It was fantastic performances all round as the young Greenock Glenpark Harriers contested their Track & Field Championships at Ravenscraig Stadium. In blazing sunshine, 46 athletes competed over 100m, 600/800m, 300m and Long Jump. There were big improvements in performances in all the events from last year, testament to the hard work put in by the youngsters and their coaches. Highlighted by the fact that 30 Championship records were broken over the 35 events.

In the under 9’s Beth Docherty was the dominant girl winning all 3 track races but was pushed into 2^nd by Aimee McEleny in the long jump. Jonathan Lamont was impressive in the distance events, but in the 100m sprint Samuel Cushnaghan took the honours with Murray Brown winning the long jump.

In the under 11’s Summer Taggart was impressive striking gold 3 times, with Erin McEleny out leaping her to stop the clean sweep; while the boys’ gold medals were split evenly between Leo Beaton and Douglas Campbell.

Under 13’s Ava Beaton and Ben Campbell were unstoppable on the track, but were out leapt by Sophie Campbell and David Docherty in the long jump.

In the under 15 age group Harris Morrison showed his all-round ability by winning the 4 boys events. Emma Aitken blasted away from the field to win the 100m, Abbie Tosh made it a double by winning the 300 & 800metres with Francesca McKay gaining success in the Jump.

Scott Hannaway made it looked effortlessly as he cruised to victory in both the 100m and 400m taking just 11 and 53 seconds. His 2^nd place in the Shot Putt to Mark Magee sealed enough points to win the overall Senior T&F title.

This year marked the third year of the now Babcock sponsored 10k event series in May that has always been popular with our Harriers over the years. The series sees runners tackle Thursday night 10ks in Helensburgh and Dumbarton, and then the final even on a Sunday in Glasgow Green (Shettleston).

Helensburgh 10k

The first event took place in Helensburgh and followed the same route from Hermitage Academy heading west and encompassing many parts of the town. The conditions on the night were ideal, very little wind and mild temperatures. The route has a few short hills, but overall it is condjusive to fast times.

The fastest of those from the Harriers was Shaun Lyon, finishing in 5th overall and dipping under the 33 minute mark. This was Shaun’s second fastest ever time for 10k and his fastest for a few years, an excellent run. Stevie Campbell was 12th overall and 1st V40. Andrew White wasn’t far behind in 14th and first V50. Wes Pattison was 4th back for the harriers in a great time of 35.21.

Andrew Osborne and Stephen Hanley ran most of the race together. With Andrew returning from injury, he was able to pace Stephen for a PB of 37.24, taking almost 2 minutes off of his PB. Andrew was also happy with his run, with pacing duties allowing him to run a bit harder than he had planned.

Malcolm McLean ran well in just over 42 minutes and John Carruthers was able to take time off of his time from last year’s race.

The overall winner was able to break the 30 minute mark! It was a high quality field but many of the elites were biding their time for the west districts at Dumbarton the following week.

Results: Shaun Lyon 32.59, Steven Campbell 33.59, Andrew White 34.04, Wes Pattison 35.21, Stephen Hanley 37.24, Andrew Osborne 37.37, Malcolm McLean 42.22, John Carruthers 52.14

Dumbarton 10k

Dumbarton AC are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and to commemorate the occasion, they hosted the west district 10k championship at their annual race. Each runner on the night also got a great free t shirt as well!

The Dumbarton 10k was traditionally the fastest of the old series of 4 races, with a mostly flat course and less twists than the others. It could be argued that Shettleston is the fastest of the new series, with Clydebank and Vale of Leven running under separate organisers now.

The route follows a part of the popular Balloch to Clydebank half as it takes the cycle path east before turning back towards the town, with a finishing with a loop of the town and a short twist into the finish. Weather conditions not quite as ideal this week with a stiff breeze swirling around and hitting the runners a number of times.

