Striders Weekly Update 11/10/2023
Striders descend on the Windy City!
In another run filled weekend, our striders were out in full force representing our club!
On Sunday, Andy Haylett, Norman Mawhinney, Jonathan Winter, and Jennifer McAteer arrived at the starting line for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. This marathon is a top tier achievement for both elite and everyday runners, with the dream of completing it and running over the finish line at Grant Park. A world record was set, but not just by elite runner Kelvin Kiptum, who finished the race in a time of 2:00:35 and was the first man in history to break the 2:01 barrier, but also by our very own Norman Mawhinney who became the Abbot M65 World Champion!! Norman smashed the marathon in a time of 2:52:16 and can now add this to his list of achievements as he is also a NI Champion, Irish Champion, and British Champion over various distances!! Next up was our current club captain Andy Haylett, who finished the race in an impressive time of 3:03:48 and achieved a 5-minute Personal Best! Following Andy was Jonathan Winter with a time of 3:58:24 and finally Jennifer McAteer finished with a time of 6:28:32. Well done to all our runners on what was a truly memorable day!
On Saturday we also had the Run Galway Bay Marathon take place. The race started at Cladagh Road, then out along Graftan Road and then along Promenade Road. It is known as a very fast and flat course which is perfect for Personal Best attempts, and our Thomas Steele went and achieved a 10-minute Personal Best with a time of 2:47:56!! He also finished 5th place out of all those taking part. Well done Thomas on a massive achievement!!! Maxine Dynes also took up the challenge and completed the marathon in 6:24:35, well done!
Up North we had our striders take place in the 12th Annual Gr8 Dundrum Run, organised by Murlough AC. The race is organised alongside the National trust and is one of the ever-popular races on the running calendar! There were two races for runners to take part in. The 8.4mile route consisted of road, beach, and boardwalks around the beautiful scenery of Dundrum and the 3.5mile run was primarily on the road. On the 8.4 mile route we had James Cole Boyle come in first for the striders with a time of 58:44 followed by Graeme McGowan 1:01:28 , George Johnston 01:08:01, Penny Hamilton 1:11:28, Michael Williams 1:12:10, Darren Johnston 01:13:25, Graeme Farrington 1:14:22, Chris Edwards 1:15:27 and Karen Wilson with a time of 1:26:37. In the 3.5miles run , we had Luke Braniff finish first for the striders with a time of 24:58, followed by Willow Farrington with a time of 25:00 ,who also came in 2nd Female! Zara Johnston then followed with a time of 30:39 and finally Stephen Braniff came in with a time of 37:46. Well done to all runners on another challenging race!
Park Run also took place on Saturday. We had 57 runners out at 14 venues. Comber again proved to be most popular, with 15 club members taking part. Curtis McCaw came in first place on his home turf with a time of 18:21, and Rory Braniff achieved a Personal Best with a time of 25:48, as did Gillian Kerr with a time of 34:32! At Rostrevor we had Matt Bell and Rachell Bell take the course on for the first time and Rachel came in first female and Matt, 2nd place! At Waterworks Richard Bovill got a Course Personal Best with a time of 28:29. At Dunleath Playing Fields Karen Wilson got a PB with a time of 29:21 and Course Personal Bests were also achieved by Matt Halus , who also came in first with a time of 19:02 and Chris Edwards with a time of 24:59. At Bangor Park Run we also had a park run milestone with Rachel Boyle running her 50th Park Run!! Well done Rachel! At Crawfordsburn Martin Conroy got a Course Personal Best with 28:33. Special shout out to all our first timers at their respective Park Runs, nothing beats some Park Run tourism!!!
Junior Park Run took place on Sunday. We had 16 runners out participating at 2 venues. As usual Comber was our most popular venue with 11 club members running there! Hamish Orr- Stewart
came in first place with a time of 08:38, Joe Brown came in 3rd male with a time of 09:01. Keara Simpson achieved a Personal Best with a time of 09:41, and she also came in 3rd female! Harriet Frazer also obtained a Personal Best with a time of 13:59. Over at Bangor Junior Park Run we had Willow Farrington place as 2ND Female with a time of 08:16. Brilliant running everyone!!We should also thank our volunteers for all their help with Park Run as without volunteers Park Run does not h happen!
Special shout out also to Lynn McGonigal, Sharon Gamble , Janice McCartney and Dawn Cudworth who also took part in the Cancer Focus Pink Run on Sunday. This was not a competitive race but a fun run raising funds for Breast Cancer Support Services. The course was at Titanic slipways with a live DJ and lots of volunteers with pink powder!!
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. Details can be found on our website, and all will be made welcome!