Scottish Athletics have been organising virtual challenges over the last year to keep us all engaged with running during the pandemic. Distances have usually ranged from 1 mile to 10, occasionally longer. However for their 7th event, they offered a marathon option! We haven’t always reported on virtual racing, but when one of our members goes ahead and finishes first for a virtual marathon, it is more than deserving of a write up!

Oliver Reilly previously lead the way with his time at the virtual London Marathon in October, running 2.57 around the Battery Park (with a solid team of pacers). This time, he opted for the trickier loop of The Esplanade and Eldon Street (around 3.5km). Completely solo, and battling a brisk westerly wind and uneven and slightly undulating terrain, Oliver proceeded to run an incredible 2.50.59! An incredible run, and it sat rightly as the top virtual marathon entry in Scotland. Oliver ran on the Friday, and the weather admittedly deteriorated over the weekend which may have put some runners off. However, you would have to do something special to get anywhere near that time on your tod!

Oliver was not the only person to attempt the marathon distance. Our very own Ultra runner Kevin Gill had been training hard for the ultimately cancelled track marathon, so he set out to complete his marathon on a shorter loop of Eldon Street and The Esplanade. Kevin, backed by a hearty group of pacers, set out well and despite hitting the wall, he pushed through to break the 4 hour mark by just 37 seconds.

The other options for seniors over the weekend were 10k and half marathon. Oliver was not to be the only runner topping leaderboard for the event, Debbie McKenzie ran her best half marathon time to top the ladies masters leaderboard in a superb time of 1.50.17. Heather Lafferty also had a great run to get herself 4th on the same list, and they combined with Emma Sinclair to finish as the fastest ladies only team. On the men’s masters side in the half, Owen Atkinson was 3rd and Eric Lindsay’s fastest half got him 6th.

All routes need to be on a loop of at least 1km (due to GPS inaccuracies), that is unless you can get on a track, and for a half marathon that’s over 52 laps… Its not for everyone, but Andy McCall isn’t everyone. Andy absolutely smashed it on the track in an incredible 1.19.24, and in his own words that’s his fastest half marathon since the dawn of GPS watches! Andy, Owen and Eric combined to be the number one team for the half marathon category, with Andy 2nd overall individually! Well done guys.

In the 10km, Daniel Doherty completed his on the track for a great run of 36.33 and Stephen Hanley wasn’t far behind in 37.04 while opting for a coastal route in Gourock. John Stevenson made up the club A team which finished in 5th spot, with a B team of Graeme Boyce, Viki Smith and Fiona MacFarlane.

One of the main things is seeing good participation and representation from the club, and Donna Campbell, Sandra Devine and Elaine Medinelli also combined for a full 10km team. Eddie Devine and Charlotte McKay also took part, which is great to see. It is hard to compete with the numbers that Bellahouston Road Runners have entered in almost all of these events, but Greenock Glenpark Harriers have regularly been second behind them in terms of numbers. We only had one junior have a go at the options available, well done to Summer Taggart running a quick 3km in 12.33.

Results: https://salicence.sportserve.net/useruploads/eventinfo/11662-RoadChalVII%20Full%20Results_v2.pdf

Following an easing in restrictions, Greenock Glenpark Harriers have now restarted their popular group training sessions for their junior athletes.  Training sessions are held at Ravenscraig Sports stadium on Tuesday evening from 6.15pm to 7.15pm, Thursday from 6.00pm to 7.00pm and Saturday from 11.30 to 12.30. 

Anyone interested in getting into athletics is very welcome to come along and try some free training sessions. These are open to anyone of age 8-17. Our youngest age group, 8-11, has a waiting list. Please email us to find out more. We hope to cut the list down ASAP depending on numbers for the new season and number of volunteers required. We are always looking for more volunteers if you are interested!

If anyone would like any further information, the Club can be contacted at greenockglenparkharriers@gmail.com  A member of the coaching team would be happy to speak to anyone interested and provide more information about the clubs junior section.  More information is also on the club’s Facebook page (@Greenock Glenpark Harriers), Twitter (@ggharriers) or Instagram (@greenockglenpark)

It is only 6 weeks to go until the Greenock Glenpark Harriers virtual half marathon! We have already had an amazing 130 runners sign up for the event. You can still enter right up until the start date on 30th April.

The half marathon (13.11 miles or 21.1 kilometres) should be ran over the long weekend of 30th April to 3rd May on any route you so choose (Although if you a running on a short loop, please try and keep to a loop over 1km due to GPS inaccuracies). Your result can then be emailed in to the club with a link to Garmin, Strava or whatever you use to track your run (even a picture of your watch will do).