Steven Campbell continued his V40 haul with a great run of 34.08 to claim 3rd in the category in a stacked field. Andy White was first V50 again, in a 40s slower time this week reflecting the difficulties faced by the conditions. Wes Pattison was able to shave 2 seconds off of his time from the previous week!

Stephen Hanley was buoyed by his PB the previous week and went off harder this week, and was able to hold on to secure another PB of 37.07. Andrew Osborne was very similar in time to his previous week. John Stevenson ran well and broke the 39 minute mark.

Oliver Reilly smashed his 10k PB and broke the 40 minute mark for the first time. Oliver has been smashing PBs all over the place for a few months now and is a great example of what the structured running training can do for you.

It was good to see Alan O’Rourke back out racing and John Carruthers wasn’t far off his time from the previous week. Fiona Cushnaghan was the sole female harrier on the night and was happy with her time, dipping just under 53 minutes.

Results: Steven Campbell 34.08, Andrew White 34.44, Wes Pattison 35.20, Stephen Hanley 37.07, Andrew Osborne 37.41, John Stevenson 38.57, Oliver Reilly 39.17, Malcolm McLean 43.35, Alan O’Rourke 45.26, John Carruthers 52.34, Fiona Cushnaghan 52.56

Shettleston 10k

The final race if the series takes place in Glasgow Green. A predominantly flat route offers the opportunity for fast times, but two short downhill zigzags can kill momentum. The weather on the day was far from ideal, with a strong southerly wind particularly noticeable at the far end of the race as runners cross the footbridge towards Shawfield Stadium.

Shaun Lyon was back for this one and produced another great run in 33.22 to place 7th overall. Shaun was bitterly disappointed to miss the Dumbarton race as he would have had a real chance of picking up an overall prize for the series.

Stevie Campbell collected another first place V40 prize for the race, holding off Paul Sorrie of Shettleston by just 4 seconds! A very successful few weeks for Stevie. Wes Pattison was 3rd back for the club in 35.37, showing real consistency over the series.

Stephen Hanley made it 3 PBs in a row for the series but was left agonisingly close to sub 37 by just one second! Still a great run of PBs after a hard few months training.

There was a good crowd up running at Glasgow Green on a fairly miserable morning. Hopefully see more harriers out running these sort of races as the summer season continues.

Results: Shaun Lyon 33.22, Steven Campbell 34.28, Wes Pattison 35.37, Stephen Hanley 37.01, Andrew Osborne 38.02, George McCallum 40.22, Alan O’Rourke 44.11, David Carruthers 55.55

There have been a lot of other races in the month of May, so keep an eye out on the website in the coming week for a review of these races. Just a quick reminder to members to include our full club name when registering for official races, it makes it easier to find everyones result online.

It was fantastic performances all round as the young Greenock Glenpark Harriers contested their Track & Field Championships at Ravenscraig Stadium. In blazing sunshine, 46 athletes competed over 100m, 600/800m, 300m and Long Jump. There were big improvements in performances in all the events from last year, testament to the hard work put in by the youngsters and their coaches.

2019 GGH T&F Championship results

2019 GGH T&F Championship results

Scott Hannaway, Harry McGill and Harris Morrison were Glenpark Harriers ‘Hat trick Hares’ at the Scottish Schools Track & Field Championships, with all three winning National medals.

Scott had an incredible double success claiming the 200m and 400m titles at Grangemouth stadium. On the first day of the championships he lined up for the final of the one lap sprint as one of the favourites for the title. And true to form Scott was soon moving ahead of the competition as the race developed on the back straight. As the athletes negotiated the final bend Scott was in front and continued to flow down the home straight to claim his first Scottish Schools title.

Shortly after Scott’s victory Harry McGill took to the demands of the 3,000m. As had been the case in recent races Harry was among the leaders for the first few laps before striking for home. The increased pace soon separated the field, Harry then opened up a gap from the chasing pack which proved vital as he to strode confidently to the 3,000m title and the second Gold of the championships for the young harriers.

