Scrabo Striders have gone international this week, with 5 club members competing in two European marathons.

Colin Campbell completed Warsaw marathon on Sunday in 5:05:43.  A keen ultra-runner, Colin has had a fantastic year competing in events including Atlas Running’s Dublin to Belfast (107 miles), Belfast marathon and The Great North Run.

Sunday also saw 4 Striders represent the club in Berlin marathon, one of the 6 World Marathon Majors along with Tokyo, Boston, Chicago, New York and London.  Coach Neil Mearns (3:08:12) and Men’s Vice Captain Andy Haylett (3:08:33) achieved chip times within 30 seconds of each other!  Jill Long finished in 4:22:17, and Clare McIlveen completed in 5:21:44.  These are outstanding achievements that the runners should be very proud of.

North Down AC’s NI & Ulster Championship Bangor 10k took place on Saturday morning, with a large number of Striders taking part.  Sub 40 times of 37:05 and 37:39 were recorded by Thomas Steele and Norman Mawhinney respectively.  Norman became NI & Ulster M60 10k Champion, adding this to his 5k, Half Marathon and Marathon titles to complete the set!

Finishing sub 45 minutes were David Parkinson (40:45), David Carberry (42:06), Daniel Clarke (42:39), Justin Clegg (43:52), Jonathan Winter (43:55), Shannon Clegg (44:41) and Paul Blair (44:56).  Completing the race in under 50 minutes were Peter Kerr (45:17), Graeme McGowan (45:31), Michael Burgess (45:32), Abrar Hossain (46:08), Catherine Cauley (47:09), Colin Harper (47:09), Jenny Taylor (47:19), Andrea Thompson (47:51), Amanda Martin (48:55), Tim McEwan (49:07), Rachel Lyttle (49:21), Mark Leathem (49:28).

Under 1 hour were Olli Seegar (50:37), Peter McGonigal (51:16), Naomi Montgomery (52:10), Christopher Murdock (53:17), Hector Adair (53:20), George Johnston (53:34), Paul Coulter (55:43), Caroline Smyth (55:45), Karen Farrelly (56:02), Lyndsey Blair (56:22), Leanne Campbell (56:24), Bill McGucken (56:24), Stephen Campbell (57:30), Carl Harris (58:19), Catherine Lavery (58:41), Gavin McDonnell (58:46), Caroline Dwyer (59:05).  Next Striders in were Vanessa Mannis (1:00:09), Kerrie Fox (1:00:54), Amanda Piesse (1:01:53), Kim Cochrane (1:06:01), Noel Angus (1:06:48), Angie Crone (1:07:53), Natasha Graham (1:08:21), Elaine McGonigal (1:08:22), Carol Graham (1:11:28), Naomi Fleming (1:11:32), Steven Craythorne (1:16:04).

The Cross Country League has begun, with the first fixture taking place on Sunday at Palace Demesne, Armagh.  This was the TJ McElmeel Cup, organised by Armagh AC and attended by Jenny Taylor, Martina Finn, Sheena Crone, Hannah Robinson, Norman Mawhinney, Riley Hanna, Graeme Magowan, Johnny Wray and Heath Graham.  Results will follow in the next report.

31 Striders took part in 11 different Parkruns at the weekend.  Travelling the furthest were Matt Bell (Bexley in London) and Paul and Lynn Sheldon (Whinlatter Forest, near Keswick in the Lake District).  Comber was the most popular location with 9 Striders.  Castlewellan, Citypark, Crawfordsburn Country, Dunleath Playing Fields, Hillsborough, Stormont, Queen’s and Valley also welcomed club members.  Personal Bests were celebrated by Colin Verth and Ally Gray, while Faye and Cheryl Alexander, Liam Rodger, Luke Braniff, Mick Honeyman, Mark Halus and Kieran (with Alice) McNamara all enjoyed Course PBs.  Curtis McCaw finished a fantastic 3rd at Comber.  Striders at Stormont Parkrun had the pleasure of running with Dame Kelly Holmes!

15 Striders ran at Junior Parkrun on Sunday.  Ethan Lappin came 1st with a PB at Comber, followed by Willow Farrington in 3rd.  Joe Brown and Archie Lappin were 2nd and 3rd males respectively.  Luke Braniff was 2nd with a Course PB at Belfast Victoria, joined by 1st female Eva Coey, Rory Braniff with a PB and Phoebe Coey.  Lyla McNamara achieved a Course PB in Bangor.  Well done also to Bobby McGonigal, Faye and Eva Alexander, Lydia Blair, Lexie Brown and Rachel Brown, all running in Comber.

August Female Member of the Month was awarded to Leanne Hanna.  Leanne has had a challenging few years due to injury, but was able to return to running this year, benefitting from the Progression and Rehabilitation training on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  She ran in the Vice Captain’s 4 mile race at Ballywalter beach, Storming the Castle 10k in Carrickfergus and completed an outstanding 12.5 miles at Last Strider Standing in Castle Ward.  Leanne enjoys running Parkruns with her niece, Lyla, and is now working towards a sub 30 minute 5k.  She is showing great determination and is highly deserving of this award.

Congratulations also go to Johnny Wray, who received Male Member of the Month award for August.  Like Leanne, Johnny has also suffered injury in the last few years and has been attending the Progression sessions to get his running going again.  He raced in Run the Trails 5k at Mount Stewart, and came 2nd in the Vice Captains race by finishing just 10 seconds away from his predicted time (without using a watch!).  Johnny also achieved sub 50 at Storming the Castle 10k, sub 40 at Ards 5 mile and 21 miles at Last Strider Standing.

New members are always welcome at Scrabo Striders, with training sessions to suit all abilities Monday to Thursday evenings, social runs Friday evening and Sunday morning.