Glorious sunshine arrived for the 2018 AES Larne Half Marathon, where the 13.1 mile course takes in a scenic coastal route starting at Larne Leisure Centre, Tower Road and includes the Town Centre before heading north on the scenic Coast Road. At Ballygally the course takes in Cairncastle before returning to Coast Road and finished along the beautiful promenade towards Larne Leisure Centre.

A coach load of Striders, 72 in total, completed the course which saw Curtis McCaw the first to finish in 1 hour 21 minutes, an overall 43^rd in a field of nearly 2000 competitors. Second and third Striders were Ricky Jordan and Jonny Kinney, followed by Johnny Wray, Graeme McGowan, Paul Sheldon and Colin Harper. The club’s first lady finisher was Shannon Clegg in 1 hour 44 minutes followed by Gary Hunsdale, Kerri Anderson, Stephen Gargan, Andy Palmer, Russel Armour, David Turton, Jenny Gargan, Barbara McKechnie and Nigel Martin who all completed the course in under 1 hour 53 minutes.

In under two hours came Lynn Sheldon, Gary Clarke, Chris Stevenson, Justin Clegg, Adrian Boyd, Charlie Allen, Keith Campbell, Fiona McAvoy and Abrar Hossain. Finishing under 2:12 hours were Caroline Dwyer, Leanne Campbell, Mark Halus, Mick Honeyman, Mark Gilmore, Paul Kirkwood, Rachel Boyle, Martin McKeaveney, Linda Dugan, George Cash and Ian Frazer. The next batch saw Eileen Pollock, Amanda Martin, Wendy Thompson, Caroline Smyth, Jan Murphy, Paula Steele and Karen Donaghy all finish in just under 2:17.

What better way to celebrate a birthday than to run a half marathon, right? Well that’s exactly what Lindsay Allen did completing the Larne Half in 2 minutes 17 seconds exactly! Closely followed across the line by Lyndsey Lappin, Christine Beattie, Stephen Campbell, Kathy Henderson, Phillippa Wilson, Ronnie Geddis, Ian Edwards, Deborah Erskine, Greer Munday, Scot Knight, Karen Clarke, Lorraine Adams and Nikki Keery.

Husband and Wife team Manny and Karen Farrelly crossed the line in 2 hours 35 minutes followed by Dawn Ross, Joanne Wray, Denise Knight, Victoria Sloan, Lorraine McCrum, Christine Kirkwood, Hannah Robinson, Rachel Tully, Rex McCormick, Erin Donnelly, Rhonda Magowan and Steven Craythorne. Well done all! Your committee would like to thank you all for representing Scrabo Striders so well at Larne.

On Sunday 25^th March twelve Scrabo Strider athletes took park in the first ever London Landmarks Half Marathon, a brand new, closed road central London run. It is the only half marathon to go through both the City of London and City of Westminster and the event is not your average half marathon! From cultural landmarks and heritage to the city's quirky and hidden secrets, 10,000 runners explored the capital on a route like no other, starting on Pall Mall and finishing by Downing Street with fabulous views of London’s most iconic landmarks including Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral, Nelson’s Column, the Gherkin, the Shard, the Tower of London and the London Eye.

Connor McNamara finished the course in just over 1 hour 44 minutes, followed by Richard Murray and Nicola McNamara in just over 2:17. Finishing almost together around 2:21 to 2:22 were Sharon Graham, Angie Crone, Catherine Lavery, Emma Geddis and Jasmine Geddis. Then came Carleen Seeger, Diana Porter, Barbara Morrow and Leanne Hanna. A huge congratulations to all, your friends at the club can’t wait to see those exotic finishers’ medals!

On Sunday 25^th March the Jimmy’s 10K road race and relay took place in Downpatrick, having been postponed from the previous week due to snow. Twenty-two Scrabo Striders crossed the finish line with Jared Martin taking 16^th overall and 1^st in the Junior race in a time of 37 minutes 29 seconds, followed by Ricky Jordan, Jonathan Wray and Jonny Kinney. The club’s first female finisher was Emma Kelly in 49:14 followed by Mark Leathem, Kerri Anderson, Nigel Martin, Louise Barton, Lynn Sheldon, Abrar Hossain and Alison Busby all in under 54 minutes. Next came Michael Brown and Paul Sheldon.

Liz and David Turton crossed the line in 56:59 and 57:02 while celebrating their 40^th Wedding Anniversary, congratulations from all your fellow club members! Then came Mark Gilmore, Amanda Piesse, Linda Dugan, Amanda Martin and Ian Frazer. Well done all, particularly those who had run a half marathon the day before.

Even with all this competitive running the Club was represented at the local Saturday morning 5k Parkruns. At Ward Park in Bangor Jonathan Keenan, Ian Bailie, Carole Bailie, Barry Tate and Stacey Andrews ran. At Parkway in Comber Amanda Piesse recorded a new personal best time of 28:04 followed in by Matthew Halus. While at Stormont Suzanne Dines recorded a new personal best of 26:57 followed by Alice Sterritt.