On day 2 Harris Morrison contested the 800m final after progressing through his heat the day before. Running a mature first lap he was positioned outside the leaders, however moving through the gears on the back straight Harris began his assault for the title.  With every stride he began passing the athletes in front of him reaching the home straight in fourth place. Another change of gear and an excited crowd saw Harris soon into 2^nd place and getting closer to the leader with both crossing the line within half second of each other; and a well-deserved visit to the podium to collect his silver medal and a new lifetime best by some 4 seconds.

Scott Hannaway then took to the final of the 200m in determined fashion. An electric start saw Scott close the gap on the athletes outside him and lead the race into the home straight; relaxing into top speed Scott held off the chasing pack to claim his second title and a lifetime best.

Ava Beaton had a superb performance in the 800m but was unfortunate to miss out on a place in the final. But she had the consolation of a superb PB of 2.32mins, a time that places her in the top 10 in Scotland.

Also competing were Shaun Wiseman, Abbie Tosh, Ben Campbell and Emma Aitken who all performed exceptionally well in their first National outdoor Championships.

This is no overnight success for the youngsters, but from years of hard work and dedication. In particular Harry and Scott, the more senior of the juniors competing this weekend.

Harry joined Glenpark Harriers in 2011 as a young 8 year old, and has steadily progressed, with this year finally achieving his first national titles and also representing Scotland at International level.

While Scott 4 years ago this week, as a young novice, did the sprint double at the Inverclyde schools championships. Now after development and continual improvement he is now a double National Schools Champion.

Importantly not forgetting the support the athletes get from the coaching teams, their families, and all the training groups who all contribute massively in a team effort for their individual successes.

The annual lung bursting mile race took place on the Esplanade last week. 107 runners came along to test themselves over a rarely ran distance. As always, the club were down on the Esplanade early to test the wind direction, and it was decided to start the runners at the west end of the splash to run towards Greenock with a good steady wind at their back.

Inverclyde’s Cameron Watson took the victory in the open race with a superb run of 4.12, the fastest we have seen in the race for a few years. Harry McGill was first Harrier home in a superb time of 4.26, taking 4th overall spot a mere 2 seconds behind experienced Inverclyder Mark Pollard. Shaun Lyon was not far behind in 4.31, beating his 2017 time by 1 second. Alan Mollins had a storming run of 4.38 to take third spot.

Steven Campbell staked his claim in the race towards this years club championship with a PB run in 4th spot. Steven is now just 1 point behind Andrew White in the standings, as Andrew had to watch from the sidelines due to a slight injury. Stephen Hanley continued his recent run of PBs in 5th place, breaking the 5 minute mark for the first time and taking 18 seconds off of his PB in 4.53.

Harris Morrison and Josh Ruddy were the final two harriers able to dip under the 5 minute mark. A great run from Harris as he is still in the U13 bracket! Josh managed to take a vital couple of seconds off of his time from last year. Neil Lafferty was robbed of sub 5 by running it right on the number, unlucky Neil!

The leading Harrier girls had a storming race right to the line. It was Katie Johnson who just pipped her friend Ava Beaton to take the title, and her first senior race victory! There was nothing between the two of them and veteran (relatively) Sue Hewitson who had a superb run to finish third. Sue puts herself right in the frame for the woman’s championship with those 8 points, it’s also going to go right down to the wire! The overall ladies race was won by Kilbarchan’s Elspeth Curran in a superb time of 4.43! A quick look at the Runbritain rankings for female miles this year, that time gets in the top 10. Inverclyde’s Nynke Mulholland was the other female under 5 mins with a great run of 4.50.

