Athletics: Return of Purple Ladies 5k

This ladies-only event is usually held in April, but as the race hadn’t been held since 2019 due to the covid pandemic, Springwell were determined that the 2022 Purple Ladies should take place as soon as the opportunity arose.

With the guidance and experience of Club President Kenny Bacon in these matters, a lot of work was done in a short space of time and, with the help of club members on the night, a very successful race took place with 202 ladies entering the race.

A cloudy evening made for pleasant running conditions as the master of ceremonies, Peter Jack, entertained and informed the runners before starting the race at 7.30pm.

Ciara Toner (City of Derry) returned to defend her 2019 title and produced a dominant display of running, as she led from start to finish, crossing the line in a new course record of 17:34. Gemma McDonald (Ballycastle Runners) continued her fine run of form to finish second in 18:16 with Niamh Heaney (Omagh Harriers) completing the podium in a time of 19:27.

The Springwell ladies were out in force as 43 members took part in the race with age category wins for Gillian McLaughlin and Catherine Pinkerton and second places for Judith Buchanan, Jane Talbot and Patricia Craig. As always the presentation of the prizes was preceded by the traditional Springwell hospitality with an extensive selection of sandwiches, cakes and tray bakes provided by the club members.

Lorraine Farrell from sponsors GES Group presented the awards to their worthy winners but the inaugural presentation of the race trophy, named after one of the founders of the Purple Ladies, Debbie Tutty, who sadly lost her battle with cancer earlier this year, was made by Debbie’s sister, Cathy Meredith, who had also taken part in the race.

Springwell RC would like to thank everyone who assisted in the planning and delivery of such a successful evening of running, the invaluable assistance of the Causeway Coast and Glens Council staff and, most importantly, all those runners who came along for a great evening of running.

Springwell RC - 4th Gillian McLaughlin 19:27 (1st F40), 10th Catherine Pinkerton20:44 (1st F45), 13th Judith Buchanan 21:03 (2nd F45), 14th Jenny Chartres 20:59, 16th Lesley Logan 21:11, 17th Mandy Stewart 21:05, 23rd Fiona Martin 21:56, 30th Jane Talbot 23:03 (2nd F55), 34th Deborah McPhee 23:19, 38th Tina McQuillan 23:38, 39th Rozzy Skuce 23:45, 42nd Alanna Millar 23:54, 47th Pauline Mullan 24:18, 56th Patricia Craig 24:48 (2nd F60), 58th Cathy Adams 24:45, 59th Clodagh McCreedy 24:49, 60th Ashley McPhee 25:04, 62nd Sylvia Pollock 24:57, 65th Leanne Quigley 25:33, 67th Janet Patrick 25:58, 69th Antoinette Conway 25:59, 80th Liz Dowey 27:18, 95th Pauline Duke 27:55, 97th Kate Allison 28:02, 98th Roberta Mckenzie 28:09, 101st Karen Taggart 28:34, 108th Nicola White 29:08, 113th Paula Chartres 29:32, 117th Lara Walsh 29:44, 122nd Anne Marie McKenna

30:27, 123rd Shani Steenson 30:22, 124th Holly Neill 30:27, 131st Chloe Mullan 30:50, 133rd Alison Duncan 30:52, 134th Ingrid Hamilton 30:52, 135th Bernie Drain 31:03, 137th Catherine Byers 31:20, 144th Karen Smith 32:06, 160th Megan Timms 33:32, 167th Iris Wilson 35:35, 178th Hannah Gibbs 38:57, 181st Caroline Owen 41:47, 187th Stacey Lyttle 50:44.

Jog the Bog 5k

The Jog the Bog event is held in memory of local triathlon legend Colm Quigley with the aim of raising money for local mental health services. This was the first time the event was held post Covid. Well done to member Seamus McAteer who completed the 5k in 22:43 placing 56th.

Scrabo Hill Race

Thursday, August 18 saw members head to Newtownards to the Scrabo Hill Race hosted by Ballydrain Harriers. This race is part of the Northern Ireland Mountain Running Association Championship and falls under the short category. The race is 6.4km/ 4 miles taking in 365m/ 1200 ft of climbing and is two laps finishing at the iconic Scrabo Tower. Springwell had three members in attendance. Well done great performance on a tough course. 60th Shirhaan Hameed 40:55, 79th Carolyn Crawford 44:13, 80th Sarah Milligan 44:16.

