Striders Weekly Update 25/12/2024

Posted: 25/12/2024

With another weather warning in place there were some nervous eyes on the forecast to determine whether races would go ahead. Sadly the planned Festive Four club race fell victim to the conditions and was cancelled, however that did not stop Striders from having some festive fun.

In Armagh, Maxine Dynes continued a successful year of returning to marathon distance, taking part in the Black Eye Friday marathon in Armagh on Friday. This was Maxine’s 12th marathon this year and her 79th overall, completing the hilly 4 lap route in 5:05:45.

On Sunday both Jennifer McAteer and Sarah Luce headed to Camlough to take part in the Lake Run. This pre Christmas curtain raiser always draws a big crowd and the weather this year did not deter that. While it began dry it wasn’t long before both ladies were battling fierce conditions including hail and a headwind on the hilly route. However both powered through these conditions to finish the route with Sarah finishing with a 4 minute course PB of 1:13:02 and Jennifer coming home in 1:31:50.

While some parkruns fell victim to the weather there were still plenty that went ahead and some great results. At Comber where 27 Striders took part there were PBs for Glenn Campbell, finishing in 26:29, Naomi Magowan in 27:22 and Sharon Murdoch in 30:41. James Cole-Boyle ran a new parkrun PB at Bangor finishing in 21:31 and there was a PB at Victoria for Luke Braniff who finished in 20:32.There were tourist visits for Jonathan Bull, who ran Strathclyde parkrun in 25:15, Matt Bell who completed Brockenhurst parkrun in 19:06 and Colin Verth who completed Authcaldie District parkrun in 25:55. There were also good performances from Striders at Waterworks, Orangefield and Colin Glen parkruns.

At junior parkrun on Sunday there was a second place finish for Willow Farrington at Comber, finishing in 8:04. Joe Brown was third male finishing in 9:34 and there were six other juniors who ran well. At Bangor junior parkrun Michael Bingham got a course PB of 12:10 and Lyla Rose McNamara finished 3rd female in 12:46.

The first of Scrabo Striders open races for 2025, the Grant Estate Agents Run the Runways will take place on Friday 9th May 2025. A flat course with PB potential if the weather is kind, with a 5k and 10k option as well as a 2k kids fun run, there is an option for everyone and of course the famous Strider post-race hospitality. For more details including entry sign up please visit the Scrabo Striders Facebook page.

Scrabo Striders is an all-inclusive running club for all abilities with training sessions Monday-Thursday each week, as well as a trail run on Sunday nights. There are also social runs on Friday night and Sunday morning followed by the obligatory coffee afterwards. For more information visit scrabostriders.com or the club Facebook page.

By Jennifer McAteer

 

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