Striders Weekly Update 30/01/2025
With the red alert of Storm Éowyn causing devastation across the country we saw both Born 2 Run and Cookstown cross country cancelled. Norman Mawhinney managed to make it to Marrakech where he took part in the marathon on Sunday. With great conditions for running despite the heat coming out in later miles Norman finished in 3:07:39 with yet another M65 age category win under his belt.
It was a similar story with parkrun where many fell victim to the damage that had occurred as a result of the storm. This resulted in one of the few parkruns that went ahead, Comber, getting an attendance record of 467, 33 of those taking part being Striders. In spite of the large crowds and route congestion there was a course PB for Michael Burgess who finished in 21:14. Matt Bell was a first timer at Portrush, finishing the beach parkrun in 20:25 and Gavin McDonnell made a first visit to Jersey Farm parkrun which he completed in 30:42.
At junior parkrun on Sunday, Comber again was the most popular venue where eight of the juniors took part with another taking part in Bangor junior parkrun.
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