Friday 26th August saw the return of the Scrabo Striders Ards 5 Mile Road Race, a challenging route going out along the scenic Portaferry Road and then cascading along both Finlays and the Bowtown Road.

Two Hundred runners participated in the race, with Thomas Steele  being the first male Strider in with a time of 29:33 and Catherine Cauley being the first female Strider in with a time of 35:24. Following Thomas was  Norman Mawhinney  0:30:34, Andy Haylett 0:31:31, Daniel Clarke 0:32:27, Michael Johnston 0:32:40, Jonny Kinney 0:33:16, Peter Stevens 0:34:36,Justin Clegg 0:34:42 Peter Kerr 0:35:39, Michael Burgess 0:35:44 Mark Arnold 0:38:09, Kurtis Hunter  0:39:03 ,Gary Clarke 0:39:13, Colin Clarke  0:39:31 Johnny Wray 0:39:37, John Brown 0:39:38,Ben McCrackin 0:39:57, Chris Millar 0:40:01, Christopher Murdock 0:40:15 ,Bill McGucken 0:40:31,George McGonigal 0:40:48, David McMahon 0:41:14, Hector Adair 0:41:34,Heath Graham  0:41:45, George Johnston 0:42:15, Colin Verth 0:43:13 , Paul Coulter 0:44:16 ,Paul Kirkwood 0:44:26, Ken Rodgers 0:44:33, Gavin McDonnell 0:45:56, Steven Pearson 0:46:03, Olli Seeger 0:47:19 ,Stephen Campbell 0:47:56, David Gordon 0:47:59 Gordon McEwan 0:48:41 and Brian O’Neill 0:49:41.

Following Catherine was Shannon Clegg 0:36:06, Leanne Campbell 0:40:59, Amanda Martin 0:42:10, Louise Barnes 0:42:49, Cheryl Mulholland  0:42:54, Jenny Moore 0:43:12, Lyndsey Blair 0:43:49 ,Katie Irvine 0:45:41, Kerrie Fox 0:47:19, Catherine Lavery  0:47:26, Catherine Dobbin 0:47:23, Karen Farrelly 0:48:01, Michele Ennis 0:48:51,Judith Boyd  0:50:12, Sonya Summersgill 0:50:12, Denise Nodder 0:50:37,Laura Aulton 0:50:46, Emma McCracken 0:51:15, Nicola Irvine  0:51:08, Jenna Lavery  0:51:19,Vanessa Mannis  0:51:18, Helen Potts 0:51:26,Kathryn Chesney 0:51:47, Ashley Gilliland  0:51:48, Lorraine Adams 0:52:42,Kim Cochrane 0:52:55, Debbie Osborne  0:53:34, Karen Clarke 0:54:04,Elaine McGonigal 0:54:44, Phillippa Wilson 0:54:45 , Cheryl Alexander 0:55:45, Natasha Graham 0:57:39, Naomi Fleming 0:57:39, Rebecca Townley 1:00:42, Cheryl Macartney 1:06:18 Donna Dugan 1:09:54 and Sharon Gamble 1:17:35.

Well done to all the participants and a special thank you to the volunteers for their assistance on the night.

Ards wasn't the only place the Striders were running on Friday evening, Wendy Thompson completed the Portrush 5 mile in a time of 48:55.

On Saturday Scrabo Striders caught the Ferry to get involved in the 20th Annual Rathlin 10 Mile Race. Congratulations to Amanda Martin, our ladies captain, for winning her age group prize! Finishing times were as follows:

Johnny Kinney 1:17:24, Barbara McKechnie 1:31:42, Lesley Semple 1:33:56, Andrea Thompson 1:34:23, Leanne Campbell 1:36:57, Amanda Martin 1:37:03, Fiona McAvoy 1:43:28   Martina Finn 1:43:28 and Dawn Ross 1:43:58.

There was also a 5k Race and Jennifer McAteer completed this in 36:54.

Saturday also meant Park Run and we had 51 Striders out participating at 18 local venues! We had 4 PB's - Riley Hanna at Comber with a time of 22:54, Michael Burgess at Tolka Valley with 21:56 , and both Tim McEwan 19:19 and Matt Bell 20:05 at Knockbracken  . Well done to all running and volunteering!

Keeping it in the family we also had two special milestones with Cheryl Alexander achieving her 50th Parkrun and Faye Alexander her 25th! Eva Alexander also had a course PB , great running!

Elaine and Peter McGonigal also added Limepark Playing fields to their list of completed park runs keeping their Regionnaire status!

Sunday 28th August saw Striders compete in the Antrim Coast Half Marathon, which began on the Coastal Road before going along Larne Harbour , into Larne Town and then along the picturesque Antrim Coastal Road .   Of the 14 Striders who participated in the race, Norman Mawhinney was the  first male in with a time of 1:24:24 and Shannon Clegg being the first female in with a time of 1:42:41. Following Norman was  Andy Haylett 1:26:21, Neil Mearns 1:28:47 ,Michael Johnston 1:35:30 , William McGucken 1:54:06 , Chris Millar 1:55:38 , Paul Blair  1:56:27 ,Peter Mcgonigal 1:56:53 Heath Graham  1:56:53 and Peter Gray  1:57:47.

Following Shannon we had Rebecca Jordan  1:53:10, Lyndsey Blair 2:10:55 and Emma Mccracken 2:27:30.

Thanks again to the support crew on what was a hot hot day!!!

Junior Park Run also on Sunday, had 17 Striders over 2 Venues. We had 2 Personal Bests with Riley Hanna 0:07:22 at Victoria Park and Ethan Lappin 0:07:57 at Comber!

Scrabo Striders Running Club offer training sessions each week Monday – Thursday catering for all abilities, with a Social run every Friday Evening and Sunday Morning, with a cuppa after.

As they say, One run can change your day, many runs could change your life..

What have you got to lose?