A Weekend of New Places

By Sarah Luce

Parkrun Achievements

The weekend was marked by several impressive milestones and personal bests at Bangor Parkrun. Heath Farrington celebrated his 50th Parkrun with a course personal best (CPB) of 23:37, whilst fellow clubmate Luke Braniff marked his 100th run. The Simpson family also shone, with Craig (23:37), Keara (25:57) and Olly (35:07) all achieving CPBs on the three-lap course. Meanwhile, at Stormont, friends Caroline Dwyer (25:28) and Catherine Lavery (26:31) both set new personal bests, and Catherine Chesney ran a PB of 25:49. Lyla McNamara celebrated breaking the 30-minute barrier at Waterworks with a PB of 29:42. Maxine Dynes took the award for the furthest travelled Parkrun, participating at the challenging Futakotamagawa event in Tokyo.

Born 2 Run Castlewellan

Saturday saw the conclusion of this winter’s Born 2 Run Series at Castlewellan, with five Striders taking on the 10K distance. The off-road course, starting and finishing beneath the lakeside castle and offering views of the Mournes and one of the world’s largest permanent mazes, presented a scenic challenge. Simon Ferguson was first Strider home in 50:06, closely followed by Karen Collins in 50:11. Jonathan Keenan completed the course in 59:34, while Gareth Gordon and David Morton finished in 1:07:12 and 1:11:05 respectively.

Run the Duff

On Sunday, Carryduff Running Club hosted the inaugural Run the Duff event. The 10K race began with a rolling loop from Lidl, combining gentle climbs and fast descents, and merged with the 5K route towards the finish. Norman Mawhinney led the Striders home in 43:16, with Mark Halus also finishing under 50 minutes in 49:38. Among the ladies, Alison Busby finished in 52:01, Amanda Martin in 54:35, Judith Boyd in 55:42, and Alyson Graham in 58:20. Darren Johnston crossed the line in 59:15.

The 5K runners enjoyed watching the 10K participants before heading to their own start. Their course included a steady climb to halfway, followed by a downhill stretch that allowed for a fast finish. Harry McCready was first home with a personal best of 19:34, just ahead of Trevor Woodside. Catherine Lavery was the first lady Strider in 27:13, followed by junior Calum McCready in 27:39. Sarah Luce and Clare McIlveen finished in 28:45 and 29:37 respectively, with Sharon Murdoch (31:08), Vice-Captain Nicola Forsythe (34:54), and Kim Cochrane (37:32) also completing the event.

Junior Parkrun

The club’s junior members were out at two locations for Junior Parkrun on Sunday. Continuing his strong form from the previous day, Heath Farrington secured 3rd place at Comber. At Waterworks, Keara Simpson raced to first position, with her brother Olly finishing as second male.

Tokyo Marathon

Travelling far from home, Maxine Dynes accomplished a remarkable milestone by completing her sixth Abbott World Marathon Major in Tokyo. The event, now in its nineteenth year, drew more than 38,000 runners to Japan’s capital, taking them through a celebrated city course. Despite unseasonably high temperatures, Maxine demonstrated exceptional determination and resilience, finishing her ninety-third marathon in an impressive time of 04:02:27.