Runners waited with bated breath this weekend for news of whether the predicted high winds of Storm Ashley would lead to the cancellation of a number of events. Luckily the winds eased off during the day on Sunday allowing most events to proceed as planned. The main race of the weekend for members of Scrabo Striders was the Saintfield 5 and 10K, hosted by Saintfield Striders. With a field of over 400 runners across the two distances, this popular event once again boasted excellent hospitality afterwards.

As the last event in Scrabo Striders’ 8 Strides club competition, the race saw a large contingent of the purple crew, with the Club picking up the trophy for best representation thanks to the 61 entrants.

In the 5K which was an out and back along Downpatrick Street and Listooder Road, the Club’s first finisher was Jenny Taylor in 23:10, followed by Harry McCready (24:13), Vanessa Mannis (25:33), Karen Collins (26:33), Keara Simpson (26:43), Judith Boyd (27:08), Sonya Summersgill (27:07), Fiona McAvoy (27:47), Olli Seeger (27:52), Maddie Dynes with a PB of 28:53, Maxine Dynes (28:54), Martina Finn (28:55), Karen Farrelly (29:11; Course PB), Kathryn Chesney (29:07), Faye Alexander (30:12), Georgia McGonigal (30:21), Peter McGonigal (30:21), Emma Lyttle (32:56), Hugh Lyons (32:51), Cheryl Alexander (32:49), Emma McCracken (33:53), Elaine McGonigal (33:52), Janet Mowat (36:06), Jennifer McAteer (36:35), Lesley Petrushkin (36:44), Mina Darling (36:41), Stephen Braniff (38:03), Kim Cochrane (38:22) and Gillian Bailie (44:07).

The 10K route headed out of town along the Ballynahinch Road and Ballylone Road before turning onto Peartree Road to link up to the latter section of the 5K route to the finish line. First Strider to complete the route was Norman Mawhinney in a time of 40:53, followed by Trevor Woodside (41:41), Daniel Warke (42:08), Matthew Halus (44:17), Graeme McGowan (44:18), Niall McIver (44:19), Luke Braniff with a PB of 44:39, Colin Harper (45:04), Abrar Hossain (47:34), Mark Halus (49:24), Heather Baron (50:02), Craig Simpson (51:35), Andrew Caddoo (51:42), Darren Johnston (52:32), Emma Stewart (52:51; Course PB), Rebecca Robinson (54:36), Michael Williams (56:56), Naomi Magowan (57:22), Clare McIlveen (57:57), Alyson Lee (58:25), Sarah Luce (58:36), Michael Warke (59:21), Lyndsey Blair (01:01:25), Beverley McKee (01:01:46), Karen Wilson (01:02:40), Noel Angus (01:04:06), David Morton (01:07:04), Carli Lindgren (01:07:48), Sara McMaster (01:14:31), Nicola Forsythe (01:14:31) and Lorna Angus (01:20:26).

For those favouring muddier conditions, the 3rd race of the cross country season was on offer at Billy Neill Country Park in Comber. The Even Age Groups & Bobby Rea International Cross Country offered a number of races for different age and category groups, with Scrabo Striders being represented in the U10 and U12 boys, and Senior men’s events. In the 1KM U10 race, Angus Orr-Stewart crossed the line in 4:23, very closely followed by Michael Bingham in 4:25. The under 12 race added an extra 500m to the total distance, which Hamish Orr-Stewart completed in 4:57, followed by Joshua Bingham in 5:24. In the senior men’s race, the gruelling 8km was taken on by Matt Bell who crossed the line in 36:19, followed by club coach Ismail in 37:11.

Far away from the worries of the storm affecting races, 2 Striders travelled to the Netherlands for the TCS Amsterdam Marathon. Offering a meandering route through the City and encompassing the banks of the Amstel, the 26.2 miles was undertaken by Jonathan Winter who came in in 3:58:41, followed by Amanda Martin in 4:22:17.

The weekend wouldn’t be complete without parkruns and this week saw a 3rd place finish at Comber for Matthew Halus, where Judith Boyd and Martin Conroy both recorded personal best times. Ally Gray was 2nd place female finisher at Armagh, while Glenn Campbell completed his 25th milestone at Crawfordsburn. Bangor saw a PB from Andrew Caddoo and a Course PB from Maxine Dynes, while Peter and Elaine McGonigal were first timers at Fisherman’s Walk. Several Striders travelled to Northern Ireland’s newest parkrun – Paisley Park in Belfast, where Graeme McGowan and Keara Simpson achieved PBs, Willow Farrington was first female across the line, and 9 others added a new event to their parkrun profiles, including club captain and resident parkrun aficionado Michael Burgess reattaining “regionnaire” status for having completed every parkrun in the province.

Junior parkrun on Sunday was a victim of Storm Ashley in comber but the Bangor event still ran and was attended by Willow Farrington and Joe Brown, with Willow finishing in 2nd place overall with a new Course PB.

Scrabo Striders is an inclusive running club offering sessions where all abilities train together in an encouraging and supportive atmosphere. With up to 4 training nights per week on Monday – Thursday, as well as 3 social runs per week, club-only events and social gatherings, there’s something to suit everyone. Why not come along to a few sessions and see if the club is what you’ve been looking for? Visit scrabostriders.com or search Scrabo Striders Running Club on Facebook for more information.