Springwell Running Club - Press Release – 2nd July 2023

This week saw Springwell in action closer to home at the Bob & Bert’s 5 & 10k at Portrush as the purple vests took to the beach. Springwell members also featured at the Ards Half Marathon, The Spelga Skyline Mountain race, as well as our usual wide and varied selection of parkruns around the country and across the world.

Bob & Bert’s 5 & 10k

Friday 30 June saw an impressive turnout of purple vests on a soggy night as Springwell took on the elements and a high tide in Portrush. With the high tide restricting the runners to the soft sand it was to be a hard slog along the East Strand, made even more challenging for those further down the field as the lead runners churned up the sand, before a steep climb from the beach to the Bushmills Road and a downhill run into Portrush. The final part of the 10k event took the competitors on an out and back run from the Arcadia to Ramore Head and the finish on the beach. A determined run from Christopher McNickle showed the form that earned him the "Athlete of the Year " title as he claimed an impressive second place on the podium to lead the club home.

5k - 30th Gary Moore 29:31, 78th Angeline Platt 37:25

10k - 2nd Christopher McNickle 36:32, 10th Stephen Fillis 38:06, 12th Rodney McPhee 38:48, 16th Maurice Walker 39:26, 19th Rhys walker 40:16, 22nd Darren Walsh 41:44, 28th Gareth McLaughlin 42:19, 31st David Shiels 42:26, 48th Jenny Chartres 43:17, 52nd Jonathan McNabb 44:12, 54th John Butcher 44:24, 70th Catherine Pinkerton 45:30, 72nd Jonathan Huddlestone 45:25, 113th Pauline Mullan 48:14, 120th Fiona Prue 48:43, 141st Michael Mulvenna 49:07, 152nd Patrick Magee 50:42, 163rd Deborah McPhee 50:59, 169th Richard Pollock 51:04, 174th Gael Butcher 51:17, 175th Sylvia Pollock 51:18, 182nd David Hughes 52:01, 196th George Brien 51:38, 197th Reid Jack 51:41, 198th Leanne Quigley 52:42, 212th Sinead Graham 52:38, 248th Janet Patrick 55:14, 283rd Alan White 57:14, 287th Amanda Kershaw 57:13, 309th Karen Campbell 58:20, 310th Andrew Wilmot 58:02, 325th Aisling Hynes 58:40, 331st Alison Duncan 59:09, 339th Heather McLaughlin 59:35, 345th Alanna Millar 1:00:29, 359th Heather Spence 1:01:43, 362nd Pauline Duke 1:01:10, 403rd Ingrid Hamilton 1:04:20, 406th Paula Chartres 1:05:56, 443rd Gemma Craig 1:09:02, 444th Linda McMichael 1:09:13, 445th John McMichael 1:09:13, 451st Nicola White 1:10:26, 452nd Katrina Adams 1:10:26.

Christopher McNickle on his way to second place on the podium.

Ards Half Marathon

Over 500 runners took to the streets of Newtownards on Friday 30th June for the very popular Ards Half Marathon. After a run through the town the course took the runners on a steep climb towards Scrabo Tower before looping out towards Comber and back for another challenging climb towards the tower and a steep finish into the town. Springwell RC had one representative at the event and a strong run from Gordon Mawhinney saw him finish 19th in a time of 1:20:56.

Spelga Skyline Mountain Run

Colin Brennan continued his return to form with another fantastic run, on Saturday 1st July at the Spelga Skyline event. Colin completed the 21km course, with its nine summits and 1550m of elevation in 3:34:50 for 34th place overall and another age category win.

Parkrun

Saturday saw fifty- seven Springers on the parkrun circuits at fifteen different venues around the country and across the world. The personal bests were to be found at Garvagh Forest parkrun where Laurence Kegan Blair and Rhona Laverty both raised their personal bars. Also, in Garvagh, Sheila McConnell, one of our C25k graduates was very excited about competing her first parkrun and assures us it won't be her last, while at Limavady Leanne Quigley completed her 200th event.

He's not one of ours but there must be a shout out to Eugene McAuley from the mighty Acorns AC, who completed his 200th parkrun at Derrynoid and then took the entire parkrun for coffee, which has been described as either a "classy touch" or "a dangerous precedent".

A big "THANK YOU" to the army of volunteers who make the parkrun magic happen.

York- Colin CONNOLLY 27:45

Derry City - Ryan GRAY 21:22

Ecos - Phyllis MCGRAW 27:11

Portrush - David O'NEILL 19:59, Maurice WALKER 21:38, Rhys WALKER 23:51, Cathy ADAMS 25:52, Mervyn ADAMS 25:53, Mervyn THOMPSON 27:01, Alan PLATT 27:19, Pamela HOWE 28:09, George BRIEN 29:34, Andrew WILSON 32:04, Alanna MILLAR 32:11, Deborah PURDY 42:10, Julie CORBETT 52:09

Castlewellan - Gary KENDALL 21:31

Bere Island - Bernie HANNIGAN 31:08

Sligo - Catherine BYERS 43:33

Limavady - Chris DENTON 16:58, John BUTCHER 19:40, David MCGAFFIN 20:25, Kevin MCLEAN 20:47, Fergus THOMPSON 21:39, Pauline MULLAN 23:01, Leanne QUIGLEY 24:30, Adrian FINLAY 24:36, Alan STEEN 24:56, Janet PATRICK 25:44, Karen CAMPBELL 27:44, Alan WHITE 27:45, Alison C DUNCAN 27:48, Gary MOORE 29:50, Heather MCLAUGHLIN 31:10, Nicola WHITE 31:10, Catherine PINKERTON 37:56

Birkenhead - Jim BREEN 26:46

Buncrana - Elaine MONTGOMERY 55:10

Orangefield - Lorraine ABERNETHY 31:50, Emer THOMPSON 37:16, Amanda SCOTT 37:28

River Valley - America AZNAR 19:52

Garvagh Forest - Paul LAVERTY 23:21, Fiona PRUE 23:48, Michael MCKEOWN 25:50, Laurence BLAIR 27:18 PB, Majella MCATEER 28:17, Roisin WALKER 29:15, Kay HACK 30:38, Sheila McCONNELL 33:06, Rhona LAVERTY 34:54 PB, Mariette MULVENNA 36:46

Derrynoid Forest - Patricia CRAIG 25:33, Reid JACK 25:48

Limepark Playing Fields - Jonathan MCNABB 21:37

Palacerigg Country – Caitriona MACKLE 36:45, Fergal MACKLE 36:46