GREYabbey changed to PURPLE this weekend!

Friday night saw our Striders head down the peninsula to participate in Round the Springs, a 5km/10km race organised by Gaithouse Events. The route went around Greyabbey town, out Carrowdore Road, down spring lane which borders Mount Stewart, onto the Newtownards Road and back towards Greyabbey. The course had hills, but our striders love a hill! Coming in first for the striders was Thomas Steele, who finished the 10km race with a time of 36:52 and was M40 Winner! Next to finish was our M65 Winner Norman Mawhinney with a time of 38:50. Arriving in first for the striders in the 5km race was Matt Bell, with a time of 19:59, followed by Luke Braniff with a time of 22:04 and Rachel Bell who finished as 2^nd female overall in the 5km race with a time of 22:31!  Course Personal Bests were achieved in the 5km race by both Natasha Graham with a time of 31:02 and Kim Cochrane with a time of 35:01. Congratulations to Mairead Curran who also got a 5K Personal Best with a time of 40:22! Great running from everyone!

Saturday saw The Abbey Tiles Greyabbey Endurance challenge take place. Nealy 80 runners took part in the challenge, organised by Gaithouse Events, and we are proud to say that the Scrabo Striders had the largest club representation at the event. The course itself consisted of a 5.65km loop around the Greyabbey Estate which has been under the ownership of the Montgomery family for 400 years.  The course is a mix of gravel, forest trails and open barley filled with some climbs. Due to the recent weather, it was initially muddy underfoot but once the sun made an appearance the course dried up and humidity in the forest rose. The change in temperatures would have been a challenge for our runners taking part.  The winner completed the most loops in their allocated time slots of 3,6 or 12 hours. Well done to Jenny Taylor who completed 28.09 miles in the 6 hour challenge, following by Amanda Martin with 24.57 miles. Carli Lingen, Judith Boyd and Sonya Summergill ran 21.06 followed by Jennifer McAtter with 14.04. Taking on the 3 hour challenge was Dean McGhee who completed 17.55 miles followed by Norman Mawhinney with 14.04 miles. Paul Blair and Louise Barnes both completed 10.53 miles, a brilliant achievement.

We also had Park Run on Saturday and there was a total number of 54 people out running at 10 venues! Comber was the most popular park run as 32 striders arrived there to take part in the park run which also hosted the Couch to 5k graduates!  Curtis McCaw finished in 2^nd place with a time of 18:50. Both Daniel Barnes and Maddie Dynes achieved Personal Bests with times of 34:51 and 36:16. Kim Cochrane also achieved a Course Personal Best with a time of 35:31. Special shout out to both Rachel Bell and sister Katie Lyttle who both dressed up in scrubs , complete with masks to take on Park Run in recognition of 75 years of the NHS.

Over at Stormont Park Run we had 5 runners participating, well done to Chris Burns on another PB 23:38, brilliant running! At Wallace Park Parkrun Willow Farrington finished 2^nd place on her first time there! Well done to Karen Wilson whole also got a Course Personal Best with a time of 32:40. Another special shoutout to Martin Conroy who completed his first parkrun at Portrush with a time of 39:06. We should also applaud all our runners who went to visit new park runs including newlyweds Allie and Liam who visited Rostrevor Park Run, congratulations guys and I hope you enjoyed your big day!  

Junior Park Run also took place on Sunday, with 13 runners at 2 venues! Comber was, as always, our most popular location with 9 members running! Delighted to say Rory Braniff came 2^nd place with a time of 9:08. Keara Simpson finished as 1^st Female with a time of 10:21 followed by Phoebe Coey in 2^nd place and Lydia Blair in 3^rd place, brilliant running everyone!  Well done to Daniel Barnes who also got a PB with a time of 11:38. We also should give a special shout out to Parker Clements, who ran his very first park run, with mum Emma for support.  Over at Bangor Parkrun we had Willow Farrington finish in 2^nd place with a time of 8:19, and Maisie McNamara got a Personal Best with a time 16:24, well done everyone!

Scrabo Striders meet every Monday – Thursday for coach led training sessions with a Trails run on Sunday evening. We also meet every Friday evening and Sunday morning for an all-abilities social run in Newtownards Town Centre (at the square) and have a cuppa after.   Training has commenced for both our club only endurance event Last Strider Standing and for the Ards 5-mile challenge which is open to all. The Ards 5 mile event is due to take place 8^th September 2023 and runs out along the Portaferry Road before turning off and hitting those countryside hills before finishing back in Londonderry Park. Why not give it a try?

By Naomi Fleming.