:21:58

John Carroll 0:22:24

Mary Galvin 0:22:31

Anne Marie McNamara 0:23:06

Sorcha Galvin 0:23:04

John O'Connell 0:23:14

Emer Rigney 0:23:17

Paschal Naughton 0:23:58

Naomi Galvin 0:24:09

Paul Hensey 0:24:13

Michael Kinsella 0:24:54

Martina Conlon 0:25:30

Sara McLaughlin 0:25:17

Olive Mannion 0:25:31

Noreen Hunt 0:25:44

Martina Lydon 0:25:37

Anne Daly 0:25:47

Sandra Busteed 0:25:42

Paddy Rowland 0:25:58

Ann Marie Larkin 0:26:42

Grainne Kenny 0:27:43

Aine Treacy 0:28:25

Tony McCormack 0:29:19

Pat Kennedy 0:30:19

AON Mullingar Half Marathon On St Patrick’s Day, three club athletes were among over 2,000 participants who lined out for the annual AON Mullingar Half Marathon. The race started in the town centre before heading out into the countryside, along the Royal Canal, and finishing in Mullingar Town Park. Leading the way for the Tullamore Harriers was Jonathan Dunne, who had a great run to finish 18th overall in a time of 1:17.10. He was followed by Ciaran Reynolds, in 1:22.28, and another fine run by Forest McCormack with a time of 1:42.58. The race was won by Michael Brady of Raheny Shamrocks AC in a time of 1:10.10. Streets of Portlaoise 5K Four of our members kicked off St Patrick’s Day by taking part in the Streets of Portlaoise 5K, hosted by Portlaoise AC. This hugely popular race attracted a field of over 1,000 participants. Jack Marron led the club home, finishing in 19:38. He was followed closely by Jason McDermott in 19:54, with James Fleming crossing the line in 26:24 and Olive Mannion finishing in 27:16. A special well done to Jason and James, who had already competed in the McNamara 5, and to Olive, who was in action at the National Masters in Athlone just two days earlier.

European Masters Championships

Congratulations to Pat Kelly on an outstanding and busy few days of competition at the European Masters in Torun, Poland. Competing in the inspirational O75 category, Pat took part in the 60m, 200m, and 400m events where she performed well across all three, finishing 4th in the 400m (98.43), 6th in the 60m (11.58), and 7th in the 200m (39.66). Rory Deverell who the previous week competed in the 60m was back in the blocks 200m. Despite managing a hamstring strain he pulled through, finishing in 4th place in his heat in 25.42. While this was not his target time, great credit to him for competing and representing his club and country with pride.

Emo Forest Run

Kicking off the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, we had two athletes in action at the nearby Emo Forest Run which is held annually on Good Friday. Hosted by St. Michael’s AC, there were two distances to choose from in the beautiful surrounds of Emo Court near Portarlington. The terrain is a mix of road, forest trails with plenty of climbing included. Cian Law competed in the 10K and was a clear winner in an impressive time of 32:53. Martina Conlon lined out for the 5K, clocking 27:14 for a very strong run on a challenging course. Sixmilebridge Half Marathon Well done to Gary Dwyer who was in action on Easter Sunday, at the Sixmilebridge Half Marathon in Co. Clare. Gary had a good run, clocking a time of 1:58. Streets of Kilkenny 5K The club was represented by three athletes at the annual Streets of Kilkenny 5K on Thursday, April 2nd. This fast-paced 5km race, part of the Peugeot Race Series, starts and finishes in the heart of Kilkenny City and annually attracts a large top-class field of athletes. The race was won by Sean Tobin of Clonmel AC in a time of 13:57. Well done to our runners on their strong performances:

Jack Donegan - 15:14

Kevin Minnock - 15:19

Barry Minnock - 16:12 (1st O50)