Race Report - 16th March 2026
After a relatively quiet start to the year, both the road and mountain racing seasons have got well and truly under way in the past couple of weeks. The mountain season kicked of with the Slieve Gullion race at the beginning of the month, followed by The Spud Run on Glenariff Mountain the following week. The past week has been busy on the roads with the inaugural Junction 5k in Antrim, and the Derry 10 Mile Road Race - a fixture in which Springwell has been the club with most runners participating in recent years.
Derry 10 Mile Road Race
Over 70 Springwell Runners descended onto Ebrington Square on Saturday morning for the annual Derry 10 Mile Road Race, making Springwell the club with most runners yet again at this year's event!
The morning started with blue skies and cool temperatures as the race began at 10:30 and almost 3000 runners made their way along the route. The weather held up for the most part, with a heavy shower coming on just after the hour mark, and the usual headwind to contend with for the last 3 miles.
There were fantastic performances across the board from all of our runners, with PBs throughout the field and several new members performing great with some running their first ever race.
It was another superbly organised event by all involved in putting on the event, thoroughly enjoyed by everyone!
15th Chris Denton 0:57:05; 51st Stephen McLaughlin 1:01:08 PB; 59th Aaron Moffatt 1:01:31; 78th Adam Hutton 1:03:11 PB; 87th Fergus Irwin 1:03:30; 103rd Darren Walsh 1:05:09 PB; 115th Niall Kennedy 1:05:04; 119th Kyle Spratt 1:06:01 PB; 129th Jack McKibbin 1:06:28; 148th Aaron Steele 1:07:59; 171st Ciara McSherry 1:09:08; 202nd Jeff Young 1:09:29; 249th Paul Quinn 1:12:11; 280th Fiona Prue 1:13:03; 298th Timmy Bacon 1:13:06; 317th Ryan Pierce 1:13:55 PB; 343rd John Butcher 1:13:44; 407th Shaun Carton 1:14:06; 428th Jim Bradley 1:16:55 PB; 502nd Lynne Young 1:18:58; 506th Conall Doherty 1:17:46; 524th Deborah McPhee 1:18:58; 525th Colin Loughery 1:15:25; 554th Fran McFadden 1:18:20; 590th Catherine Pinkerton 1:21:00; 599th Mervyn Thompson 1:20:57; 632nd David McGaffin 1:19:13; 633rd Barry McCluskey 1:19:32; 790th Geoff Allen 1:22:26; 817th Pauline Mullan 1:22:51; 826th Alan Platt 1:21:20; 841st Leanne Quigley 1:24:39; 378th Kathryn Sheridan 1:15:10; 1091st David Lynch 1:24:23; 1112nd Fiona Walker 1:29:01 PB; 1182nd Alanna Millar 1:26:51; 1238th Janet Patrick 1:27:25; 1269th Emma McQueston 1:27:44 PB; 1270th Bridgeen Canning 1:32:10; 1387th Liz Dowey 1:30:09; 1394th Adam Henderson 1:29:44; 1488th Emer Thompson 1:35:06 PB; 1500th Kathryn Allison 1:31:45 PB; 1510th Alison Duncan 1:30:03; 1531st Karen Campbell 1:30:40; 1588th Naomi Gordon 1:31:33; 1591st Sinead Graham 1:31:36; 1594 Gemma Wray 1:33:40 PB; 1704th Alan White 1:34:52; 1729th Ryan Campbell 1:33:30 PB; 1736th Padraig McKeag 1:35:51; 1759th Vickie Eakin 1:40:09; 1867th Leighann Barker 1:37:40 PB; 1881st Leah Mulholland 1:37:56; 1899th Lynn Stewart 1:41:10; 1919th Ashley McPhee 1:39:20; 1926th Amanda Scott 1:42:00 PB; 1947th Bernie Beattie 1:39:08 PB; 1948th Christine Bonham 1:40:58; 2121st Chrissie Taggart 1:46:31; 2186th Emily Butcher 1:41:12; 2190th Gael Butcher 1:41:13; 2197th Bernie Hannigan 1:47:30; 2207th Winston Donnell 1:43:27; 2264th Jamie Donaghy 1:43:05; 2256th Pauline Duke 1:45:36; 2421st Andrew Gault 1:48:18; 2460th Lorraine Abernethy 1:55:45; 2473rd John McMichael 1:50:25; 2474th Linda McMichael 1:50:25; 2482nd Megan Timms 1:52:48 PB; 2633rd Aimee Miller 2:04:02; 2634th Shirley McGaffin 2:04:03
Glenariff Mountain Race - The Spud Run
The 26/27 mountain running season continued on Saturday with the Glenariff Mountain Race - also known as ‘The Spud Run’. This was the opener in this year's new NIMRA League and in it's simplest form is 2 mile flat, 1 mile up, 1 mile down and 2 mile flat back home with a generous 1,200ft of elevation gain thrown in for good measure.
