Striders go coastal at Ardglass!

Last Wednesday our Striders headed down the coast to the fishing village of Ardglass for both the 5km and 10km race. The race which had just under 100 participants was organised by Ardglass Festival Association & Atlas Running and was chip timed with prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Male and Female. The course started and finished at St Nicholas Primary School and whilst there were beautiful views along the route, we also had our favourite hills to contend with!  Louise Barnes took on the 5k race with her son Daniel and both finished with a time of 27:07. Norman Mawhinney took on the 10k race and swiftly finished in 2nd place with a time of 39:56. Brilliant running all!

On Saturday our Striders hosted the annual Run the Trails event at the ever-picturesque Mount Stewart. The 2024 races included 2km, 5km, 10km and half marathon distances to choose from.  All the races started and finished at the front of Mount Stewart House with the 5km and 10km being one loop courses and the Half marathon being 2 loops around the trails.

First in for Scrabo Striders in the 5km race was Trevor Woodside who finished with a flying time of 20:30 and was in 3rd place overall , followed by James Cole – Boyle with a time of 21:56 and Luke Braniff of 23:15. Following Luke was David Stevenson (23:50), Gus Forster (24:44), Willow Farrington (24:55)Martin Strachan (25:30) Alison Busby(26:45),Gayle Mari-Anne (27:32),Paul Blair (27:51) Steven Hanna (28:37),Maxine Dynes (30:14)Alyson Lee (30:45) Clare McIlveen (31:05) Ian Frazer (31:20) ,Faye Alexander (32:01) Marilyn Kennedy (35:36) Emma Conroy (36:28), Linda Ingram (36:58), Eva Alexander (37:34), Angie Crone (38:17), Kim Cochrane (40:43) , Aimee Braniff (41:58), Gillian Kerr (41:58), Luke Mars (42:20), Hannah Magee (42:41), Cathy Allen (43:19), Allie Farley (48:29), Liam Rodger (48:30), Kathryn Chesney (48:58), Gillian Bailie ( 50:36) & Amy Forsythe (53:06)

In the 10km race, the first Strider in was Michael Warke with a warp speed time of 44:28, followed closely by Gareth Davies with an impressive time of 44:35 and Colin Harper with a speedy time of 44.43! Following Colin was Simon Ferguson (45:37), Jonny Swann (47:11), Niall McIver (48:54), Michael Burgess (52:07), Colin Thompson (36:02), Colin Verth  (53:40) Peter McGonigal, (54:08), Russ Armour (55:48)  Karen Collins (56:11), Matthew Halus (56:58), Rebecca Robinson (57:26), Penny Hamilton (57:33), Graeme Farrington (57:50), Darren Johnston (58:03), Michael Williams (58:04), Judith Boyd (59:25), Sonya Summersgill (59:25), Emma Clements (59:35), Dee Patterson (01:00:13), Louise Barnes ( 01:00:16), Craig Simpson (01:00:16), Mark Halus(01:01:42) ,Naomi Magowan (01:02:14), Alison Shanks (01:02:08), Karen Wilson (01:02:35), Rachel Boyle (01:02:38), Sarah Luce (01:03:25), Beverley McKee (01:04:30), Lyndsey Blair (01:05:49), Kurtis Hunter (01:06:34), Karen Warnock (01:07:01), Michelle Ennis (01:08:01), Janice McCartney (01:10:42), Kris William (01:10:48), Georgia McGonigal (01:12:36), Jenna Lavery (01:12:36), Cheryl Alexander (01:12:37), Glynis Poots (01:14:09), Chris Edwards (01:21:47), Janet Mowat (01:25:17) ,Frances Wills  (01:25:170, Jennifer McAteer (01:29:34), Donna Dugan (01:31:42) & Cheryl Macartney (01:36:30).

In the Half Marathon, the first strider in was our very own Vice Captain Matt Bell with a time of 1.:35:20 followed by Jordan McIntyre with a time of 1:53:07. Following on from Jordan was Amanda Martin (02:07:13), Louise Hinds (02:07:52) &Martin Conroy (02:17:46).

In the 2km race, the first strider in was Joshua Bingham with a time of 8:24, followed by Heath Farrington with a tie of 8:29 and Rory Braniff with a time of 8:34. Following Rory was Dougie Forster (08:34) ,Harry McCready (08:55), Keara Simpson (09:04), Zara Johnston  (09:14), James Stevenson (09:46), Elijah Ferguson (10:00), Michael Bingham (10:10),Phoebe Coey (10:12),Sophia Kathryn Rea (10:17), Reuben Cole-Boyle (10:30), Calum McCready (10:33), Maddie Dynes (10:39), Olly Simpson (00:10:39), Micah Boyd (10:50), Parker Clements (10:50), Peter Kearns (11:38), Lyla McNamara (11:49), Katie Roulston(11:53),Harriet Frazer (12:36), Penelope Davies 12:39), Maria Kearns(12:43), Lydia Blair (12:44), Nathaniel Frazer (13:30), Annabelle Cole-Boyle (13:33),Oscar Cole-Boyle (13:34), Maisie McNamara (15:23), Grace Busby (15:27) &Rory Rea (19:02).

Saturday meant Park Run for the club and we had 43 club members out representing at 15 venues.

Comber was our most popular park run, and Andrew Caddoo and Olly Simpson both achieved new Personal Bests with times of 27:27 and 27:47!  Keeping it in the family Keara Simpson got a Course Personal Best with a time of 27:16 and Ben McCracken ran for the first time with a time of 25:39. We also had Victoria Sloan run for the first time at Hillsborough Forest with a time of 35:13 ,Paul Blair at Montalto with a time of 28:08,  Michael Burgess and Cheryl McCartney at Castlebar with ties of 22:49 and 45:39,  Richard Bovill at the Fishermans Park Run with a time of 24:30 and Barry Tate at The Cinder Track Parkrun with a time of 31:53. Brilliant running and ‘kudos’ for trying out a new venue!

We also had our Junior Park Run take place on Sunday.  We had 11 runners out at 2 venues. Our most popular location with Comber with 7 club members taking part.  Maddie Dynes got a PB with a new time of 11:06 at Comber and Joshua Bingham came in 3rd Male with a time of 9:18 and Keara Simpson finished as 3rd Female participant with a time of 10:34.

Scrabo Striders is an all-inclusive running club for all abilities with training sessions Monday- Thursday each week. We also have social runs on both a Friday night and Sunday morning with the obligatory coffee afterwards! Details can be found on our Facebook page.

By Naomi Fleming