With the Big Freeze hitting Northern Ireland this week you would think us Striders would maybe take it easy, but no we keep on running!! Starting the weekend was the Friday night social and a group of striders tentatively went out and ran the 3mile run, albeit at a slower pace and with a well-deserved cuppa after.

For us Striders Saturday is Park Run day, however, due to the extreme icy weather and minus temperatures a lot of our popular park runs were cancelled and so a good few of our park runners decided to stay cosy and save themselves for the club race on Sunday!

But for those who ventured out in those conditions well done!! The club had 19 runners out at 5 venues. Stormont was the most popular with 12 runners, followed by Orangefield, Whinlatter, Cirencester and Armagh Park Run. Special shout-out to Matt and Rachel Bell for running at Cirencester, with Matt getting a course PB at 20:24 . Another course PB was Ally Gray at Armagh with a time of 24:44, 3rd fastest finish, and Thomas Steele took 2nd fastest finish at Comber with a time of 18:28!! Well done to everyone on what was a cold and icy morning!!

Saturday also meant Cross County, with our striders travelling to Cookstown for the Irwin Spiers Memorial XC.  Neil Irwin sadly passed away in 2019 and was one of the founding members and coaches of Acorn Athletics Club. Neil also founded the Sperrin Harriers AC and so has a memorable legacy for the running community.

Coming in for the Under 14s was Ethan Lappin with a time of 0:07:02. Following Ethan for the Under 16s was Riley Hanna with a time of 0:14:20.

Our M60 champion was Norman Mawhinney with an impressive time of 0:20:23, brilliant running!

The following Ladies also took part:

Fiona Mcavoy 0:27:22, Amanda Martin 0:27:52, Martina Finn 0:28:16, Beverley Mckee 0:30:29 , Emma McCracken 0:32:47,Jenna Lavery 0:35:20, Cheryl Alexander 0:35:20, Fiona Mcdonald 0:37:03.

For the Men well done to the following runners:  Neil Mearns 00:28:38 Norman Mawhinney 00:29:10 on his 2nd race !! Following was Graeme McGowan 00:29:14, Peter Mcgonigal 00:32:33

Peter Briggs 00:33:44 and Steven Pearson 00:36:32.

On Sunday we had the Annual Festive 4 club run! Due to the continued 'big freeze' we had a last-minute location change from the normal floodgates run to Londonderry Park but as ever us Striders are adaptable and as they say more importantly safety first!! The Fundamentals took a 1.5k loop out and back around the park, the Foundations had a 3k loop and the adults had a 4.5k loop around the park!

Coming in 1st for the Fundamentals boys was Adam Haylett 07;03, followed by Rory Braniff in 2nd place with 07:11 and Joshua Bingham in 3rd  with 07:28. For the girls we had 1st place Keara Simpson 07:29, followed by Phoebe Coey in 2nd place at 08:15 and Lydia Blair in 3rd place with a time of 08:46. Well done to all on some brilliant running!!!

The Foundations then followed, and 1st Place for the Boys was Luke Braniff at a time of 11:12, followed by William Murphy with a time of 13:26. For the girls Willow Farrington came in first at a time of 11:16 followed by Eva Coey with a time of 13:13 and Isabella Haylett with a time of 16:19 , brilliant running!

For the adult race we had our Norman Mawhinney come in first with a time of 14:38! Hot on his heels was Vice Captain Andy Haylett with a time of 14:41 and Colin Harper followed in with a time of 15:06. For the ladies race we had Judith Boyd coming in first at a time of 19:43 following by Gayle Maulaugh at 20:19 and Fiona McAvoy right behind at 20:55.

A fabulous afternoon was had by all, and we would like to thank our volunteers and support crew for their time on the day, without which these events wouldn't be possible. We would also like to thank Graeme for organising such a memorable day and for handling the location change so well, and thanks to the Ivy for hosting our prize giving and treats after!

Our normal Sunday would mean Junior Park Run but due to the weather this was cancelled for safety purposes, but don't worry! This should be back next week!

Scrabo Striders have training sessions Monday - Thursday every week with a social run every Friday night and Sunday Morning, everyone welcome!!