Weather on the mountain was as near perfect as you could ask for in March and also saw Springwells largest ever showing at the Spud Run this year with 11 in attendance - including 5 who were running The Spud Run for the first time.
Pre race kick off, runners could be heard discussing in detail the final return 2 mile stretch along the river. Some say apparently this year it had doubled in length, others say it tripled. Mid race the stile received such a hammering that the marshall was on point to prop it up ensuring runners could happily continue their ascent up.
Great running at the event from all our members, with Adele Tomb winning her age category, and Carolyn Crawford and Helen Carey coming 3rd in their age categories.
11th Peter Tees 51:01; 47th Shirhaan Hameed 59:11; 52nd Maurice Walker 59:34; 65th Adele Tomb 1:03:50 (1st F50); 68th Jonny Rowntree 1:05:01; 71st James Hughes 1:05:19; 72nd Aidan Hopkinson 1:05:33; 82nd Carolyn Crawford 1:08:18 (3rd F40); 89th Helen Carey 1:09:32 (3rd F45); 114th Ronnie Turner 1:17:39; 120th Sarah Milligan 1:20:27
Slieve Gullion Mountain Race
The 26/27 mountain running season officially opened with the first race of the year at Slieve Gullion on at the week before The Spud Run. This race is a classic up and down route and is a counter for both the NIMRA Championship and IMRA Ulster Championships. Hosted by Armagh Athletic Club, the race is a cracking 2 miles uphill from the off to the summit of Slieve Gullion with 1,200ft of elevation gain, doing a quick 180° and then a fast and furious 2 mile descent back to the start.
Pre race nerves soon disappeared for three travelling Springers when the climbing began straight out of the blocks. Adele Tomb put her ascending skills to good use and took an early lead to get to the top first. James Hughes was closely followed by Carolyn Crawford to the cairn, but James soon shifted gears on the downhill and disappeared out of sight. James' swift descent meant he gained some lost ground and finished a mere seven seconds behind Adele.
Great running by all three and a strong return to the mountains for James following a previous year of injuries and recovery. Last but by no means least, congratulations to Adele on her age category win!
79th Adele Tomb 45:01 (1st F50); 81st James Hughes 45:08; 88th Carolyn Crawford 47:06 (3rd F40)
Washingbay Green Run Half Marathon
James Weir returned to the Washingbay Green Run Half Marathon on the Southwest shore of Lough Neagh where had a great run last year - making the podium in 3rd place. However, he went one better this year jumping up to 2nd place with a fantastic personal best time of 1:20:41. A great result on a challenging and undulating course.
2nd James Weir 1:20:41 PB
Liverpool Half Marathon
Heather and Brian Harper were among almost 15,000 runners who toed the line at the Liverpool Half Marathon on Sunday morning. There was a strong cold breeze blowing off the Mersey that provided a challenge for runners in the last couple of miles. Nonetheless, both fought through it to the finish line, with Heather running a personal best 2:39:15, and Brian coming home in 2:40:28!
Heather Harper 2:39:15 PB; Brian Harper 2:40:28
Secret Bunker Half Marathon
Springwell exile Ciaran Ferris was racing in the Secret Bunker Half Marathon on Sunday - a flat and fast half marathon that takes in 2 loops of Cheshire country lanes.
Ciaran, who also runs for City of Stoke AC, ran a rapid 1:11:39 to finish in 2nd place, almost 2 minutes ahead of the next competitor across the finish line!
2nd Ciaran Ferris 1:11:39
The Junction 5k
There was a new 5k race on the calendar at the beginning of March with The Junction 5k taking place at The Junction Retail Park in Antrim. A flat and fast course was promised, and that's exactly what was delivered with fast times from the Springwell Runners who made the short trip to Antrim for the races. There were two 5k races, the first one aimed at those who normally run sub 20 minutes for a 5k, and the other for those who would normally run over 20 minutes.
In the sub 20 minutes race Christopher McNickle led the Springwell Runners home in 0:16:46 which was enough for him to squeeze into the top 10. Next up, it was a personal best performance from Andy Whiteford in 0:17:20, who was closely followed by James Weir in 0:17:29. The 3 lads times combined were enough to see Springwell win the 1st Male Team Prize.
There were 2 Springwell Runners in the second race. Shaun Carton ran a fantastic 0:20:37 for 16th place and 1st M60, while Naomi McCloskey had a fantastic debut race for the club finishing with a time of 0:22:05 for 60th place.
10th Christopher McNickle 0:16:46; 19th Andy Whiteford 0:17:20 PB; 22nd James Weir 0:17:29
16th Shaun Carton 0:20:37 1st M60; 60th Naomi McCloskey 0:22:05
