Striders Conquer the Trails in Style

By Chris Edwards

Ardglass

This week’s races began with the Ardglass 10k on Wednesday 29 July, taking place during the annual Ardglass Festival, over an undulating course that starts with a steep climb just before the 2k mark, with another thrown in at the 8.5k mark to test runners mettle. Despite the hills veteran runner Norman Mawhinney lead the Striders home in 42:13, followed by Jonathan Keenan 56:08 and Gareth Gordon 1:01:30, fantastic times all round given the challenging course.

Run the Trails

Saturday’s action commenced with the children’s 2k Run the Trails race, with North Down Athletic Club fielding a strong pairing of Daly Seaton and Casey Seaton, who took first and second position in 6:21 and 6:24 respectively, followed by their clubmate Harrison Mair in 6:27 for third. Joshua Bingham was the first Scrabo Strider home in 7:05, earning a personal best (PB), with Logan Fowles close behind in 7:14. Dougie Forster (7:18), Heath Farrington (7:40) and Rory Braniff (8:12) all recorded course personal bests (CPBs). Maddie Hamilton of Loughview AC was the first female junior home in 7:10, followed by Kristyn Edwards of North Down AC in 7:32 and Lucy Kane, also of North Down AC in 8:19. Cooper Holden finished in 8:42 with a CPB, while Michael Bingham followed just a second later in 8:43, earning him a PB. Penelope Davies led the Strider females home in 8:37, followed by Alana Edwards in 8:50 and Lyla McNamara in 9:16.

The 5k race was won by Seb Mair of North Down AC in 18:46, with Lagan Valley AC’s Ollie Hanna second in 18:57 and Elliot Swattridge of Ward Park Runners third in 19:38. Tori Smyth of Ballydrain Harriers was the first female home in 21:24, ahead of Willowfield Harriers’ Jasmine Ellison taking second in 22:16, with Ward Park Runners veteran Mary Slocum taking third female in 23:04.

Trevor Woodside was the first Strider home in 21:36, followed by Luke Braniff in 21:56. The next Striders over the line were Gus Forster in 22:26, Gareth Davies in 22:58, and Michael Williams in 22:57. Willow Farrington put on a strong performance to finish as the first female Strider in 24:03. She was followed closely by Gary Mannis in 25:12, Andrew Scase in 25:07 (CPB), and Alison Busby in 25:33. The next Striders performance of note were Louise Bingham at 26:46 (CPB), Catherine Lavery clocking 29:50 (CPB), Jennifer McAteer secured a CPB of 36:27, Kim Cochrane in 38:40 CPB, with Dawn Cudworth finishing strong in  45:14 CPB.

The 10k race saw Daniel Stauber take victory in 37:55, followed by Martin Strachan, RunHub, taking second in 38:16, and VPAC’s Peter Patton take third in 38:23. For the Women, Sarah Moorcroft of Ballydrain Harriers was first in 42:53, with Victoria Kelly took second in 43:41 and Sian McBroom came third in 45:37.

Jordan McIntyre led the Striders home with an impressive run of 49:20, followed by Emmanuel Farrelly in 50:27. Mark Halus continued his excellent form by setting a new CPB of 50:37. Jenny Taylor was the first female Strider across the line in 51:06, with Gareth Miskimmin (51:39) and Steven Tate (52:15) also finishing strongly. Judith Boyd recorded another CPB with 55:25. Craig Simpson followed in 55:56, ahead of Sonya Summersgill in 56:06 (CPB) and Gary Barritt in 57:58. Jessica Hall comfortably broke the one-hour mark with 59:29, while Aiva Korotajevska (1:01:05), Graeme Farrington (1:01:09), Jenna Lavery (1:01:41), Peter McGonigal (1:01:42) and Darren Johnston (1:02:01) all completed the course with determined performances. Lorraine Adams (1:06:07), Noel Angus (1:08:30), Beverley McKee (1:11:45), Emma Ruddock (1:11:45) and Nicola Forsythe (1:16:28) rounded off another successful day for the club.

Whether you were securing a new personal milestone, or conquering the trails for the very first time, the entire club is incredibly proud of your effort!

Féile 5k and 10k

This year saw the biggest Féile an Phobail to date, with over 3,500 runners entering between the 5k  and 10k races and continues to grow every year, and the 5k event saw Trevor Woodside taking 5th overall finish, with a fantastic time of 18:46, especially considering the volume of fast running he did over the course of the weekend. Clare McIlveen came home next in 27:33.

Katie Irvine was the sole entrant to the 10k, finishing in a time of 1:01:13.

parkrun

Comber was the most popular destination. Karen Collins led the club home in 23:14 (CPB) before taking on her duties as Run Director later that day. Chris Edwards followed in 27:23, with Mark Halus (27:38) and Karen Wilson (27:46) also enjoying strong runs. Judith Boyd volunteered to pace 29 minutes. Luke Mars and Hannah Magee both completed the course in around 36 minutes, while Alyson Graham kept everyone safe as the Tail Walker.

Norman Mawhinney finished second at Armagh parkrun in 21:09.

Max Burton continued his excellent form at Belfast Victoria parkrun, breaking the 18-minute barrier with a new personal best of 17:46. Gary Barritt followed in 25:05, while Amanda Martin recorded a CPB of 25:17.

There were celebrations at Bangor parkrun as Lyla McNamara completed her 100th parkrun.

Up in Portrush parkrun, Abrar Hossain was first Strider home in 22:22, followed by Kathy Henderson in 40:57.

Trevor Woodside finished fifth on his first visit to Valley parkrun in 20:18, while Clare McIlveen completed the course in 31:09.

Georgia Reid and Jenna Lavery ran together at Waterworks, finishing neck in neck with a time of 36:39.

Nicola Forsythe and Kim Cochrane visited Riverside parkrun in Ballymoney for the first time, taking on the relatively new two-lap course featuring both tarmac and gravel paths.

Taking the Striders jersey on tour, Michael Burgess continued his parkrun tourism with a visit to Y Promenâd parkrun in Wales, completing the scenic seaside course in 25:01.

junior parkrun

The club’s youngest members were also in action at Comber junior parkrun. Keara Simpson finished as third female in 9:14, while Harriet Frazer celebrated her 100th junior parkrun by recording a personal best of 10:54.

Over at Bangor, Lyla McNamara wrapped up a busy weekend by finishing as the sole Strider in an excellent 10:35.