It was another busy week for Striders both locally and across the water.

Some of the Striders stars of the future had a chance to shine at the North Down Mini Meets at Bangor Sportsplex on Wednesday night. Eight Fundamentals took part in this, across P5, P6 and P7 races. In the P5 races the sole girl to take part, Lydia Blair completed the girls 60m in 12.9 seconds. In the boys’ races Heath Farrington ran the 60m in 11.9 seconds and Calum McCready finished in 14.1. Heath also completed the 600m in 2 minutes 38.2 seconds. In the P6 races Olly Simpson and Hamish Orr-Stewart took part in both the 600m and the 60m. In the 60m Hamish finished in 11.1 seconds while Olly finished his race in 11.6 seconds. Hamish completed the 600m in 2:07.7 with Olly completing it in 2:48.0. Hamish also took part in the long jump with a distance of 2.62m and in the shot putt Olly threw a fantastic 4.26m to take home the 3rd place medal. In the P7 races, Adam Haylett, James Stevenson and Rory Braniff all took part in the 600m, Adam finishing his race in 2:18.9, Rory in 2:23.0 and James in 2:36.7. All 3 also took part in the long jump, Adam jumping 2.02m, James 1.81m and Rory 1.7m. Rory and James also took part in the 60m with Rory finishing his race in 10.3 seconds and James finishing in 10.6 and Adam took part in the shot putt recording a throw of 4.4m.

The 6th race of the Hill and Dale Series, Luke’s, took place on Thursday at Meelmore Lodge. A 7.2km race with 500m of elevation, club mountain goat Ismail Karauzum took part, finishing in 51:04.4.

On Saturday, three Striders travelled to Ballyclare to take part in the 10k taking place there as part of the town’s May Fair celebrations. Described as an undulating course the first Strider across the line was Maxine Dynes in 54:02. Karen Collins soon followed in 55:56 and Gordie McEwan came home in 1:00:23.

On Sunday two Striders made the short journey across the water to take on Edinburgh marathon. Described as a flat, fast course beginning in the city before heading out towards Musselburgh, Norman Mawhinney had a 12th consecutive sub 3 marathon finish coming home in 2:59:37, picking up yet another age category win. Michael Warke also had a strong run, finishing in 3:28:48.

Closer to home, fifteen Striders headed for a flat and fast half marathon and 10k course in Newry. In the 10k, a straight 5k out and 5k back along the dual carriageway, the first Strider to cross the line was Trevor Woodside with 41:12. Karen Wilson finished with a course PB of 55:40, closely followed by Sarah Luce with a new PB of 56:32. Clare McIlveen finished in 1:01:02, soon followed by Natasha Graham running a PB of 1:01:22. Chris Edwards finished in 1:03:40, Jennifer McAteer in 1:12:50 and Karen Thompson in 1:25:50.

In the half, which diverted to an industrial estate before following the same direction as the 10k and further along the carriageway, the first Strider home was Colin Harper with a course PB of 1:29:24. Abrar Hossain finished with a course PB of 1:34:53. Peter Stevens crossed the line in 1:43:40, Peter McGonigal came home in 1:44:41, closely followed by Jonathan Winter in 1:45:48. Jill Long finished in 2:08:31 while Graeme McGowan, running as pacer to bring people in under 2:20 crossed the line in 2:19:26.

Seven Striders headed to Stormont to take on the Race for Life 5k and 10k. Jenny Taylor completed the 5k in 21:50. Vanessa Mannis, Emma and Parker Clements and Mariead Curran also completed the 5k. (times not known).

The 10k which consisted of two loops of the 5k course (surprisingly not including ascending the famous “big hill”) was completed by Karen Clarke in 1:04:43 and Lorraine Adams in 1:06.

Many Striders also incorporated their Sunday social run into a breakfast run fundraiser for Marie Curie organised by Lesley Moreland from neighbouring club Ballydrain Harriers. Well done to all who took part in this run for an excellent cause, helping to raise a

Comber parkrun was the popular destination this week as Striders turned out in force for 25th parkrun milestones for Craig Simpson, who ran in 24:01 and Calum McCready who got a course PB of 30:42. It was a first visit to Comber parkrun for Trevor Woodside (20:40) and parkrun PBs for Sonya Summersgill (27:18) and Rachel Brown (32:58). At Crawfordsburn there were course PBs for Peter Doggart (25:11) and Alison Shanks (28:11). At pacer week at Stormont Louise Barnes grabbed a course PB of 25:45 and Graeme Farrington ran a course PB at Victoria parkrun (25:11). Gavin McDonnell was a first timer at Montalto Estate, running 36:41, Norman Mawhinney visited Edinburgh (28:42) and Ally Gray made a first visit to Dungannon Park finishing 3rd female in 25:06.

For junior parkrun there were course PBs for the Frazer family at Lough Moss with Harriet running 13:43 and Nathaniel running 14:17. At Jordanstown a debut run for Luke Braniff in 7:59 gained him first finisher. Willow Farrington was second with a course PB of 8:06. Rory Braniff ran 9:11 on his debut run and Heath Farrington was close behind with a course PB of 9:17.

The ever popular but challenging Ards Half Marathon and Walk takes place on 28 June and entries are still available. Also open for entry is the beautifully scenic Run the Trails race at Mount Stewart which takes place on 3 August with 5k, 10k and half marathon options available, as well as a 2k run for under 16s. For more information on both races please visit scrabostriders.com or search Scrabo Striders on Facebook.