Katie Johnson becomes the second female junior member to win a senior race this season, and the other one was Ruby McGill and it was she who managed to be the only other Harrier female to dip under 6 minutes. Claire Monaghan was able to pick up some more points in the race for the championship with a great run in 6.18 with Cheryl Thomas not far behind in 6.22, both great runs. It was however the juniors who were dominant with other fast runs from Abbie Tosh, Summer Taggart, Francesca McKay and Erin McEleny. It should be noted that Erin was able to easily beat her Mum by almost 30 seconds!

There were some great runs by other junior boys who were showing their senior counterparts how it is done. Jude Dolan, Ben Campbell and Shaun Wiseman all in the low 5 minutes mark. Further up the field there were great runs from Euan Johnson and Cameron Crawford. Some of the senior who are new to the mile race found out the hard way that you need to get off to a good start! Oliver Reilly and Owen Atkinson ran great times but could have been closer to that elusive 5 minute mark if they had been braver on the start line! Oliver’s time has to be commended just 2 days after Edinburgh Marathon.

The turnout of runners was eclipsed by the fantastic turnout of supporters and volunteers. A big thanks to all of the volunteers who made the event run so smoothly. Especially to Stevie McLoone who got everyone to know their role and put them in their correct positions, from timekeepers to tape holders, they all played their part! Thanks also to our race sponsor Inverclyde Leisure. It’s a great sight seeing the mass of runners fly down the Esplanade once a year, look forward to next year already!

Results (Harriers in bold): Cameron Watson 4:12, Finlay Murray 4:17, Mark Pollard 4:24, Harry McGill 4:26, Shaun Lyon 4:31, Alan Mollins 4:38, Stuart Kerr 4:38, Peter Tucker 4:40, John Hammerman 4:42, Elspeth Curran 4:43, Steven Campbell 4:45, Nynke Mulholland 4:50, Stephen Hanley 4:53, Dylan Crawford 4:56, Jason Kane 4:56, Harris Morrison 4:57, Joshua Ruddy 4:58, Colin Morrison 4:59, Neil Lafferty 5:00, Robert Wilson 5:03, Jude Dolan 5:04, Graeme Gemmell 5:06, Stuart Hodge 5:06, Owen Atkinson 5:12, Oliver Reilly 5:12, Robert Grey Jnr 5:13, Chloe Simpson 5:13, Ben Campbell 5:19, Chris Watson 5:21, Shaun Wiseman 5:25, David Roberts 5:2, David Docherty 5:29, George McCallum 5:35, Gavin Morrison 5:36, Michael Finley 5:38, Katie Johnson 5:39, Ava Beaton 5:40, Sue Hewitson 5:41, Stewart Anderson 5:42, Graham McGrattan 5:43, Gordon Ritchie 5:47, Robert Grey Snr 5:48, Douglas Campbell 5:49, Shona Doherty 5:49, Euan Johnson 5:51, Stephen Reid 5:52, Richard Newsome 5:55, Ian McKee 5:57, Ruby McGill 5:59, Leo Beaton 6:02, Micky Dunn 6:04, Steven Smith 6:06, Alan O’Rourke 6:07, Sean McFarlane 6:09, Robin McAuslan 6:10, Alan Munro 6:12, Jason McInally 6:12, Cameron Beck 6:13, Cameron Crawford 6:14, Abbie Tosh 6:15, Connor McCrorey 6:15, Claire Monaghan 6:18, Summer Taggart 6:21, Francesca McKay 6:22, Cheryl Thomas 6:22, Eleanor Connelly 6:23, Erin McEleny 6:26, Emma Aitken 6:26, Leah Knox 6:27, Sophie Campbell 6:29, Jack Singleton 6:32, Eric Lindsay 6:34, Michael Connelly 6:36, Maria McCabe 6:40, Donna Campbell 6:41, Nathan Adams 6:47, Lynsey Mooney 6:48, James Campbell 6:50, Ruari Trainer 6:51, Alex Patterson 6:52, Marianne McKay 6:53, Neil Thompson 6:53, Fiona McFarlane 6:54, David Benstead 7:01, Boyd McKenzie 7:03, Debbie McKenzie 7:07, Olivia Trainer 7:09, David Gemmell 7:14, Grant Munro 7:17, Heather Lafferty 7:17, Alex Wiseman 7:19, Sarah Jane Whalen 7:26, Nathan McCorkindale 7:29, Angela Nelson 7:33, Aimee McEleny 7:35, Elaine Medinelli 7:41, Beth Doherty 7:56, Stella McCabe 8:00, Jack Campbell 8:02, Sandra Devine 8:08, Isly Newsome 8:09, Kurt McGill 8:11, Abbigael Crawford 8:23, Matthew Ross 8:33, Charlotte McKay 8:38, Finlay McKeegan 8:42, Newton Robertson 8:57

