A 1st and a 150th for The Scrabo Striders

Norman Mawhinney, 1st in the Masters

On Sunday 12th January, 33 of the most heartiest and dedicated Striders ascended to Mallusk Playing Fields to take on the Mathieson Cup. The Cross Country event which is hosted by Mallusk Harriers yielded fair conditions under foot, considering the rainfall in the preceding days. First up came the ladies event which incorporated the Masters men (M60+). This was a 3 lap event which saw participants take on some very steep climbs as well as some gentle descents and a total distance of 6km or 3.7 miles

First lady finisher was Barbara McKechenie with an impressive time of 30.04. Barbara was closely followed by Lynn Sheldon, Fiona McAvoy and Liz Turton, all completing the course in under 32 minutes. Next to cross the line for Scrabo was Dawn Ross, Amanda Martin, Amanda Piesse and Sheena Crone under the 35 minute mark. Linda Dougan, Sonya Sumersgill, Phillippa Wilson and Claire Briggs gave a solid display finishing under 40 minutes. The remaining ladies to cross the line were Emma McCracken, Karen Thompson Cheryl Alexander and Debi Allen.

In the Masters event, Scrabo had 5 men dawning the purple vests. A massive congratulations to the main man, Norman Mawhinney for taking first place (25.14) in the masters race which was very closely contested. Paul Sheldon (27:49), David Turton (31.21), Robin Adams (35.29) and David Rainey (41.24) gave a Stirling performance and picked up a well earned point for the club.

In the senior mens event which consisted of 4 laps of the same course and a total of 8km or 5 miles Scrabo had 12 Runners. Graeme McGowan gave a gutsy performance and crossed the line first for Scrabo in an impressive 35.11. Graeme was followed by Abrar Hossain (36.29), Norman Mawhinney (yes he ran both races)! (36.43), Matthew Cavill (37.39), Peter Stevens (37.40) and Colin Harper (37.53). Just over the 40 minutes came John Brown, Marty McConnell, Chris Green and Karl Henderson. Completing the Scrabo contingent receiving rapturous applause and cheers were David Gordon and Stephen Campbell. Congratulations to all runners and supporters that took the time to attend.

On Saturday 11th January the Scrabo Ladies Captain, Lynn Sheldon completed her 150th Parkrun at Stormont. Huge congratulations to you Lynn from all at the club. At the same event, Lynsey Wightman achieved a Personal Best over the 5km distance with a time of 32.02. Congratulations Lyns!

Further afield, Jill Long completed 4 races in 4 days in the Disney Resort. Jill took on the 5k race on Thursday, the 10k race on Friday, the half marathon(13.1 miles) on Saturday and the Full Marathon (26.2 miles) on Sunday. Quite a monumental achievement, congratulations Jill!

Lynn’s 150th Parkrun, Jill Long at Disney

By Colin Harper

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