With the school holidays beginning it was quiet on the race front but there was still no deterrent to purple vests turning up at races.

Norman Mawhinney flew the flag for the Striders at the “Afternoon of 3000s” held at Mary Peters Track by Annadale Striders. Finishing in 10:52, Norman smashed the Irish M65 3k record by over a minute. And like most weekends, one race wasn’t enough for Norman this weekend; on Sunday he travelled to Ardboe to take part in the Great Rossa Run. On a course that could definitely be described as undulating, complete with an “endless” final mile, Norman finished in 39:12, scoring himself an M60 category win.

Jonathan Winter didn’t let being on holidays deter him racing as he took part in the Calgary Stampede half marathon. With an altitude of just over 1000m above sea level including a few hills and forest paths along the lakeside, Jonathan finished this challenging but scenic half in 1:50:33.

Calgary also happened to be the parkrun destination this weekend for the Blair family as Paul, Lyndsey and Lydia all took part in Nose Hill parkrun, with Paul finishing in 28:12, Lyndsey in 28:41 and Lydia coming in with the tail runner in 1:00:33. Sarah Luce McCready also fit in a holiday parkrun by visiting Clermont parkrun in Florida for the first time where she completed her 50th event in 29:53. Matt Bell also had a debut parkrun while away, taking on Lymington Woodside parkrun and finishing in 19:49. Closer to home there were debut parkruns at Bangor for Michael Warke, who gained a parkrun PB finishing in 20:06 and Lyla Rose McNamara bagging a PB in 34:04, Hillsborough Forest for Richard Bovill (25:16), Colin Glen for Amanda Martin (28:04) and Fisherman’s Walk for Darren Johnston (24:41), Zara Johnston (28:22) and Ashlyn Allen (31:22). There were milestones at Comber for Elijah Ferguson completing his very first parkrun in 28:07 and Jasmine Holden completing her 50th parkrun in 29:44 and Ben McCracken also ran his 50th parkrun at Stormont in a time of 26:56. Comber saw PBs for Karen Collins (24:42) and Sharon Murdoch (30:50) and Graeme McGowan ran a course PB at Orangefield of 21:50. With the club takeover taking place Montalto Estate parkrun was the most popular venue this weekend with it being a first visit for 20 of the 21 Striders who took part. Andy Haylett was first Strider across the line in 20:58 finishing 3rd overall. Despite the undulating nature of the route it didn’t deter Heath Farrington from getting an overall parkrun PB of 26:06. It was also a first run at Montalto Estate for Luke Braniff (23:37), Willow Farrington (25:36), George Johnston (25:50), Graeme Farrington (26:39), Peter Doggart (27:48), Martin Conroy (29:43), Rory Braniff (30:37), Glenn Campbell (30:59), Keara Simpson (32:46), Craig Simpson (32:47), Adam Haylett (33:16), Clare McIlveen (33:17), Olly Simpson (33:39), Chris Millar (35:19), Stephen Braniff (37:13), Aimee Braniff (41:17), James McIlveen (45:49) and Donna Dugan (1:01:55). Well done to all those who volunteered as well making it a successful takeover. There were also great performances by Striders at Castlewellan, Citypark, Waterworks and Ormeau parkruns this weekend.

At junior parkrun, there was a first place finish for Keara Simpson at Comber, as she crossed the line in 10:21. Bangor brought an overall PB for Nathaniel Frazer finishing in 11:12 and Lyla Rose McNamara got a Course PB of 12:25. Jordanstown parkrun saw a second place finish for Rory Braniff with a course PB of 9:04 and the Farringtons made the trip to Lurgan for the first time where Willow finished in 8:23 as second female across the line and Heath finished in 9:09.

This week also saw the awarding of the Boyd Rice Solicitors Member of the Month for June. The Male Member of the Month award went to Ismail. Since joining the club earlier this year Ismail has been a regular at training sessions and recently completed his Leader in Running Fitness Course and joined the Striders coaching team. In May and June, he completed eight of the ten races in the Newcastle AC Hill and Dale series, finishing the series second in his age category.

In June, he also completed Lisburn Half Marathon, Ards Half Marathon, and Mullaghcarn Giant Race. All this was shortly after completing his first marathon in Belfast in May!

The female Member of the Month went to Georgia McGonigal. Fresh off a half marathon PB at Glenarm in May (only a month after her first ever half in Prague) Georgia took part in the Mozart City Trail run in Austria completing a very hilly trail 9km. At the Co Down 5k she topped off a fantastic PB performance by also finishing as first female in her race. She followed this up with a 10k PB the following week in Comber, breaking 60 minutes for the first time and also had a strong performance just two days later at the Belfast City 10k. As well as these and the club anniversary race, she found time to travel to another new parkrun, adding to her list of over 20 tourist locations since she joined the club just last year. A regular attendee at club training and at Run Hub classes her hard work is definitely paying off. Congratulations to Ismail and Georgia on well-deserved awards this month.

Entries are still open for the remaining Scrabo Striders open races. On 3rd August Run the Trails takes place at the beautiful Mount Stewart estate. This event offers a junior 2km event as well as a 5k, 10k and half marathon, so there is something for everyone. On Friday 6th September the Ards 5 mile takes place following the road out to Portaferry before coming back in towards Loughries and returning via Bowtown Road. For more information on how to sign up please visit scrabostriders.com or Scrabo Striders Running Club Facebook Page. As the two previous races have already sold out be sure to sign up soon to avoid disappointment.