The results from last night’s Chisholm Mile can be found in the link below. Well done to all 107 athletes who took part. We must say a huge thank you to all of the volunteers on the night who made the event run smoothly, and to our race sponsors Inverclyde Leisure.

Chisholm mile 2019 Results

A full report will be up on the website later this week. Well done to our winners on the night, Cameron Watson and Elspeth Curran, and to our first GGH athletes Harry McGill and Katie Johnson!

The 2019 Harriers Hill race took place on the same day as the West District Junior Hill Race. The race route was the same as previous year’s senior hill race but cut slightly short to follow the same 7k route that the juniors were running. The runners started at Woodstock road and headed fir the hills, crossing the cut and following the stoney road to the cairn before flying back down to the start. The seniors were set off one minute before the juniors, but it didn’t take long for the kids to catch many their elders!

Shaun Lyon has made a rousing comeback in recent weeks, following on from his great run at the Boston Marathon. He was able to claim victory for the second club race in a row, with a strong run, which featured a stirring downhill section where he claimed all of the downhill crowns on Strava! Stevie Campbell was not far behind at all, as he makes a continued return to his best form to put in a late challenge for this year’s senior championship which looks to be going down to the wire.

Paul Monaghan filled out the podium positions holding off guest runner Mark Nightingale.Mark’s run was impressive given that he had hill specialist Andy McCall breathing down his neck as he finished just 3 seconds behind.

Sue Hewitson claimed victory in the ladies race to put her name in the mix for the ladies championship title. This title will also go right down to the wire with a number of names in the mix and only 3 races to go. Marian Monk returned at last month’s Willie Jukes and it was great to see her claim second on the hills as she makes a comeback.

Cheryl Thomas claimed third place ahead of fellow hill running buddy Marianne McKay, both having recently been training on much more severe hills than this!

Elsewhere in the race there were great runs from Danny McLaughlin and first time hill runner Oliver Reilly. Callum Gorry made himself one of only 3 club runners who can claim a clean sweep of all 11 races this season which is great to see. There were over 20 runners tackling the course on the day, with many more volunteering their help for this race and the junior race which was great!

There are just 3 more races in the club championship to go. Starting with tomorrow night’s Chisholm Mile on the Esplanade. The weather is looking good and a favourable westerly wind is forecast, so it’ll be great to see a big crowd of runners, volunteers and supporters out to enjoy it! Its only a mile….

Results: Shaun Lyon 28.21, Steven Campbell 28.43, Paul Monaghan 30.24, Mark Nightingale (guest) 30.34, Andrew McCall 30.37, Daniel Doherty 30.58, Tim Griffin (guest) 32.49, Danny McLaughlin 34.56, Oliver Reilly 35.43, Mickey Dunn 35.58, Sue Hewitson 36.46, Richard Davidson 37.27, David Ness 39.39, Stephen Reid 39.39, Marian Monk 40.39, Cheryl Thomas 41.21, Claire Monaghan 42.11, Marianne McKay 42.21, Lorna Coyle 43.22, Callum Gorry 46.24, Boyd MacKenzie 47.03, Simon Hutton 57.55