Yellow rain warning no match for Purple Power !

For most people it’s a relaxing time to celebrate Easter but for our Scrabo Striders it’s been very different to jet setting and preparing for big adventures.

The Easter weekend started with midday good Friday and hearty ultra runners starting their Belfast to Dublin ultra cross border race with the race starting from the crown bar in the centre of Belfast ending at St James’s gate  and Arthur’s Bar in the heart of Dublin.

This monumental run being 107 miles or 171Km is hard enough then you factor in the rain and weather it makes it as much as a mental achievement to finish as it is a physical achievement .

One strider Graeme Black set off from Belfast with his usual no nonsense attitude and sometimes we forget about how hard the event is as he constantly gets the job done but this time was a little more nervous for us the spectators and marshals as the trackers unfortunately did not arrive so we had no way of tracking his progress other than the Facebook updates at the various race checkpoints. Lisburn 7.8 miles (12.6km) Newry 39.3 miles (63.2km) Dunleer 65.8 miles (105.8km) and the finish at 106.2 miles (170.9km).

Graeme finished the event the event in joint 7th and 8th place as he ran with another runner whom he done a lot of his training with. Fantastic achievement well earned rest but knowing you I presume the next adventure is in the pipeline.

Next up was ballygalget Easter Sunday run which 2 striders made the trip to ballygalget gac for the 10K which involves a few inclines to say the least . Martin Conroy and Janice McCartney were flying the flag on this occasion. Martin done a very respectable 53.21 and can now enjoy the taper before London marathon next Sunday . Janice completed the 5K in 34.41 a fantastic time well done .

Next up on Easter Monday was the 101th running of the whitehead 5 mile Easter Monday road race which the oldest running race in Northern Ireland.

The hilly 3 lap course provides some significant fast downhills with an evenly tricky uphill section but a great traditional race none the less. Graeme McGowan finished the 5 mile in 35.35.

Now one of the oldest and most prestigious marathons in the world the 129th Boston Marathon and we had 3 striders in attendance. Norman Mawhinney returning for a 2nd time former club captain Andy Haylett and Maxine Dynes. Andy finished in a time of 3hrs 4 minutes and 50 seconds with norman finishing in 3hours 25 minutes and 58 seconds. Maxine finished in 3 hours 50 minutes and 46 seconds an amazing performance after last week. Well done to all 3 on a great achievement.

As always the striders weekend wouldn’t be complete with their weekly trip to parkrun and we were represented far and wide this weekend with 43 members running at 17 different locations most notably Maxine Dynes at Danehy Park a suitable run before she encounters Boston Marathon her 2nd marathon in a week after her successful pb last week in Paris. Catherine Lavery went back to where it all began in Northampton a lot fitter and healthier than she was all them years ago so our training must be working. Comber was our 2nd most popular option with 9 striders making  the trip to comber parkrun but most Striders made their way to Stormont parkrun with 13 striders starting and finishing this run. Other parkruns included Belfast Victoria, Falls, Derrynoid Forest, Bangor, City Park, Hillsborough Forest, Glenfarne Wood, Knockbracken, Larne, Montalto, Paisley Park, Portrush on their 600th event and Wallace parkrun. Well done to all parkrunners representing our club. Katie Lyttle and Rachel Lyttle shared a very special parkhenrun in Somerset. Sprint distance 3.5K with a prosecco finish.

Sunday saw the final social run before London Marathon last run out for Paul Blair Gary Clarke and Karen Clarke before they head to London. Good luck to all our runners in Manchester and London next Sunday.

Our next public race is less than 3 weeks away and we are looking forward to welcoming more than 600 athletes to the Ards airfield for our annual Grant estate agents run the runways race with something for all the family with the kids 2K race and our 5/10K race around the airfield with one lap (5K) or 2 laps (10K) our well renowned club hospitality will also be on show so come along and support the athletes. Our half marathon in June is open online for registration and is out headline event encompassing the great scenery of Scrabo aswell as taking in parts of comber before returning to Ards Blair Mayne. Plenty of time to get those miles in and get registered by visiting our events page on our club website at https://www.scrabostriders.com/open-races.

If you like what you see and would like to get involved in put all abilities club where we train together our regular session are Monday and Wednesday at 7.15 mainly at LDP and we also offer our injury and progression group sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings 7.15 again mainly at LDP. We also have a few social run which are non coach led but are for everyone at a social pace and also involved the social side with tea and coffee after 6.30 Friday evenings and 9am Sunday morning both at Conway Square Newtownards.