Rock and Roll time for Striders!  

Last Thursday saw our Striders take part in the Air Ambulance 5k run. This run started at 11pm and took part at Belfast City Airport. It gave participants the chance to run along the airport runway and raise funds for air ambulance services. Trevor Woodside was the first strider in with a time of 19:00 and was 14^th place overall. He was followed by Jordan McIntyre with a Course Personal Best of 20:12, Claire McIlveen with 27:16 and Curtis McCosh 24:44.

On Saturday the club had Coach Chris Burns and Penny Hamilton take on the Causeway Coast Half Marathon.  This half marathon starts at finishes at the beautiful coastal village of Portballintrae. The path goes along the Causeway coastal path taking in some of the best views Northern Ireland has to offer.  It was an all-terrain race with grass, rocks, sand, mud and seaweed for Chris and Penny to get through!  Well done to Chris for finishing in a time of 2:50:41 and Penny for 2:50:56.

Saturday also provided an interesting marathon for one of our striders. Maxine Dynes travelled to Kilkenny and took part in the annual Medieval Marathon. The route started at Ormonde Street and took in the historical sights of the City before navigating country roads and heading back in to finish in front of Butler Gallery in the heart of the city! Congratulations to Maxine for completing this historic event in a time of 4:23:22.

On Sunday as part of our 8 strides challenge, a collection of our Striders travelled up to Craigavon to take on the Rock the Lough 5k, 10k and Half Marathon Race. The 5k consisted of one loop of the stunning lakes, the 10k was two loops and the Half involved looping the lakes before heading out to Oxford Island. First in on the 5k race for striders was Bobby McGonigal with a time of 23:48. Next in was Karen Wilson with a time of 26:20, followed by Chris Edwards with 28:21 and Lucy McGonigal with a time of 32:50. Following them was Kim Cochrane (35:04) ,Lynn McGonigal (36:55), George McGonigal (37:02) ,Donna Dugan (38:00) , Dawn Cudworth (41:09) and Sharon Gamble (46:26).

Next was the 10k race, and first in was Colin Harper, with a time of 40:57. Colin was then followed by Craig Simpson (50:40) and Darren Johnston (50:40). Next in was Sonya Summersgill (52:31), followed by Naomi Magowan (54:57), Martina Finn (55:14), Karen Farrelly (55:46), Fiona            McAvoy (55:48), Dee Patterson (56:15), Kathryn Chesney (58:48), Gordie McEwan  (1:02:45) ,Hugh Lyons (01:05:14) and Emma McCracken (01:05:23), The next group in were Mina Darling (01:08:03), Janice McCartney(01:08:12),Elaine McGonigal (01:08:12), Georgia McGonigal                (01:08:12),Cheryl Alexander (01:08:12), and Angie Crone(01:08:13). Next in was Naomi Fleming (01:10:00), Sara McMaster (01:11:27), and Victoria Graham (01:17:24). Well done to Naomi Magowan and Sonya Summersgill on your 10k Personal Bests!

Finally, we had the half marathon race. Men’s captain Matt Bell was in first, with a time of 1:32:41. He was followed by Peter McGonigal (01:49:19), Moses Matovu (02:04:31), Jenna Lavery (02:05:11) and Nicola Forsythe (02:29:22). Great running everyone!

Sunday also saw five of our Striders complete the Clandeboye 10k, which took place at the Clandeboye Estate in Bangor.  First of the five in was Jonathan Keenan ( 54:05), followed by Amanda Martin (54:12), Catherine Lavery (1:06:11), Carli Lindgren (1:12:34) and Janet Mowat (1:23:38).

On Sunday we also had Coach Norman Mawhinney take on the Dumfries Half Marathon, which included the British Masters Half Marathon Championship . Norman won silver in the M65 Category with a time of 1:29:16, well done Coach!

Saturday meant Park Run for the club and we had 55 club members out representing at 12 venues.

Our most popular location was Stormont where 27 Club members appeared to celebrate Chris Edwards 100^th Park Run! We had a number of Course Personal Bests at Stormont including Simon Ferguson (21:22), Luke Braniff (21:33), Heath Farrington (25:01), Martin Conroy (25:48),Sonya Summersgill (26:09), Keara Simpson ( 28:05), Olly Simpson ( 28:53), Calum McCready (29:05) and Gillian Bailie (41:48). Willow Farrington also finished 3^rd Female with a time of 23:50. Peter Doggart got a Personal Best with a time of 23:50! Over at Comber Park run Andrew Caddoo achieved a Personal Best with a time of 25:46. At Bangor Park run we had Cameron McEwan get a Personal Best with a time of 19:17 , and we had two first timers with Richard Bovill completing it in a time of 26:18 and Donna Dugan finishing with a time of 38:49. Clare and James McIlveen also took on Portrush for the first time with times of 29:28  and 51:48! We also had David Morton take on Enniskillen Park Run for the first time with a time of 32:37. Great running everyone!

We also had our Junior Park Run take place on Sunday.  We had 9 runners out at 4 venues. Our most popular location with Comber with 4 club members taking part. Special congratulations to Elijah Ferguson on his 50^th Park run!! Over at Jordanstown Junio Park run Willow Farrington came in with 2^nd with a Course PB of 8:04, followed by Heath Farrington in 3^rd male place with a Course PB of 8:42. Rory Braniff also finished with a Course PB of 8:51.  Maddie Dynes then came in 3^rd Female on her first time at Kilkenny Park Run with a time of 10:58, great running!

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