Striders Weekly Update 27/04/2022

Posted: 27/4/2022

Easter Running Round-up from Scrabo Striders

On a sunny but breezy Easter Monday Scrabo Striders Norman Mawhinney and Amanda Martin competed in the Whitehead Road Race. First run as the "Great Harrier Race" in 1924, this 5-mile event is the oldest road race in Northern Ireland, this year generously sponsored by Wright's Spar. Norman came in 22nd place overall in a field of over 200 runners in a time of 31 minutes 54 seconds, with Amanda completing the course with a strong 42:25. Well done both for flying the Strider flag in Whitehead. A few days prior Norman also took 29th place in a field of 150 at the Beragh 5 mile road race in a time of 33:06.

Scrabo Striders continue to feature strongly in the road racing series organised by Championchip Ireland. The Cinema Coffee 10km Grand Prix series team event shows Scrabo Striders at the top of the table after 3 races, with three other Scrabo teams in the top twenty at positions 10, 15 and 16. Norman Mawhinney holds 2nd place in the individual competition. The Fibrus Fives is a series of 5 mile and 5 km races where Norman also holds first position on the leader board after three events. Well done all. These popular race series build a great competitive spirit.

On a fine Spring evening (21st April) James Lappin, Paul Donaghy and Naomi Montgomery took part in 2nd race of the “Hill and Dale” mountain running series at Tollymore Forest Park. As the name suggests there is plenty of climbing (1,100 feet) in this just over 5 mile course. James took 15th place in a field of 240 competitors with a time of 36 minutes 27 seconds. Fantastic. Paul finished in 43:42 while Naomi crossed the line in 51:50. This time of running is not for the faint-hearted so congratulations all.

The Saturday morning Parkruns proved as popular as ever, with 59 club members running across 15 different venues. The biggest turnout was at Dunleath, Downpatrick where Andy Haylett took 2nd place in a phenomenal time of 19:39 while daughter Isabella completed her first ever parkrun in 27:05. Twenty-five members tried out a new Parkrun venue for the first time clocking up new personal best times for Ally Gray in Craigavon (24:26), Michele Ennis at Bangor (29:02) and a new course personal bests for Michael Burgess, Karen Thompson, Fiona McAvoy, Kim Cochrane and Bill McGucken. Well done folks. “Prize” for the furthest parkrun goes to George Johnston who ran in Perth, Western Australia.

Junior parkrun on Sunday saw a great turnout of eighteen runners, in part boosted by an internal club competition where points are awarded for performance, wearing a Scrabo shirt and making sure you get in a photo. The kids are thoroughly enjoying this. Luke Braniff took 2nd place at Comber in 8:13 while Ethan Lappin came 3rd with an 8:22 personal best. PBs were also achieved by Riley Hanna, Bobby McGonigal, Eva Coey (2nd female) and Jack Robinson. Brothers Jack and Liam Robinson also completed their 21st parkrun, achieving marathon distance!  Willow Farrington ran Jordanstown for the first time, taking 3rd place in 08:55. Congratulations to all Scrabo Striders Juniors.

Looking ahead, Belfast City Marathon takes places this coming Sunday and many Scrabo Striders members have been training hard for this iconic event. Nerves and excitement building now in equal measure. The club hosts its annual “Run the Runways” 5 and 10 km races at Newtownards airfield on Friday 6th May, which is part of the Fibrus and Cinema Coffee Series also. If you’re not running why not come along and spectate?

Striders training nights are a Monday and Wednesday 7:15 pm at Londonderry Park and all are welcome; training is for all ability levels and is non-competitive. You will be sure to hook up with a group that runs at your pace and make some new friends too. You can find out more at .

By George McGonigal

 

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