Weekly Race Report - 29th June 2025
There was a strong presence of Springwell vests on the East Strand at Portrush on Friday evening for the annual Bob & Berts North Coast 5k and 10k races, with 2 Springwell runners finishing up on the podium in the 10k. While Portrush was buzzing with runners on Friday, 4 Springwell runners made their way to Newtonards for the Ards Half Marathon, a challenging half marathon with significant climbing over the 13.1 miles.
Bob & Berts 5k & 10k
All roads led to Portrush on Friday evening for Bob & Berts 5k and 10k races, beginning on the East Strand. With the East Strand Car Park closed for the next few weeks to facilitate the setup of a media centre for The Open, entrants had to get into town early to find a parking space and get to registration before 6pm.
There was a race warm up on the beach at 7pm, arranged by the race organisers, after which the race got underway at 7:15. The 5k and 10k races both started together on the East Strand Beach, and both made their way along the beach to the White Rocks. The high tide forced the runners up the beach onto soft sand, meaning that they were unable to take much advantage of the tail wind that they had for the first 2.5 km of the race.
It was at the White Rocks that the 5k runners turned back on themselves and headed back towards the start line on the beach. However, the 10k runners traversed the soft sand of the beach and made way for the White Rocks Car Park, from which they began the winding ascent from the beach up to Dunluce Road.
With the 2.5k on the soft sand and then the climb to Dunluce Road, legs were already tiring as the race then led the runners on a gradual downhill back into the town into a strong headwind.
There was a lap of Ramore Head via the promenade at the East Strand, before returning to the East Strand to finish back where it all started, and where the finish line burgers awaited.
Springwell had a large representation at the race with over 40 members taking part between the 2 races. There were fantastic performances from everyone in difficult conditions on a course that is challenging at the best of times. Standout performances from Christopher McNickle, who finished 2nd place overall in the 10k, and Ciara McSherry who finished 2nd female in the 10k.
5k
Gillian Rudden 0:29:58; John McMichael 0:40:02
10k
Christopher McNickle 0:36:54; Stephen McLaughlin 0:38:54; Brian Moore 0:41:34; James Francis O’Hagan 0:41:55; Fergus Irwin 0:42:56; Ciara McSherry 0:43:27; Dara Watterson 0:45:50; Jonathan Huddleston 0:46:36; Hannah Lau 0:47:32; Deborah McPhee 0:47:36; Sylvia Pollock 0:48:14; Jonny Rowntree 0:48:38; Fergus Thompson 0:49:55; Steven Kelly 0:50:04; Conall Doherty 0:50:11; Shaun Carton 0:51:53; Alan Platt 0:51:55; Michael McKeown 0:51:59; Alison Duncan 0:53:02; Leanne Quigley 0:53:39; Patrick Magee 0:53:44; Pauline Mullan 0:54:35; Rachael Campbell 0:54:46; Patricia Craig 0:55:12; Nicole O’Connor 0:55:35; Sinead Graham 0:55:55; Ciarán Blake 0:55:56; Andrew Wilmot 0:56:07; Christine Bonham 0:57:52; Margaret Kearney 0:58:32; Janet Patrick 0:58:41; Karen Campbell 1:03:31; David Hughes 1:05:21; Heather McLaughlin 1:06:24; Paula Chartres 1:07:21; Pauline Duke 1:09:59; Linda McMichael 1:12:22
Ards Half Marathon
While Bob n Berts 5k and 10k attracted large crowds in the Northwest on Friday evening, a few of our members made their way to Newtonards for the Ards Half Marathon. The route takes in a loop of Newtonards town centre, before getting a bit of climbing in on Scrabo Road and Killynether Road on the way to Comber before returning to Newtonards. With over 700 feet of elevation, competitors had significant climbs between miles 2 and 4, and again from mile 10 to mile 11.
First home for the club in 76th place was Jack McKibbin with a great time of 1:36:35. Jack was closely followed by Reggie Colville with a time of 1:42:22 to finish 124th. Mervyn Thompson came home in 1:57:58 for 275th place. Sonya Colville had started the started the race but withdrew after 10 miles, with 80 miles walking last week along the Camino this was maybe a sensible decision by Sonya to prevent any injury on tired legs!
Parkrun
With so many Springwell athletes having taken part in the soft sand of Bob & Berts 10k in Portrush on Friday night, it’s not surprising there were fewer out at the local parkruns on Saturday, but still there were 54 at 14 different events around the world.
The prizes for Most Travelled and Best Named Parkrun went, for a second week in a row, to Brian and Heather Harper as they continue their travels around Eastern Canada, this week at the Chain of Lakes parkrun.
Closer to home there was a PB this week for Rodney McPhee at Garvagh, while there must have been favourable winds along the Bann as an amazing 5 PB's were hit by club members in Christie Park. Well done Fiona Prue, Mervyn Adams, Cathy Adams, Julie Corbett and Lorraine Abernethy.