From Greyabbey to Canada: Scrabo Striders are out in full force

By Amy Forsythe

Greyabbey Estate was the scene of an exciting endurance challenge this week, which sees runners take on a 5.5km trail. The challenge is to complete as many laps in a 3,6 or 12 hour timeframe.

19 Striders took to the peninsula to take part and represent the purple pack.

The 12 hour Challenge was completed by three Striders, all completing over 10 laps of 5.5km in the 12 hour window.

David Parkinson completed 14 laps, the most of any Strider taking part. He completed lap 1 in just 36.59. Greame Black managed a phenomenal 10 laps of the course, along with Jenny Taylor who also completed 10 laps in 7.30.17.

The 6 hour timeframe was completed by 5 Striders, with Matt Bell completing 11 laps of 5.5km in 5.59.07. Rachel Bell came in shortly behind, completing 9 laps in 5.50.03.

Head Coach Sonya Summersgill also took part, completing 7 laps in 6 hours, along with Judith Boyd who also completed 7 laps. Colin Campbell was shortly behind, coming in with 3 laps.

The 3 hour challenge was the most popular, with 11 striders taking part. Trevor Woodside completed 5 laps in 2.38.00, with Heather Baron following behind with 5 laps in 2.56.46.

Colin Verth, Curtis Adams and Katy Lyttle all completed the challenge with an astonishing 4 laps of the 5.5km route.

Also completing 4 laps was Naomi Magowan, who came in at 2.42.16, Mark Arnold (2.48.52) and Clare McIlveen (2.50.22).

Sheen Crone came over the line in 2.24.29 after completing 3 laps, alongside her was Lynn McGonigal (2.38.32) and Sharon Gamble (2.38.40) who both managed to do 2 laps of the course. A fantastic effort from all involved.

Norman Mawhinney grabbed another award to add to his growing collection this week when he attended An Carn Mountain 5k. Norman came 17th overall with an astonishing 26.15, and won the first 50+ male award.

And he didn’t stop there - Termonfeckin Half Marathon on Sunday also saw another milestone for Norman as he took home an M60 win with 1.30.12.

The usual Saturday morning Parkrun fixture was attended by 61 Striders, travelling across Northern Ireland, the republic, Europe and Canada.

The most popular location was Bangor, with 13 runners representing the Striders. Cameron McEwan achieved a PB at 19.38, with Russell Armour coming in shortly behind at 24.35, claiming a course PB.

Two other striders achieved a Personal Best finish this week: Heath Farrington at Rostrevor came in at 25.20, and Glenn Campbell at Victoria Park crossed the line in 27.21.

Three Runners also represented Striders in County Cavan on Saturday. Darren (24.46), Zara (28.05), and Elaine Johnston (41.36) all completed the 5K race in Con Smith.

Michael Burgess and Cheryl MaCartney took part in another episode of Parkrun Tourism this week, travelling to Ziegelweisse in Germany. Captain Michael came in 2nd place at 23.30, with Cheryl completing the course in 43.24.

The furthest Parkrunners this week took to River Valley in Edmonton, Canada. Club Captain Lyndsey, and Paul Blair took part in the weekly 5k on Saturday - with Paul coming in at 26.36, and Lyndsey at 29.49.

Scrabo Striders Running Club has four coach led sessions every week (Monday-Thursday) and a trail run on Sunday evenings. There are also non coach led runs on Friday evenings and Sunday mornings usually followed by an obligatory coffee. To find out more information visit scrabostriders.com.