Storming the Castle 10k

On Sunday members travelled to Carrickfergus to take on the “Storming the Castle” hosted by Seapark AC as part of the 2022 cinema coffee 10k grand prix series. This is a highly popular event on the calendar Starting at Carrickfergus Amphitheatre, it encompasses the picturesque promenade along the Marine Highway and waterfront areas, overlooking the marina with views of Belfast Lough before finishing at the impressive 12th Century Norman Castle near Carrickfergus Town centre.

Springwell had nine members in attendance with three personal bests recorded from Aidan Mooney, Deborah McPhee and Jonathan McNabb. 39 th Rodney McPhee 39:36 , 104 th Jonathan McNabb 44:28 (PB), 150 th Michael Johnson 46:06, 246 th Deborah McPhee 50:00 (PB), 305 th , Ashley McPhee 52:32, 404 th Andrew Wilmot 56:29, 629 th Aidan Mooney 59:02 (PB), 423 rd Pauline Duke 57:40, 532 nd Gemma Craig 1:03:11.

Parkrun results

On Saturday, 58 members get their weekly parkrun in at nine different venues. Four personal bests were recorded by: Ashley McPhee at Portrush, Colin Connolly at Garvagh Forest, Adrian Finlay at Limavady and John Butcher at Griffeen Dublin. Member Pam Howe completed her 200th parkrun at Bushy parkrun which is where parkrun originated from back in 2004 founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt.

This week saw Bushy parkrun with 1139 attendees requiring a staggering 59 volunteers. Catherine Byers was also on her travels at Great Salterns parkrun. As a club Springwell members are certainly well travelled! Thanks also to those who volunteered this week - without them parkrun would not be possible.

Portrush - Rhys WALKER 20:11, Rodney MC PHEE 21:10, Fiona MARTIN 23:26, George BRIEN 23:47, Cathy ADAMS 23:58, Paul MOORE 24:15, Mervyn THOMPSON 25:15, Deborah MC PHEE 26:25, Ashley MC PHEE 26:41 (PB), Laurence BLAIR 26:42, Barry MCBRIDE 27:04, Patricia CRAIG 27:19, Andrew WILMOT 27:56, Andrew WILSON 29:40, Roisin WALKER 31:02, Pauline DUKE 31:35, Jonathan HUDDLESTON 32:29, Iris WILSON 36:42. Caitriona MACKLE

37:08, Fergal MACKLE 37:10, Rhona LAVERTY 42:11, Caoimhe ARMSTRONG 45:04, Emer THOMPSON 47:54.

Limavady - Chris DENTON 17:15, Ryan GRAY 21:10, Adrian FINLAY 22:05 (PB), Warren MCILMOYLE 23:03, Clodagh MCCREEDY 23:41, Kevin MCLEAN 23:41, Pauline MULLAN 24:55, David MCGAFFIN 25:17, Leanne QUIGLEY 25:51, Janet

PATRICK 25:57, Alan WHITE 26:06, Heather MCLAUGHLIN 29:11 Nicola WHITE 29:17, Alan STEEN 30:30, Ingrid HAMILTON 31:35, Alison C DUNCAN 31:36, David MCCOOL 31:55, Gary MOORE 40:04, Catherine PINKERTON 43:03.

Garvagh Forest- William MCCAFFREY 24:46, Jim BRADLEY 27:55, Colin CONNOLLY 31:43 (PB), Caroline OWEN 52:15.

Limepark Playing Fields - Jonathan MCNABB 21:58 , Fiona WALKER 27:42, Deborah ARCHIBALD 29:55, Amanda SCOTT 30:05, Lorraine ABERNETHY 31:51, Bernie DRAIN 31:52.

Bushy- Pamela HOWE 26:21.

Great Salterns - Catherine BYERS 35:01.

Griffeen - 400 TH Event- John BUTCHER 21:06 (PB).

Castlewellan- Gary KENDALL 23:23.

Belfast Victoria - James HUGHES 21:38, Jim BREEN 26:15