Springwell Running Club is a very successful, dynamic, young running club serving the Coleraine, Ballymoney and Limavady areas. The club was formed in 2001 by the amalgamation of Roe Valley Athletic Club and North Coast Runners (see History of our Club) and we now have over 160 members. Our membership has grown steadily over the past 5 years with particular increases amongst female members and a hugely increased junior section. 

Our very strong junior section aims to get children into athletics at a young age, with the emphasis on fun. We have also recently begun a successful scheme to encourage their parents to try running while their children are training. It is often difficult for parents of young children to get time to exercise but this has resulted in a number of them joining the club and beginning to run regularly. 

The Club has 10 coaches qualified to level 1, 2 to level 2 and 1 to level 3. This expertise has assisted us in attracting, retaining and developing members of all ages and abilities. We offer a varied training programme, suited to all levels and we encourage our more experienced runners to lead the training sessions on a regular basis. 

This year our club proudly had 2 male members selected to represent Northern Ireland at the British & Irish Masters Cross Country championships. In 2006 our oldest club member and Honorary President James Reid MBE won gold in the over 70s category at this event. This crowned his performances over the previous three years, and resulted in his being recognised in the Coleraine Sports Council Awards in 2007, where he was presented with the Chairman’s Award. 

We also have a very successful ladies team who have been Northern Ireland half marathon champions for the last 2 years as well as having individual members who have won races and age group prizes, on the track, road, cross-country, mountain and trail. 

We run a number of events including the Roe Valley Trail Run, Riada 5 mile race and the Jude Gallagher Round the Bridges 10 mile race. We also help organise the KK McArthur half marathon in Dervock and last year we began running a primary school cross country series in association with Athletics NI, known as the Springwell cup.