In his decade as a Westmeath footballer, Ronan Wallace has left no stone unturned in the pursuit of success, although something about the punishing runs around Mullaghmeen Forest during the winter months told him this year might be different.At just over 250m, Mullaghmeen is the highest point in the county, a suitable reflection of what Westmeath have already achieved this year in winning the Leinster football title for only the second time after Páidí Ó Sé first showed them the way in 2004.Along with Armagh, Westmeath are also the only team still unbeaten in this year’s football championship, winning their last three games after extra-time – against Kildare, Dublin and then Cavan.Wallace has no doubt the intense preseason training stood to Westmeath in those games, something manager Mark McHugh was quick to implement since taking full charge for 2026. Many of the sessions came directly from McHugh’s experience in his native Donegal when playing under Jim McGuinness with the team that won the 2012 All-Ireland.“Mark just showed us what they did in Donegal, saying ‘this is what it takes to win big trophies’,” says Wallace. “We just knew we had to go to the well to get it in the legs, get the mileage up and be ready to go for when the season started.“He had us slogging it out now for a good few months. We didn’t see footballs for a good while. He had us out on the track and out on the pitch and running around trail runs. It’s definitely stood to us. “Tom Gribben [from Armagh] is the strength and conditioning coach. He’s also put us through our paces and it’s standing to us. We’d be running around the track in AIT, and he brought us to Mullaghmeen Forest, he had us running a 10k trail run up and around, carrying logs and everything. Westmeath’s Ronan Wallace in action against Cavan's Conor Brady. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho “They put us right through the test. There was no easy session. The boys were coming off battered and bruised.”Such training only works when everyone buys into it, and as Westmeath captain Wallace says no player fell short on that front. Again, there was ample proof in their efforts against Dublin in the Leinster final and against Cavan in the first round of the All-Ireland series.“I think it’s just a will to not let the man beside you down,” he says. “We want to give everything for the Westmeath badge, for the Westmeath supporters. I think Mark came in and we met in the Park Hotel, a few of us, and we wanted to put that steel in us, that steely toughness that I think Páidí talked about in 2004 with that group. “We wanted to bring that this year, that whatever happens we’re not going to leave anything out on that pitch. As Mark says, no one dies on the pitch from exhaustion. He’s really put that mantra into us. You see lads getting carried off in the Leinster finals and in other games with cramp. It shows what they’re giving, putting their body on the line for that win.”Though still operating mostly at half-back, 30-year-old Wallace is well able to burst forward for an inspirational two-pointer, striking one against Cavan. In Sunday’s Round 2A clash against Galway in Salthill they meet a team with similar scoring power, but having overcome Cavan, and the difficult comedown after winning the Leinster title, they’re primed for it.“It was asked of us in the lead up to the game, ‘were we happy with just a Leinster medal?’ As a group we were not. We had Damien Healy from the 2004 Leinster winning team who chatted to us. He said their team didn’t really kick on after they won it, and he didn’t want that happening for us.Ronan Wallace lifts the Delaney Cup after Westmeath's win over Dublin in the Leinster final last month. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho “So I don’t think there was difficulty getting refocused. We had a few days celebrating, which has to be done, it really brought us together and allowed us to get around to the clubs. I got out to my own club, which was great, just to see everyone.”Wallace has also been soldiering with his club Multyfarnham over the last decade, the small village 10km north of Mullingar, where Johnny Depp was once a frequent visitor to JP Donleavy during talks of a movie version of his classic novel The Ginger Man.Wallace helped his club to a junior county title in 2017, their first in 61 years, the same year they lost the junior All-Ireland final to Cork’s Knocknagree. If losing out on promotion to Division 2 has been Westmeath’s only low point so far this season, winning Leinster has clearly spurred them on to bigger things.“The boys were saying, we’re Leinster champions, we have to show that we’re Leinster champions as well. That we’re not afraid of going out and playing anyone. We want to be dining at the top table, and you have to beat the teams at the top table. We’ll cherish these games.”Mullaghmeen Forest has served them well.