Striders at Mathieson Cup, Elaine’s 100th Parkrun
Striders at Mathieson Cup, Elaine’s 100th Parkrun
Organised by Mallusk Harriers running club the annual Mallusk cross country event, including the Mathieson Shield and Cup races, took place at the City of Belfast playing fields on Saturday 13th January. Comprising races for all age categories this year’s event formed part of the Athletics NI cross country leagues for the first time.
A bus load of athletes from local running club Scrabo Striders travelled to compete at the event, cheered on by a band of following supporters. Starting at 11am with Primary School Boys & Girls where young William Murphy finished in 3 minutes 13 seconds and Isla Murphy in 4 minutes 4 seconds, both at position 20 in the field. Great running by junior Striders.
The Mathieson Cup itself is a 4 mile race in which 16 Scrabo Striders took part. First to finish was Stephen Gargan in a time of 33 minutes 56 seconds followed by Norman Mawhinney in 34:45, John Pugh 34:46, Paul Sheldon 36:01, Graeme McGowan 36:32 and Kieran McNamara in 37:02. Nigel Martin, Abrar Hossain, Chris Green, Marty McConnell, Peter Briggs, Michael Brown, Ken Rodgers, Mark Gilmore, Robin Adams and Stephen Campbell also ran.
The ladies 3 mile race, the Mathieson Shield, started just after 11am and the first Strider home was Kerri Anderson in an excellent time of 28:57 followed by Cheryl Mulholland in 29:05, Patricia Adams 29:11, Lynn Sheldon 29:13, Rachel Patterson 31:12 and Linda Dugan in 32:09. Amanda Piesse, Claire Briggs, Sonya Summersgill, Phillippa Wilson, Kathleen Henderson, Debi Allen, Susanne McVea, Rachel Tully and Alison Rodgers also ran. Well done girls.
Striders’ very own Norman Mawhinney took overall 1st place in the Male Veterans 3 Mile race, in a time of 24:22. The committee would like to than members and supporters who travel to represent the Club as well as Mallusk Harriers for organising a great event.
Sunday 13th was World Half Marathon Day believe it or not, so to mark the occasion Garry Cavill and Liam Rodger completed the distance at the East Antrim Marathon Series event in 1 hours 52 minutes and 2 hours 4 minutes respectively. At the same event Andrea Cairns completed a full marathon in 4 hours 46 minutes. Well done guys.
Saturday morning Parkruns remained as popular as ever, with Curtis McCaw blazing to 2nd place at Comber in a time of 19 minutes 32 seconds, for the 5km distance, followed by Norman Mawhinney in 5th on 19:48, Nigel Martin next in 22:23 and Matthew Halus with a new personal best of 23:17.
Over at Ward Park, Bangor Ricky Jordan claimed 5th position in an impressive 18:49 with Simon Gay and Gordon Coutts not far behind in 22:31 and 22:59 respectively. Lesley Semple was the first Scrabo lady to complete in 23:42.
Scrabo Striders were out in force at Stormont to celebrate Elaine McGonigal’s 100th Parkrun milestone, which elain completed in 35:25. That’s 500 km clocked up on Saturday mornings, amazing. At the same event Kieran McNamara recorded a new personal best time of 23:21 as did Liam Rodger 26:29 and Eileen Pollock in 29:57, while Peter Kerr ran the course for the first time.