Striders Weekly Update 17/08/2022
Saturday saw Scrabo Striders Running Club’s annual Vice Captains’ Race held at Ballywalter Beach. The event, for club members only, was organised by this year’s Vice Captains Andy Haylett and Judith Boyd. The 4 mile run along the beach took the form of a “naked race”, with runners forbidden from wearing the usual GPS devices to check race pace; and the winner being the closest to their estimated finish time. With impeccable precision, Mick Honeyman claimed victory by finishing exactly on his predicted time, with 2nd and 3rd place being Johnny Wray with 10 second accuracy and Graeme Farrington who was just 12 seconds away from his prediction. The ladies top 3 were Vanessa Mannis, Wendy Thompson and Kathleen Henderson in a close competition with 34, 35, and 40 seconds off prediction respectively.
In the junior event, victory was claimed by Isabella Haylett just 5 seconds off prediction, with 2nd and 3rd place going to Lydia Blair and Phoebe Coey. Rory Braniff won the boys’ event with a delta of 26 seconds, followed by Heath Farrington and Bobby McGonigal. Congratulations to all runners, and to the Vice Captains for organising a fantastic event with almost 60 club runners in attendance.
Mon 8th saw the return of the Broughshane 5 and 10K, raising funds for NorthWest Mountain Rescue, with lone Strider Kim Cochrane completing the 5KM distance in 34:47.
On Sunday, four Striders attended the Rock the Lakes and Lough races around the Craigavon Lakes. The Half Marathon saw Peter McGonigal cross the line in 1:46:03, followed by George McGonigal in 2:15:49. Andrea Thompson completed the 10K route in 48:54, followed by Marty McConnell in 51:45.
Jennifer McAteer made the trip to Donegal to take part in Extreme North Events’ Quadrathon Challenge. The annual event offers a different marathon or half marathon route each day for up to 4 consecutive days, with routes encompassing the stunning Wild Atlantic Way. Jennifer completed 2 Half Marathons in 2 days on Saturday and Sunday, with times of 4:08:47 and 3:01:52.
On Saturday in the grounds of Florence Court, Atlas Running’s Last One Standing kicked off, with the field of runners required to complete a 4.17 mile loop starting on the hour, every hour until only one runner remains. Striders’ own Graeme Black saw off the full field of competition to claim victory after 27 hours and a distance of 112.5 miles. This phenomenal performance earns Graeme a place in the All-Ireland Team for the World Backyard Team Championships in October.
Also adding another notch to his ultramarathon belt this weekend was Kieran McNamara who travelled to Germany for the Berlin 100 Mile. The route for this run follows the border of the former Berlin Wall. Kieran completed the full distance in 28:05:48.
Also on Sunday was the Isle Of Man Marathon, with a 2 lap undulating course starting and finishing in Ramsay. Norman Mawhinney crossed the line in an impressive 3:10:13, claiming 1st place in his age category, and 12th overall.
On Friday evening, 9 Striders took on the Connswater 5 Mile Challenge in East Belfast, with a route encompassing Connswater Greenway, CS Lewis Square and Victoria Park. First runners across the line for the club were Thomas Steele in 29:39, closely followed by Martin Strachan in 29:51. Jonathan Winter finished in 35:11, with George McGonigal completing the route in 44:07, followed by Gareth Robson in 45:54. Next across the line were Louise Barnes in 46:30, Emma McCracken in 51:35, and Natasha and Heath Graham finishing together in 56:30. Well done all!
Graeme McGowan and Jenna Lavery took part in the Dambusters 10 Mile organised by Born2Run on Saturday. The out and back route through Silent Valley Mountain Park includes the tough climb to Ben Crom Dam. Graeme completed the course in 1:23:57, followed by Jenna in 2:08:30.
Duncan McAllister travelled to Cork on Sunday for the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon. Duncan completed the gruelling 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile cycle and Half Marathon Run in a very impressive 5:56:38.
Parkruns this week had Striders running far and wide, with 21 club runners participating at 14 different venues. Furthest afield this week was Steven Craythorne who celebrated his 100th parkrun at Clermont Waterfront, USA. On Sunday it was the turn of the club juniors, with Riley Hanna, Ethan Lappin and Archie Lappin claiming 1st, 2nd and 3rd place at Comber Junior Parkrun, with the Lappin brothers also both getting new PBs. At Magherafelt, Lyla McNamara earned a new Course PB.
Scrabo Striders meet for training on Monday – Thursday evenings at Londonderry Park, and for social runs on Friday evening and Sunday morning, as well as a weekly Sunday evening trail run. Club training is suitable for all abilities so why not come along and give it a go? More information on Facebook or scrabostriders.com.