The event is open to non-members, and we are thrilled at the numbers who have signed up so far that are not in the club (even one all the way from Germany!). Non-members can still get a T shirt, but the T shirt is only free for members (and only £9 for non-members if you want one).

Please use the link below to enter:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1sbRnqUpheiR4cwVZPNYZvmkAS7WQMl_3DOCXTxlayd8/edit

Let us know how your training is going?! You can get us on Facebook (Greenock Glenpark Harriers), Twitter (@ggharriers) or Instagram (@greenockglenpark).

For the first time since March of this year, Greenock Glenpark Harriers were able to host one of their club championship races on its usual course. In the past few months, Scottish Athletics guidance has allowed us to hold two time trials, but these have been away from the public eye. The Wilson Trophy race is always held on the trails behind the Greenock Cut, and as always is a conceding handicap race which allowed us to spread the start times for the runners to keep group sizes down.

The runners are set off in reverse order, with fastest runners starting last. The winner of the handicap race is the first person back to the finish line. In between, the runners have to contest with an undulating 4.5 mile course across the tracks and trails behind Overton. For the second year in a row, the fastest time was good enough to win the overall race and the handicap trophy. Shaun Lyon was last out and first back, tearing the course to pieces in a great time of 26.47, the fastest time in at least five years.

For once, the weather was favourable. This is a race synonymous with poor weather conditions, and is often cancelled for snow or ice! However this year, there was no rain or wind to be found. The weeks leading up to the race have been wet, and the trails were very much chewed up making it quite heavy going underfoot. It is also typically the club’s poorest attended event, with the most runners in the last five events being just over 30. An amazing 56 runners toed the line for this year’s event, no doubt excited for the opportunity to race! The club have done wonders during lockdown to get regular training, and now some events, all carried out safely and in line with Scottish Athletics guidelines.

In the ladies race, the scratch winner was Sue Hewitson, defending her title from 2019. Sue is at home on the trails, and has spent most of lockdown training on the runners’ paradise around The Cut and Cornalees. Fiona MacFarlane had a fantastic run in second place (third handicap), and Marian Monk was not far behind in third spot overall. Sandra Devine was so close to winning the handicap race, only being caught by Shaun with 11 seconds to spare! It was a really good run from Sandra, and there were a lot of good performances from the newcomers on the ladies side. Olivia Devine, Jennifer Boyd and Emma Sinclair all ran well on their Wilson debut, but it was Lynsey McLaughlin who perhaps had the best of the bunch. The regular training has been paying off for this group in particular!

Andy McCall couldn’t quite defend his double win at this race from last year, but he was still second in the scratch race and took over two and a half minutes off of his time from last year. Debutant Kyle Wilson was set off with a group of the fastest runners in the club, but he didn’t let that affect him. He held off multiple club champion Stevie Campbell to claim third spot. Stevie did however claim first vet. There was some fine performances from the likes of Daniel Doherty, Kevin Craig and Michael McLoone.

Appropriate footwear is always an essential for this race, and a better choice of shoes allowed Oliver Reilly to take seven whole minutes off of his time from last year! One of the runs of the day came in the v60 category, with Graham McGrattan running a hair over 33 minutes for the course, over 3 minutes quicker than his last time on the course. Age is no barrier in the club, and it was fantastic to see Eddie Devine and Charlotte McKay competing and winning their respective age categories.

Gavin Morrison and Campbell Cromar made their Glenpark debuts having recently switched to the club, and both ran well and enjoyed the chance to compete against so many fellow club members. Everyone at the club was buoyed to see George McCallum competing in the race, and the sense of community spirit was high among all those running and volunteering. It was great to be back to racing as a club, and everyone hopes it is the start of things to come in the New Year.

A big thanks must go to the race sponsors, Wilson Buses. Also thanks to the volunteers who braved the cold on the day, and the day before to set the course up. A lot of work went in prior to the race to make sure it could be ran safely, and we are looking forward to our next opportunity to race in the new year.

