Scrabo Striders Running Club

The Heath Graham Ards 5 Mile Challenge in support of Marie Curie was run on Friday 4th September with 383 runners completing the challenging undulating course. It was a fantastic evenings running and the podium places were claimed by;

Male

1st David Conlon Ballygalget AC 28:26
2nd Finn Johnson North Down AC 28:31
3rd Jonathan Gibson North Down AC 29:07

Female

1st Ivana Anderson North Down AC 29:21
2nd Amanda Perry Ballydrain Harriers 33:05
3rd Sarah Benton North Down AC 33:52

Scrabo Striders would like reiterate our thanks to;

KBS IT and Office Solutions for print services.

Cotters and Tesco for providing the water station and finish line water for the event.

Loughries Integrated Primary School for manning the on course water station.

Richard Cowan and Adrian Bartosik for photography. Photos will soon be available through Richard Cowan and Scrabo Striders Running Club

Marie Curie UK for providing volunteers man their information stall and to help with marshalling and refreshments.

Everyone who donated to the post race refreshments

Last but not least all of our fabulous volunteers who made the event possible.

We hope you all had a great night and we look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Results can be found at

ChampionChip Ireland - Race Timing and Sporting Events ChampionChip Ireland is the sole operator of MyLaps chip timing in Ireland & Northern Ireland, providing timing solutions for sports events across the country.

Striders Weekly Update 06/09/2026 The end of August Bank holiday weekend was a very busy time with races ranging from Strangford to Rathlin and Ballykinler to Sydney and Longford to Eikon Centre Lisburn.

Member of the Month August 2026

I am absolutely delighted to announce the male Boyd Rice Solicitors, Scrabo Striders member of the month for August is…

💚💜 Colin Campbell 💚💜

This month Colin ran the challenging and iconic 100-mile Berlin Wall Race which commemorates the victims of the former border between West and East Germany. The course follows the former border strip around western Berlin.

In significant heat Colin completed the 100 miles in 28 hours, 52 min and 59 seconds.

And if that wasn’t enough, Colin added a further 33 miles to his August total, covering 8 loops at Last Strider Standing, placing him 13th in a field of 77 Striders.

Definitely a fan of long runs, Colin competes at quite a few we Run Wild, EAMS and Gaithouse endurance events, having previously run Dublin to Belfast with Atlas.

A very worthy recipient of August’s Member of the Month.

Congratulations Colin!!!

Men’s Captain George.

A big thank you as always to Boyd Rice Solicitors for sponsoring our Member of the Month award. They specialise in injury claims, conveyancing, family law, and will drafting. Scrabo Striders members benefit from discounted conveyancing fees and a free initial consultation for injury claim advice.

www.boydricesolicitors.com

We can't wait to welcome you all to Newtownards for the Heath Graham Ards 5 Mile Challenge this Friday evening.

Following this event Scrabo Striders will be making a donation to Marie Curie in memory of our hugely influential friend and coach Heath. Marie Curie will have an information stall set up near the finish line, please pop by and show your support for the vital work that they do.

Race number collection will be from 6:00-8:00 on Wednesday and Thursday at reception in Londonderry Park or on Friday from 5:00 at the gazebo set up by the dog park within Londonderry Park. Please note that on Friday bib collection will close strictly at 6:30 pm to allow our team enough time to prepare for the event start. This race has been extremely popular and is sold out, meaning that unfortunately we are not able to offer late entries on the night or during pack collection

The race will start at 7:00 close to reception at Londonderry Park, running a short distance within the park before exiting left onto the Portaferry Road. You will continue along the Portaferry Rd for just under two miles before turning left again onto Finlay’s Road. At the top of Finlay’s Road another left turn takes you onto the undulating Bowtown Road leading into a nice downhill stretch to Upper Greenwell Street. At the end of Upper Greenwell Street you will turn left for another short downhill section to the fire station where you turn left again for the second last time on the final approach to the finish. One more left just before the roundabout and the finish line is a short distance into the park.

Car Parking

Parking is limited at Londonderry Park so please allow enough time for your journey and the potential time to walk to the start line from one of the other carparks in the town. Please park safely and respectfully if not using a carpark.

Marshals and Medical cover

The route has marshals throughout at all major junctions who will be managing safe access for residents as needed. If you or anyone else is feeling unwell or are injured please alert one of the marshals who will engage with Ambutrans to get support where it is needed.

Water Station

A water station, staffed by Loughries Primary School, will be at the top of Finlay’s Road and water will also be provided at the finish line.

Refreshments

Water will be provided with your medal at the finish line and tea/coffee and selection of baked treats will be available close to the finish line until just after the tail runner is home.

Prize Giving

Prizes are awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd Male and Female. Prize giving will be as soon as we can after the category winners have crossed the line.

Finish line entertainment by Karl Henderson and photography courtesy of Richard Cowan (On Course) and Adrian Bartosik (Finish Line). Photos will be available to view on Richard Cowan and Scrabo Striders Running Club pages within a few days of the event.

Scrabo Striders thank KBS IT and Office Supplies for print services, Cotters for their kind donation of finish line water, Loughries Primary School for manning the on route water station and all of our fantastic volunteers who are giving up their time to make this event possible.

The Last Strider Standing is....Graeme Black on 16 loops, 66.7miles !

On Saturday 29th August Scrabo Striders Running Club hosted its annual Last Strider Standing, an unofficial Backyard Ultra, at Ballykinler Training Camp. Co. Down.

Seventy-seven club members took part, covering a cumulative distance of 1300 miles (2092 km), or to put it another way, twice the length of Britain.

Graeme was two loops away from beating the event record which he jointly holds. The runner up was Craig Simpson on 15 loops, achieving a 100km personal best!

LSS as its known has become a very popular club event, with many club members recording new distance PBs, pushing themselves further than they thought possible.

The event is a massive effort both at set-up, on the day and takedown. I'd like to thank the team that made it possible, namely Chris Edwards, Karen Wilson, Graeme Farrington, James Cole-Boyle, Paul Magee, Hannah Magee, Lynn McGonigal, Fiona Lowry, Linda van der Horst and Sonya Summersgill.

A shout out to out sponsors RUN HUB Scrabo Sports Massage Ulster Property Sales Newtownards Kane Engineering and Ballyblack Contracts.

A huge thanks to our hosts, The Army and Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

We're already looking forward to LSS 2027 and hope to see the competitors continue into daylight!

George McGonigal
Race Director

No I couldn't really not do my own challenge.
Who else is up for it. Time is not an issue it's getting it done
Thanks Hannah Magee for the push and for coaching the coach

Striders Weekly Update 25/08/2026 On Friday evening, Springwell Running Club hosted the 2026 NI & Ulster 5K Road Championship in association with Athletics Northern Ireland. The race took place entirely within the grounds of Ulster University’s Coleraine campus and comprised just under four laps of the main campus road loop. Sole ...

📣📣📣 putting out a shout out 📣📣📣
Any one able to supply, bakes, cakes, buns, sandwiches or other for the ‘Heath Graham Ards 5 Mile’ on September 4th. Please let Judith Boyd or myself know, or bring it along on the night before the race. Anything will be much appreciated.
Thanks Gillian Pearson.💜💚

For all the dog enthusiasts:-)

Rosie’s trust are doing a chip timed event , dogs very welcome as below link explains

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Bz86hxii1/