Striders Race Around the River

Deep River Rock Queens 5k returned on Wednesday 6th April with 11 Striders taking on the flat and fast “Race Around the River” at Annadale Embankment starting and finishing at Queens PEC.  The overall winner from the  Mid Ulster Athletics Club finished in a time of 14.13!  First home for Striders was Marc Neil in a fantastic time of 17.06 followed by Thomas Steele (17.28), Norman Mawhinney (18.28) and Colin Harper (19.20).  Striders Vice Captain Andy Haylett crossed the finish line in a time of 19.28 followed by Peter McGonigal (21.02), Captain Paul Blair(22.18), Mark Leathem (23.44) and Jonathan Keenan (25.26.)  First Lady Strider home was Barbara McKechnie in a time of 23.17 followed by Ladies Captain Amanda Martin in 24.46.

Saturday 9th April saw the sun shine on a busy day of running for Scrabo Striders.  Members took part in Parkrun at various locations, Gaithouse Events at Florida Manor, Born 2 Run at Glenarm Castle and the Seven Sevens Mountain Race.

As the Scrabo Striders Challenge continues, we saw 46 Striders at 12 venues, the most popular being Bangor which was the venue of choice for Michael Johnston to run his 100th Parkrun.  Among the 14 Striders accompanying him the first Strider home was Thomas Steele completing the 5k timed run in 18.18 which also secured him 3rd place overall and Riley Hanna achieving a Course PB of 25.11 .  Completing Bangor for the first time was Jacqueline Magee (31.21) and Krystal Mohan (34.00) along with Lyla Rose McNamara who completed her first ever Parkrun in a fantastic 41.02.

Comber Parkrun was the setting for yet another 100th milestone, this time for James McIlveen, the venue saw a PB from Paul Donaghy (19.29) and a Course PB from Tim McEwan (19.59).  Striders also visited Crawfordsburn, Belfast Victoria, Stormont, Duleath Playing Fields, Armagh, Larne, Ballymena, Derrynoid Forest and The Cinder Track in Whitby.  A great show of purple being displayed, well done to all.  Parkrun would not be possible if it weren’t for its volunteers and this week I would like to give a shout out for our Strider Parkrun volunteers Gavin McDonnell, Pat Gingles, Fiona McDonald, Tim McEwan and Norman Mawhinney.

Our Junior Striders are big fans of Parkrun and this week 18 took part over 3 venues, Comber having the biggest turnout with 16!  First over the line in a time of 7.56 was Luke Braniff followed by Joe Brown in 9.24.  Fighting for the place of 3rd Strider home was Rory Braniff (11.01), Adam Haylett (11.03) and Liam Robinson (11.13).  Daniel Barnes was next with a PB (12.05), Noah Barnes completing marathon distance (13.20) and Jack Robinson (13.51).  Eva Coey was the first female Junior Strider over the line and 2nd female overall in a time of 10.01 closely followed by 2nd female Strider and 3rd overall Isabella Haylett.  They were followed by Faye Alexander (11.36), Eva Alexander (12.09), Phoebe Coey (12.10), Lexie Brown (12.44), Lydia Blair (13.18), Aimee Braniff (13.33) and Rachel Brown (14.50).   Lyla Rose McNamara ran a 14.34 at Belfast Victoria and Willow Farrington earned herself a PB and 2nd female running an 8.41 at Waterwork, Belfast.  Great running from our future Scrabo Striders.

In the picturesque grounds of Florida Manor, Killinchy, Gaithouse Events brought us the CompareNI.com Florida Challenge with choices of a 5k and 10k distance along with 6, 12 and 24 hr endurance challenges on a multi terrain surface including tarmac, grass, gravel and rubber.  First Strider home in the 10k was Elaine McGonigal followed by Vice Chairperson Peter McGonigal. Taking on their first 6 hour endurance challenge was Olli Seegar who completed 9 laps (44.1k), Kerrie Fox 8 laps (39.2k) and Clare McIlveen 7 laps (34.3k) alongside Stephanie Graham who completed a massive 12 laps (58.8k) and dab hand at these events Norman Mawhinney 6 laps (29.4k).  Richard Murphy completing 15 laps (73.5k) and Graeme Magowan 10 laps (49k) whilst tackling the 12 hour challenge and an amazing performance from Sonya Summersgill who managed to complete 17 laps (83.3k) in the 24 hour challenge.

Meanwhile Born 2 Run, who deliver runs in places of outstanding natural beauty, did not disappoint with the Glenarm Castle Challenge.   Situated in the stunning grounds of Glenarm Castle, Striders took part in the Half Marathon, 10k and 5k events.  Jenny Taylor (1:54.02) was the first Strider home followed by  Fiona McAvoy (1:57.04), Martina Finn (2:02.05) and Amanda Martin (2:04.08).  In the torturous 10k event Paul McKnight finished in a time of 50.34 and Davy Gordon in 1:03.59.  The 5k event was completed by Debbie Osborne in a time of 34.46 and Tina Hewitt in 55.16

Last but definitely not least James Lappin took on the challenge of Seven Sevens, a classic long race in the Mournes taking in the 7 highest peaks.  The 19 mile long route starts at sea level in Newcastle and climbs to the top of Slieve Donard continuing onto Commedagh, Bearnagh (the toughest mountain range), Meelmore, Meelbeg, Binnian and Lamagan before contending with the granite steps back down the Glen River.  James first completed this race in 2014 and Saturday saw him shave 2 hours off this time, completing the event in 4:53.13.  An outstanding performance from one of our popular Coaches.

Striders meet in Londonderry Park for training every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 7.15pm and have social runs from Newtownards Square on a Friday evening (6.30pm) and Sunday morning (9am).  Why not come and give it a try, you never know you might just like it!  For more information check out our Facebook Page, Instagram and Twitter Account.