Results: Shaun Lyon 26.47, Andrew McCall 27.59, Kyle Wilson 28.23, Steven Campbell 28.27, Daniel Doherty 28.41, Kevin Craig 28.46, Kevin O’Donoghue 28.51, Neil Lafferty 29.00 Michael McLoone Jnr 29.05, Andrew Osborne 29.52, Gavin Morrison   30.09, Oliver Reilly 30.45, Chris Jones 31.03, Robert Dolan 32.23, Gordon Hepburn 32.23, Stephen Hanley 32.51, David Roberts 32.59, Graham McGrattan 33.03, Owen Atkinson 33.14, Sue Hewitson 34.24 Eric Lindsay 34.35, Alan O’Rourke 35.59, Stuart Austin 37.11, Stephen Reid 37.27, Fiona McFarlane 37.28, Campbell Cromar 37.4, Callum Gorry 37.42, Danny McLaughlin 38.11, Frank McMahon 38.22, Craig Canning 38.34, Marian Monk 38.41, Mick Harrington 39.08, Stuart David Crawford 40.32, Debbie McKenzie 41.04, Kenneth Scott 41.24, Marianne McKay 41.31, Matthew Young 41.38, George McCallum 41.4, Lisa Boonsanong 41.44, Cheryl Thomas 41.51, Claire Monaghan 42.05, Heather Lafferty 42.22, Aidan Coyle 42.23, Alex Paterson 42.39, Liz Ness 43.55, Lynsey McLaughlin 44.23, Olivia Devine 44.54, Fiona Cushnaghan 46.04, Jennifer Boyd 46.33, Elaine Medinelli 46.59, Sandra Devine 47.58, Helen Crawford 48.44, Angela Nelson 49.14, Emma Sinclair 50, Charlotte McKay 61.46, Eddie Devine 64.35

2020 has been a challenging year for everyone. Greenock Glenpark Harriers should have spent the year with a number of events to mark the club’s 125^th anniversary. When the world was put on hold in March, the club had to find new ways to commemorate this special year, and keep the members engaged in running.

One of the first club races to fall was the Doherty Cup, a ten mile road race. So instead of a race, that weekend the club held a virtual ‘how far can you run in an hour’ challenge, which kept within the government restrictions at the time. This was the first of many virtual running events put on by the club and latterly by Scottish Athletics too.

The Scottish Athletics challenges proved very popular, and the club were regularly in the top 3 in Scotland in terms of participation numbers. One of the most popular virtual events was ‘how far can you climb in 30 minutes’ which challenged the runners to run continuously on a hill for half an hour to gain as much elevation as possible. Inverclyde offers a few good locations for this sort of fiendish challenge!

Social media running site Strava has been a great tool to help keep our runners engaged with each other. During lockdown, it was creatively used as a way to set up virtual leaderboards. GPS watches and smartphones allowed us to create routes across Inverclyde, and Strava compiles leaderboards on each of them. The routes were all 1.25 miles long (a nod to the 125 years) and involved some of the area’s steepest hills. The competitive juices were flowing once again! To give an idea of the toughness involved, try running from Port Glasgow’s Glen Avenue all the way to the golf course (and a bit further…). These routes were steep! There were 6 in total, and one of our runners Kevin Craig was mental enough to complete all 6 in one run, a total route of over 31 miles. If you’re on Strava, get involved!

Social media engagement was high throughout lockdown. Daily photos from the club’s archives were posted on our Facebook group to amuse and bemuse in equal measures. Somehow baby photos of the club’s committee members snuck their way in too! 

Scottish Athletics have worked hard with the government to provide ever changing guidelines as the country eased its way out of Lockdown. In recent months, the club has been able to get senior and junior training sessions up and running again. Running was very popular during lockdown. Perhaps with the gyms closed, and also due to the various charitable challenges doing the rounds on social media. The club have benefited greatly from this, taking on a huge number of new members as a result. The senior training sessions have been the lifeblood of the club in recent months, with numbers almost doubling from pre-lockdown.  A huge credit must go to Alan O’Rourke, Alison King and a whole host of volunteers and coaches for keeping these organised and safe.

In recent months, some club time trials have also been organised, but held away from the public eye and in line with Scottish Athletics guidelines. Perhaps the public are not quite ready for the sight of our runners in the famous sky blue vests charging along the Esplanade. The lockdown put pay to our 2019/20 club championship after only 5/11 races complete. We will be carrying the points from these over to the 20/21 championship. The two time trials held since the relaxation of rules will count towards the championship. We have held these up Greenock Cut and at Ravenscraig Track. They have proven very popular, and have given our runners a much needed excuse to get the special 125^th anniversary vest on!

Our annual New Year’s Day race, The Lyle Mile, is likely to be going ahead as a virtual event. We hope we can get the community engaged with running to start the New Year, and we all hope that 2021 will see a return to something closer to normality. Not just for our club, but the whole of Inverclyde.

If you want to know more about the club, please drop us an email at greenockglenparkharriers@gmail.com. Big thank you to the Greenock Telegraph for publishing the article in the paper last Wednesday, and for their continued publicity.

#shecanshewill #ActiveGirls @scotathletics @inverclyde @InverclydeL

This is Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week and @GGHarriers girls & ladies will join in the celebrations by competing on Sunday at Ravenscraig stadium in the Annual Colin Shields races. Our Seniors will contest the 5000m, and Juniors will go over 2000m and some shorter sprint races.

In this month in 1895, the famous Greenock Glenpark Harriers were established.