Springwell Running Club - Press Release – 11th October 2020

It was an impressive weekends running for Springwell RC with places on top of the podium, club records and personal bests being broken and an incredibly special, and well deserved award for the club secretary.

Championchip Ireland Running Series

Event 7 of the Championchip Ireland Running Series took place on Saturday 10th October at Down Royal Racecourse. Springwell RC was represented in all of the distances on offer with great times being produced despite the wet and windy conditions.

In the 5k Stephen Fillis ran a personal best time of 17.21 to finish 43rd while Janet Patrick was 197th with a time of 25.00. Gemma Craig has taken part in every event of the series and once again improved her time as she ran under 30 minutes for the first time to finish 226th in a personal best time of 29.49.
The 10k saw Ciara Toner continue her excellent form as she ran a time of 36.10 to finish 6th overall and first lady. In the Half Marathon Ciaran Ferris ran a time of 1.13.07 to win the event and take seven seconds of the current Springwell RC record for the distance. Patrick Magee finished 56th in a time of 2.08.01

Queen’s Birthday Honours List

In the honours list announced on Friday 9th October Springwell RC’s secretary, Lorraine Abernethy was awarded an MBE for her services to Paediatric Occupational Therapy. Like so many of our healthcare professionals Lorraine has been at the forefront of delivering healthcare during the current pandemic and her award is richly deserved.

Looking Ahead

The future of the running calendar is dependent on two factors; how the Covid 19 pandemic is dealt with, and the review of the Roads Special Events legislation currently being undertaken by the Minister for Infrastructure, Nichola Mallon. We welcomed the minister’s initiative in commissioning the review and hope, that by proper engagement with the relevant parties that the outcome recognises and facilitates the needs of many community groups and charities.

The future impact of Covid 19 is more uncertain, but as a club we believe that plans and suitable contingencies have to be made to ensure the future of our sport. To that end Springwell RC intend to host three events in 2021 with the Purple Ladies, The Jude Gallagher Memorial Round the Bridges as well as a trail race in Garvagh Forest and, once again work with the Dervock District Community Association to organise the Dark Hedges Half Marathon. We fervently hope that the events will be able to go ahead without restrictions but, in case they can’t all possibilities for social distancing are under consideration and, if that isn’t possible, having virtual events.