Springwell Running Club Press Release - 9th March 2025
It was a busy weekend for Springwell Runners, with almost 80 club members in racing action between the Derry 10 Mile Race, the Glenariffe Mountain Race (Spud Run), and the finale of Born 2 Run’s Run Forest Run Series in Castlewellan Forest Park. The sunshine and warm weather on Saturday morning led to impressive performances, with members picking up age category wins at all three events.
Derry 10 Miler
The sun made an appearance on Saturday morning to provide beautiful conditions for the annual Derry 10 Mile Race. The pleasant Spring weather brought large crowds out to line the streets and towpaths of the city to spectate and cheer on the 2,200 runners who had entered this sold out race.
Before the race began, our members congregated at the start line for a team photo. Only then did we realise just how many Springwell Runners had entered the race, with a sea of purple vests lining up on the steps with smiles and nervous anticipation for the challenge that lay ahead of them. It turns out that Springwell were the running club with most participants on the day, with 68 members finishing!!
Out of the 68 runners, 11 ran a personal best for the 10 mile race distance, with Ashley McPhee also claiming a win in the Junior Female category and Fiona Prue finishing 3rd in her age category.
Fantastic turn out from our club members, with superb performances across the board!
Well done Team Springwell!!
39th Christopher McNickle 1:01:59; 46th Stephen Fillis 1:01:59 (PB); 60th Rodney McPhee 1:03:14 (PB); 72nd Stephen McLaughlin 1:04:28; 81st Niall Kennedy 1:05:15 (PB); 105th Darren Walsh 1:06:44 (PB); 114th Fergus Irwin 1:06:42; 143rd Brian Moore 1:08:27; 165th Ciara McSherry 1:10:01; 180th Jenny Chartres 1:09:15; 186th Jeff Young 1:10:44; 188th Fiona Prue 1:11:12 (3rd F55); 216th Timmy Bacon 1:11:46; 257th Don McFeely 1:13:40; 298th Catherine Pinkerton 1:15:37; 331st Ashley McPhee 1:14:08 (PB) (1st FJ); 334th Fran McFadden 1:16:32; 373rd Reggie Colville 1:13:01; 415th Deborah McPhee 1:19:07; 471st Alan Platt 1:20:13 (PB); 495th Jim Bradley 1:20:04; 498th Lynne Young 1:21:17; 505th Alanna Millar 1:21:08; 507th Sylvia Pollock 1:21:31; 580th Michael McKeown 1:24:06; 615th Geoff Allen 1:21:51; 673rd Conall Doherty 1:21:01; 675th Ryan McLaughlin 1:26:12; 702nd Mervyn Thompson 1:25:49; 771st Gillian Rudden 1:27:49 (PB); 797th Leanne Quigley 1:23:58; 814th John Butcher 1:24:23; 815th Gael Butcher 1:24:23; 850th Dara Watterson 1:25:17; 886th Naomi Gordon 1:27:35; 888th David McGaffin 1:27:39; 889th Andrew Wilmo 1:28:57; 967th Patricia Craig 1:31:56; 1012th Roberta McKenzie 1:32:44; 1118th Sinead Graham 1:30:08; 1123rd Fiona Walker 1:29:55 (PB); 1189th Kathryn Campbell 1:31:35; 1218th Liz Dowey 1:36:46; 1248th Adam Henderson 1:32:40; 1259th Alison Duncan 1:32:52 (PB); 1272nd Kate Allison 1:37:43; 1321st Alan White 1:34:16; 1335th Christine Bonham 1:39:27; 1339th Janet Patrick 1:33:59; 1424th Karen Campbell 1:36:36; 1475th Amanda Kershaw 1:37:45; 1481st Ryan Campbell 1:38:00; 1494th Roisin Walker 1:38:02; 1556th Patrick Magee 1:39:23; 1636th Leighann Barker 1:42:18; 1646th Karen Garvin 1:41:21; 1680th Aimee Miller 1:42:01 (PB); 1716th Emer Thompson 1:43:16 (PB); 1776th Amanda Scott 1:45:25; 1810th Sonya Colville 1:47:13; 1868th Pauline Duke 1:53:32; 1877th Paula Chartres 1:53:20; 1885th Lorraine Abernethy 1:49:45; 1996th Sheila McConnell 1:52:42; 2021st Alison Clarke 1:57:20; 2040th Lynn Stewart 1:55:46; 2087th Anne Marie McKenna 2:11:53; 2101st Paula Carson 2:02:16
Glenariffe Mountain Race - Spud Run
The first race of this year's mountain running championship was the Glenariffe Mountain Race – also known as The Spud Run, and as always, it was a total shock to the system for all of those involved!
The first 2 miles of this race are generally flat, before a 1 mile ascent then descent, returning back to the start with a flat 2 miles to finish. All in, there is over 1,200 feet of elevation over the 4 miles!
The weather up the mountain was as near perfect as you could ask for in March, and this was enjoyed by Springwell’s largest ever showing at the Spud Run this, with 10 goats in attendance. Of the 10, Peter Tees was the first home after a very strong run to finish 15th in 52:41. Next back was Shirhaan Hameed in 45th in 1:00:39.
A trio that descended the mountain close together was Nicky Frizelle, Jonny Rowntree and Adele Tomb. Nicky finished 53rd in 1:01:51, Jonny 62nd in 1:03:18 and Adele 64th in 1:03:32 who also claimed 1st FV50.
Another duo who were toing and froing was Fiona Martin and Carolyn Crawford. Fiona finished 82nd in 1:08:22 with Carolyn finishing 84th 1:09:07. Kate O'Loan, having questioned herself after her recce last week, finished 97th in 1:15:59. Also, earning her stripes (and spuds) in her first mountain race, Annita McNicholl finished 104th in 1:18:29. Finally, Conor Duffy finished 105th in 1:20:20.
Up next in the mountain calendar is Slieve Gullion on Saturday March 15th.
Run Forest Run Castlewellan
The sixth and final race of Born 2 Run’s Run Forest Run Series took place in Castlewellan Forest Park on Saturday morning. As with the rest of the series, there were 5km and 10km race options, both starting and finishing in the shadow of the castle. The 5km race consisted of 1 complete lap of the lake, while the 10km race ventured further afield into the forest park.
David Shiels continued his impressive form in the 5km and finished the series strong with his highest placed finish of the series in 6th place in a time of 0:20:11, winning his age category yet again. That’s six age category wins from six in the series, and the overall M60 age category win for David!
