Springwell Running Club Weekly Report - 13th April 2025
Focus was on the ladies this past week, with the return of the popular Ballymena Bells 5 Mile race on Tuesday evening followed by the inaugural Rith na mBan ladies running festival in Ballybofey on Sunday morning. Thursday evening saw the beginning of the Hill and Dale race series in the Mournes for all the mountain runners, while there were fast race times in Larne AC’s Coast Road 10 Mile Race on Saturday morning.
Ballymena Belles 5M
Our Purple Ladies made the short trip to Ballymena last Tuesday evening for the Ballymena Belles 5 Mile race. This popular ladies only race sold out several weeks ago and saw just over 350 runners make the start line on a beautiful sunny evening.
There were fantastic performances across the patch from all Springwell Runners, even more so considering six of them had put in personal best performances at Omagh Half Marathon just two days earlier!
Special mention to Carolyn Crawford who was the first purple vest home in a time of 0:36:32 to finish 19th and 2nd in her age category!
Many thanks to Ballymena Runners for the hospitality and a fantastically organised race!
Carolyn Crawford 0:36:32 (2nd F40); Christina McQuillan 0:37:05; Ashley McPhee 0:37:37; Deborah McPhee 0:37:37; Alanna Millar 0:39:47; Gillian Rudden 0:41:17; Alison Duncan 0:41:35; Janet Patrick 0:43:42; Elizabeth Dowey 0:45:54; Sonya Colville 0:48:10; Heather McLaughlin 0:48:33; Nicola White 0:50:36; Sheila McConnell 0:50:43; Pauline Duke 0:53:37
Hill & Dale: Castlewellan
Last Thursday evening saw the return of the Hill and Dale race series. This is a series of ten races spanning from April to June that will take runners on an exploration of the iconic peaks of the Mourne Mountains.
The first of the ten races was Castlewellan, a new route this year thanks the destruction left by Storm Éowyn. The 2025 route of 7.5km distance and 600ft of elevation gain traversed through the forest on hard pack trails as runners tackled the long climb to the summit of Slievenaslat. From here, it was the familiar fast and furious descent on the trail paths looping around the castle before a flat finish along the lake.
At the start line, the race director noted this is the largest Hill and Dale to date with well in excess of 700 riunners registered for the series. It was here that Fergus Thompson reminisced of the days in the 90's when less than 80 would be at any such race. Fergus went on to tick off his first Hill and Dale of the year finishing 171st in 0:40:00.
Having still been at primary school when Fergus was running the Hill and Dales in the 90's, Conor Duffy had a stronger second half of the race picking off 14 runners on the Slievenaslat descent to finish 265th in 0:45:09.
Larne AC Coast Road 10 Miler
It was sunny Larne on Saturday morning for Larne AC’s Coast Road 10 Miler. This is an ‘out and back’ course starting on the Coast Road at the top of Larne Promenade. The course then takes runners out the Coast Road through Drains Bay and Ballygally before turning at the Halfway House Hotel. The race returns to the starting point where runners are then faced with a steep descent onto the promenade for a nice flat 1 kilometre push to the finish line.
The sun was out for the duration, and temperatures felt a little warmer than was forecast. The runners availed of a light tail wind for the first part of the race before turning into the breeze for the return leg, with the breeze feeling like it was getting stronger while the legs tired as the finish line got closer.
Eight Springwell Runners made the trip to Larne, with great results for all and several noteworthy performances. Christopher McNickle claimed 4th place and 1st M40 prize with his PB effort of 0:56:45. There were also impressive Personal Best times for the 10 Mile for Andy Whiteford, Shaun Carton and Paul Laverty.
Christopher McNickle 0:56:45 PB (1st M40); Andy Whiteford 1:00:37 PB; Maurice Walker 1:04:25; David Shiels 1:11:24; Shaun Carton 1:13:08 PB; Paul Laverty 1:15:28 PB; Fiona Prue 1:17:04; Andrew Wilmot 1:29:30
Rith na mBan
There was a big club representation in Ballybofey for the inaugural Rith na mBan on Sunday morning, organised by Excel Sports. This is a running festival for the ladies, with 6k, 13k and Half Marathon options available. Female Captain, Deborah McPhee, saw the opportunity to get a day out and a bus trip for the ladies in the club, with 18 signing up for a seat!
The three races all started 30 minutes apart, with Derry man Mickey Doherty on the mic keeping runners entertained as the waited to start their races, or were waiting around for their friends and clubmates to finish after they had finished themselves. The races all started and finished on the Glenfin Road just beyond Jacksons Hotel and took in both banks of the River Finn in the Finn Valley.
The days racing got under way with the Half Marathon at 9am, with ten of our runners opting for this race. First home was Pauline Mullan in a time of 1:52:55, and we had half marathon personal bests from Alison Duncan (1:55:41) and Emer Thompson (2:11:32).
