The Strider Ladies Ran Wild!

On Sunday 9^th August, five Striders took on the We Run Wild “Ration Run” Half Marathon .  The quintet comprising Beverley Blaine, Judith Boyd,  Carli Lindgren,  Nicola McNamara and Sonya Summersgill set off at 9.30am in glorious, albeit hot, sunny conditions to hit the hills and trails of Carrickfergus. The event required runners to navigate their way from start to finish using the description given to them by the race organisers. No marshals, no water stops. The route took them through trails which would have seemed more at home in the Mourne Mountains and altitude training was not something the girls had trained for! Some of the trails were particularly overgrown causing some drama  and a few screams about the nettles.  They navigated their way superbly. All the ladies finished in less than 3 hours and had excellent fun along the way. Congratulations to all and in particular to Judith Boyd & Carli Lindgren on completing their first ever half marathon.

On Saturday, ten Scrabo Striders headed to Glenarm for the third race in the Championchip Ireland race series.

 In the 5k event which was a single loop of undulating trails, Dave Stevenson was the first home in purple in an impressive 19:47 followed quite closely by Norman Mawhinney in 20:33. The first lady home was Amanda Martin in 27:06 and Amanda was chased down to the finish line by Fiona McAvoy and Liz Turton who completed the course in less than 28 minutes. David Turton completed the 5k contingent in under 29 minutes.

The 10k event which was two loops of the 5k race had four striders which saw both Norman and Dave compete for a second race in close succession. The result this time was similar too with Dave (42:52) finishing just ahead of Norman (43:15). With less than half a k to go, Norman could be heard shouting to Dave up ahead “I’m coming to get you”! But this only made Dave speed up and finish very strongly. Well done racing twice in one day. Paul McKnight crossed the 10k finish line in a great time of 01:01:33. Claire Thompson was the sole lady strider completing her first ever 10k in an excellent 01:06:56. Congratulations Claire, the first of many we hope! The striders are currently very well positioned on the leader board with Norman sitting in 4^th place and in one the prize money spots!

Well done to all athletes that took part in races at the weekend.

Article Written by C Harper