Sunday was the culmination of many months of training for runners from clubs across the country and further afield, as the 2024 Belfast City Marathon set off from Stormont Estate. Amongst a field of almost 4400 runners taking on the full 26.2 miles was an impressive contingent of 55 Scrabo Striders.

First Strider across the finish line was Norman Mawhinney in a time of 2:58:57; within 30 seconds of his time in London Marathon just two weeks ago, and true to usual form comfortably taking first place in the M65 age category. The next Striders storming into Ormeau Park were Andy Haylett in 3:02:07, and Colin Harper in 3:13:51, both claiming marathon Personal Best (PB) times. Closely following Colin was Matt Bell in 3:15:48, followed by Ismail Karauzum with an incredible debut marathon time of 3:20:51.

Next in was Dave Stevenson (3:25:04), followed by another impressive debut time of 3:32:42 by Francis Gilmore. Catherine Cauley was the Club’s first lady finisher in 3:33:11, with Abrar Hossain following in in 3:34:44, and a PB from Michael Warke in 3:36:59. The sub-3:45 finishes were rounded out by Graeme Black (3:40:47), James Cole-Boyle with a PB of 3:41:34, and Jordan McIntyre with a marathon debut of 3:41:38.

Gary Lyttle crossed the line in 3:45:01, followed by Gareth Davies (3:45:51) and Chris Burns with a PB of 3:49:35. Jenny Taylor was next (3:54:08), with Manny Farrelly (3:54:51) and George Johnston (3:57:45) completing the sub-4 pack.

Finishing in 4:04:36 was Michael Burgess, followed by Rachel Bell (4:10:36), Maxine Dynes (4:19:26), Steven Hanna (4:27:08), Penny Hamilton (4:27:54) and Darren Johnston on his first marathon in 4:29:14. Next in was a PB from Emma Stewart (4:35:35), followed by 2 first timers in Michael Williams (4:37:26) and Craig Simpson just 3 seconds later in 4:37:29. Not far behind was Rachel Boyle (4:38:03) and Graeme McGowan crossing the line in 4:38:45.

Two more first timers were the Club’s next finishers, with Curtis Adams and Katie Lyttle crossing the line together in 4:42:20 and 4:42:21. Louise Barnes achieved a PB time of 4:43:43, followed by Peter Gray (4:44:46), Christopher Murdock (4:46:55) and Lyndsey Blair (4:48:59).

First time marathoner Dee Patterson was next in with a time of 4:52:04, followed by Colin Campbell (4:57:57), then three more first timers in Karen Warnock (5:01:46), Jenna Lavery (5:07:50) and Natasha Graham in 5:11:36, closely followed by Moses Matovu (5:11:41), Peter McGonigal (5:11:43), Michele Ennis with a PB of 5:16:09, and Emma McCracken in 5:35:20.

Congratulations to all 55 runners for taking on the challenge and representing the club so well; particularly the 12 first marathoners and 8 achieving personal bests!

Running alongside those taking on the full 26.2 miles individually were over 2350 relay teams, each with 5 runners taking on a leg ranging from 4.1 miles to 7.4 miles. The club had 38 runners in various relay teams, either entirely comprised of club mates, or those running with colleagues, friends or family. First club member relay team to finish was the aptly named “Scrabo Strider” with an aggregate time of 3:44:01, comprised of Karen Wilson, Trevor Woodside, Clare McIlveen, Beverley McKee and Alison Shanks.

Mark and Matthew Halus both ran with “Teva NI Team B” with an aggregate finish time of 3:49:11. “Straight In” (Cheryl Hunter, Gary Clarke, Johnny Wray, Gordon Coutts and Emma Clements) were the next team of Striders in 3:51:15, followed in 4:16:14 by “Lost Striders” (Cathie Lowry, Colin Verth, Sarah Luce, Gayle Malaugh and Chris Edwards). Vanessa Mannis ran as part of “The Hardcores” (4:20:15), while Janet Mowat completed Leg 3 for “Willis 2” contributing to an aggregate time of 4:21:40, and Jonathan Bull ran Leg 2 for “Fleming1” for a total time of 4:35:35.

“Ards Angels” was another team comprised entirely of Striders, with Naomi Davidson, Karen Farrelly, Joanne Wray, Caroline Dwyer and Karen Clarke clocking in an overall time of 4:37:14. Sharon Gamble ran the final leg for “StComgallsPS1” contributing to an overall time of 4:38:33, while Louise Booth did the same for “NAS1” for an aggregate finish of 4:44:46.

Jilly Coey, Graeme Farrington, Aimee Braniff, Gillian Kerr and Stephen Braniff ran as “Notsofastfeet” for a finish time of 4:46:15, while Karen Thompson helped “NAS2” to achieve and aggregate time of 5:25:55. The final Strider team in the relay comprised Amy Forsythe, Nicola Forsythe, Lorraine McMaster, Sara McMaster and Kim Cochrane, running as “Not Fast Just Furious” and finishing in 5:37:29. Well done to all!

On Monday, Amanda Martin participated in the Bannister Community Mile in Oxford. The one-mile event marked 70 years to the day since Sir Roger Bannister first broke the 4-minute mile barrier.

Even with all the marathon activity, parkruns remained popular this weekend, particularly in Comber where 34 club members turned out for Keara Simpson’s 25^th 5K parkrun. Among the Comber runners were PBs from Alyson Lee, Olly Simpson, Lydia Blair and Rachel Brown, as well as Course PBs from Sarah Luce, Faye Alexander and Maddie Dynes. Elsewhere, PBs were had by Cameron McEwan at Bangor, and Sonya Summersgill at Stormont, where Karen Wilson claimed a Course PB. Course PBs were also had by Richard Bovill in Garvagh Forest and Karen Thompson at Montalto. Georgia McGonigal also celebrated her 25^th parkrun milestone with a visit to Castlewellan parkrun for the first time.

On Sunday at junior parkruns, while many parents were off running or supporting Belfast Marathon, Hamish Orr-Stewart claimed 2^nd place overall at the 2k event in Comber where Nathaniel Frazer also ran, while Lyla Rose McNamara ran at Antrim Castle Gardens for the first time.

Scrabo Striders Running Club offers up to four training sessions per week for anyone, from first time 5K-er to seasoned ultra-runner, with all abilities training together in an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere. New members are welcome at any time to come and try a few sessions free of charge before committing to membership, so why not get in touch and give it a go? More information on scrabostriders.com or by searching Scrabo Striders on Facebook.