There were eight Purple Ladies in the in the 13k race, with Ashley and Deborah McPhee claiming 2nd and 3rd places respectively.
There were fantastic performances from all eighteen of our runners who made the trip to Ballybofey, with the full results listed below. From the photos, it looks like a great day out was had by all.
Rith na mBan Half Marathon
Pauline Mullan 1:52:55; Helena Dornan 1:53:00; Leanne Quigley 1:52:53; Alison Duncan 1:55:41 PB; Cathy McCollum 1:56:17; Karen Campbell 2:06:36; Emer Thompson 2:11:32 PB; Heather McLaughlin 2:18:59; Pauline Duke 2:20:14; Bernie Drain 2:37:52
Rith na mBan 13k
Ashley McPhee 0:58:33; Deborah McPhee 0:58:50; Sheila McConnell 1:23:36; Alison Clarke 1:23:53; Linda McMichael 1:24:50; Noelle Watterson 1:25:02; Monica McClenaghan 1:28:43; Joanne McClenaghan 1:34:21
Centra 5k & 10k
A victim of the storms at the end of last year, the rescheduled Centra 5k and 10k took place in Ormeau Park on Sunday morning. Proceedings began with the 10k at 9:30. Starting on the park path beside the Ozone, the course took runners through the park to exit at the Ravenhill Road entrance and then along Ormeau Embankment before entering the Park again at the Ormeau Road entrance. They then meandered through the park and back past the start line to pass the 5k mark before beginning a second lap following the same route.
Five Springwell Runners competed in the 10k with Dara Watterson the first purple vest home in a personal best time of 0:47:04. Dara was closely followed by Jim Bradley in 0:48:46, with Leighann Barker running a 10k personal best of 0:58:54. Next home was Lynn Stewart in 1:07:12, followed by Maggi Gilmore in 1:09:34.
Janet Patrick was the sole Springwell entrant in the 5k race at 11am, which consisted of 1 lap of the same course used by the 10k race. Janet came 63rd of over 450 runners, with a time of 0:27:14.
Parkrun
With a lot of other races on at the weekend, there was a smaller turnout of Springwell runners than usual at Saturday's parkruns, but beautiful weather and conditions rewarded the 47 who managed to get out to 10 different parkrun locations.
On the parkrun tourist front Sinead Graham was at Levengrove near Loch Lomond, Colin Connolly did Woodley near Reading, and Bernie Hannigan was at Roundhay in Leeds.
There were a couple of PB's to note as well, for Michael McKeown at Ecos and Sonya Colville in Limavady.
Portrush parkrun
David O'NEILL 00:19:27; Cathy ADAMS 00:22:43; Alanna MILLAR 00:25:05; Mervyn THOMPSON 00:25:23; George BRIEN 00:26:08; Reid JACK 00:26:15; Patrick MAGEE 00:26:57; Karen GARVIN 00:30:20; Amanda SCOTT 00:30:27; Brian HARPER 00:31:39; Roisin WALKER 00:32:22; Fergal MACKLE 00:33:58; Elaine MONTGOMERY 00:34:41; Catherine BYERS 00:35:35; Iris WILSON 00:36:32; Caitriona MACKLE 00:38:15; Emer THOMPSON 00:52:41; Alan PLATT 00:52:42; Gemma WRAY 00:55:26
Limavady parkrun
Brian MOORE 00:19:27; Rodney MC PHEE 00:19:32; Ciara MCSHERRY 00:20:44; Kevin MCLEAN 00:22:15; Martin O'DOHERTY 00:22:15; Fergus THOMPSON 00:22:45; Ali SHAW 00:25:03; Alison C DUNCAN 00:26:09; Janet PATRICK 00:26:34; Deborah MC PHEE 00:26:49; Reggie COLVILLE 00:26:50; Sonya COLVILLE 00:27:30 PB; Linda MC MICHAEL 00:34:44; John MCMICHAEL 00:34:45; Heather MCLAUGHLIN 00:47:48
Ecos parkrun, Ballymena
Michael MCKEOWN 00:23:25 PB; Julie CORBETT 00:30:36; Kenneth BACON 00:43:45
Castlewellan parkrun
Gary KENDALL 00:22:28; Kay HACK 00:30:57
The Fisherman‘s Walk parkrun
Michael MULVENNA 00:25:44; Mariette MULVENNA 00:29:18
Derry City parkrun
Chris DENTON 00:18:29
Roundhay parkrun
Bernie HANNIGAN 00:32:39
Woodley parkrun
Colin CONNOLLY 00:28:59
Ormeau parkrun
Patricia CRAIG 00:25:43
Dungannon Park parkrun
Aidan MOONEY 00:32:09
Levengrove parkrun
Sinead GRAHAM 00:27:43