Springwell Running Club Weekly Report - 6th April 2025

With the good weather this past week came great conditions for running, with many Springwell Runners racing at Queen’s 5k midweek, the 5k Runway Run at City of Derry Airport on Friday night, and both Omagh and London Landmark Half Marathons on Sunday morning.

The good weather helped produce some fantastic performances across the four races, with ten personal bests recorded by members with nine of those being run at Omagh Half Marathon.

Omagh Half Marathon

The Omagh Half Marathon returned at the weekend for what was the 35th running of the event. This has grown to be a very popular race among the running community in Northern Ireland now selling out quickly every year, a testament to Omagh Harrier who continue to put on a race of the highest standard year on year.

Many will use the race as their target race for their Winter and Spring training, while a large number will use it to gauge their fitness levels prior to the upcoming Spring marathons.

On a bright and sunny Sunday morning, twenty-seven Springwell Runners made their way to Omagh for the race. There was a chill in the air as they assembled at the start area, however they quickly warmed up as they got a couple of miles into the race and the sun continued to rise. There was a stiff headwind in areas around the undulating course, however that wasn’t enough to prevent fantastic performances across the board.

Niall Kennedy was the first home for the club with a well-paced 1:30:22, then there was little between Jeff Young (1:35:57) and Timmy Bacon (1:36:08) who both had steady runs to be second and third to finish from Springwell.

In total there were 9 PBs from our 27 runners, with Adrian Finlay dipping below 1:40 for the first time in 20 years. Ashley McPhee took 10 minutes off her time at Omagh last year to claim 1st Junior Female on top of her PB, while her mum Deborah took a couple of minutes off her previous PB while running her first sub-1:45 half marathon. Dara Watterson also squeezed below the 1 for his PB.

Naomi Gordon was paced to a fantastic 1:54 by her uncle David McGaffin, while Patricia Craig and Gillian Rudden were well under the 2 hours mark to record their personal bests. Alison Duncan ran a very well-paced run on the way to her PB, with mile 13 being her fastest of the day, while Sonya Colville took a huge 18 minutes off her half marathon PB, that she set last year.

Niall Kennedy 1:30:22; Jeff Young 1:35:57; Timmy Bacon 1:36:08; Adrian Finlay 1:38:54 (PB); Paul Laverty 1:40:57; Catherine Pinkerton 1:41:11; Ashley McPhee 1:42:36 (PB) 1st FJ; Deborah McPhee 1:42:53 (PB); Reggie Colville 1:42:49; Dara Watterson 1:44:01 (PB); Geoff Allen 1:46:07; Jim Bradley 1:47:21; Helena Dornan 1:52:03; Leisa McKenna 1:53:51; Naomi Gordon 1:54:23 (PB); David McGaffin 1:54:25; Patricia Craig 1:57:17 (PB); Gillian Rudden 1:58:22 (PB); Cathy McCollum 1:58:36; Alison Duncan 2:00:20 (PB); Majella McAteer 2:03:22; Cathal Shaw 2:14:37; Sonya Colville 2:16:13 (PB); Karen Garvin 2:21:16; Heather McLaughlin 2:21:45; Pauline Duke 2:24:10; Alison Clarke 2:41:22

London Landmarks Half Marathon

While many of the Club’s half marathoners made their way to Omagh on Sunday morning, four Springwell Runners were on the underground in London making their way to Downing Street to the start line of the London Landmarks Half Marathon.

Who would have thought that with the 20,000 runners making their way to the start line, on top of the normal crowds of tourists using the underground, that two of our Members would end up sitting beside each other in the same carriage on the way to the race?!

As the name suggests, the race takes in many of the landmarks in London along the North Bank of the Thames, starting by Downing Street and heading towards the Tower of London, before turning back and heading a little North to pass by Monumnet, the Walkie Talkie, Bank of England, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Royal Courts of Justice, before finishing near Trafalgar Square.

It was great running from all four Springwell members on a hot and sunny day in London!

Alan Platt 1:45:20; Patrick Magee 1:58:48; Colin Connolly 2:15:27; Lynn Stewart 2:32:02; Paula Carson 2:32:03; Heather Harper 3:09:13

Queens 5k

Runners got fantastic weather last Wednesday evening in Belfast for the Queen’s 5k. This is a flat, fast looped course that begins on the Annadale Embankment, taking runners towards the Ormeau Road before crossing the river and turning up Stranmillis Embankment as far as Kings Bridge, where runners cross the river again and back on to Annadale Embankment. The 5k is 2 ¾ loops with the finish line in front of Queen’s PEC on Stranmillis Embankment.

There were almost 1000 participants across the two 5k races on the evening, with 2 Springwell vests among them. Fiona Prue had a fantastic run to finish 62nd in Race 1 with a time of 0:19:38, a 5k personal best for Fiona and 3rd in her age category. Also in Race 1 was Ali Shaw, who had a great run completing the 5k in 0:24:14.

5k Runway Run

Air Ambulance NI and City of Derry Airport partnered to provide runners the opportunity to lace up their trainers on Friday evening and get onto the runway at the airport for the inaugural 5k Runway Run at City of Derry Airport. This provided a pancake flat course, with a great atmosphere at the airport that was helped by the evening Spring sunshine.

There were four Springwell runners at the race, with proceeds going to Air Ambulance – a fantastic charity that aids those in urgent need of medical care.

Pauline Mullan 0:23:28; Conall Doherty 0:24:38; Aaron Steele 0:25:22; Janet Patrick 0:25:50