Thursday nights to Super Sundays by Sarah Luce

Racing started on Thursday this week with Trevor Woodside and Clare McIlveen as the two Strider representatives at the Citi 5K in Titanic Quarter. This one lap fast and flat route saw Trevor cross the finish line in 18.30 and Clare in 28.33, well done guys!

Saturday morning saw the usual spread of Parkrunners across nine different venues with the largest group at Comber where Judith Boyd celebrated her 50th milestone and Catherine Lavery got a PB! At Bangor, Lyla McNamara also got a PB along with a CPB for clubmate Naomi Fleming. Darren Johnston had a CPB at Orangefield and Heath Farrington a CPB at Stormont! Chris Burns and Michael Burgess got third place finishes at Derrynoid Forest and Lower Drummans and Abrar Hossain and Kathy Henderson ran at the inaugural Belvoir Forest Parkrun.

Elsewhere on Saturday Colin Campbell was sole Strider at the Rhode Athletic Club marathon in Co. Offaly. The course starts and finishes at Rhode National School with runners heading from the school through Rathcobican, Ballybryan, Fahy and into Rhode village and back. After the opening stretch, runners complete three flat 11km loops along the scenic Grand Canal, wrapping up at the school lay-by opposite the start line. Colin finished in 5hrs31, well done Colin!

Sunday saw seven of the fundamentals and foundations running at four different Junior Parkrun venues. Heath Farrington was second at Comber followed by Joe Brown, Lydia Blair and Jodie Morton. Toby Heywood was sole junior strider at Victoria, Lyla McNamara was sole at Bangor and got her second PB of the weekend and Nathaniel Frazer ran at Lough Moss.

Elsewhere the adults had a choice of three races on Sunday, First up was Rock the Lough where a huge contingent of Striders took place in one of the four distances on offer. The kids 1K fun run saw some podium finishes for our juniors: Iona Chanas took silver as second girl with Sophia Rea taking bronze for third girl. Harry Monaghan also celebrated bronze as third male, super running juniors!

For the older element, Rock the Lough offered 5km, 10km and Half Marathon multi terrain races. Starting and finishing near the South Lake Leisure Centre, the route for all events was flat and fast and encompassed both lakes, with the Half Marathon taking in the beautiful Oxford Island trails.

There were 23 Striders in the 5K which was one loop of the lake. Harry McCready was first Strider home in 21.56 with Rory Braniff close behind with a PB of 23.25, Gayle Malaugh was first lady finisher in 24.34 and was followed by a strong contingent of juniors: Keara Simpson 24.36, little brother Olly who got a 2 min PB of 25.14, Bobby McGonigal 25.16, Iona Chanas 25.31 and Calum McCready 25.45. Following behind were Sarah Luce 28.19, George McGonigal 30.04, Karen Clarke 30.42, Sharon Murdoch 30.48, Donna Johnston 30.50 (CPB) , Karen Warnock 31.04, Kerrie Fox 31.10, Joanne Wray 33.27, Stephen Braniff 34.21, Angie Crone 34,29, Rosemary Harper 35.21, Kim Cochrane 35.39, Jennifer McAteer 36.11, Mairead Curran 39.01 and Cheryl Alexander 47.25.

Completing two loops for the 10K saw Trevor Woodside first Strider in with a sub 40 time of 39.40 followed by George Johnston with a CPB of 45.05. Duo Simon Ferguson and Karen Collins came racing in next with Simon taking a tiny 2 second chip time lead but giving Karen a 10K PB. Naomi Magowan was next with a PB of 51.44 followed by Sonya Summersgill. Jenna Lavery was up next also with a PB of 55.31.   Chris Edwards followed next and then Alyson Graham with a PB of 56.29. Next were Karen Wilson, Fiona McEvoy, Martina Finn, Rachel Bell, Janice McCartney with a CPB of 1.00.17, Kathryn Chesney, Clare McIlveen, Emma McCracken, Nicola Forsythe, Hugh Lyons and mum and daughter duo Elaine and Georgia McGonigal.

The Strider crew eagerly awaited the finish of our half marathoners who got mostly round before the rain started. First in was Norman Mawhinney who was 8th overall in a time of 1.26.36. Next in was Craig Simpson in 1.40.35 with Peter McGonigal next in 1.45.22. After Peter was Maxine Dynes, Steven Hanna and Moses Matovu in 1.55.52, 1.56.56 and 1.58.52 respectively.

Closer to home, four Striders ran in the 10K event at Abi’s Butterfly Breeze. This event, in its sixth year, is a lively and heartwarming race in Portaferry which raises funds for Inspire’s ‘Bright Future’ counselling service in memory of the late Abi Rogers and themed with her love of butterflies. First across the line was Graeme McGowan in 46.43 followed by Dee Patterson in 55.47 and duo Emma Ruddock and Beverley McKee side by side in 1.07.19 and 1.07.20.

The final race of the weekend was hosted by neighbouring club Coastal Runners: Clandeboye 10K and saw six of the club take part. Set in the beautiful Clandeboye Estate outside Bangor, the course is a mixed terrain race of mostly gravel paths with a small section of trail which leads up to Helens Tower. First Strider in, and taking a place of the podium as second female, was Willow Farrington with an incredible time of 48.22. On her heels was Chris Burns in 50.45 followed by Karen Collins in 54,23, Phil Adams in 56.28, Jonathan Keenan in 57.46 and David Morton in 1.10, well done team on a tough course!