Erin McEleny and Douglas Campbell were joint winners of the GGH Tower Hill cross country League after recording the quickest times in the final time trial on a windswept Tower Hill. After 4 long months of competition the pair couldn’t be separated with both gaining maximum points, attending all 9 rounds and running quickest in their category in the 3 time trials.

In the final round despite the weather it was a record attendance with 31 youngsters taking part smashing the previous best of 24. The under 11s raced 1 mile, u13s & 15s 2mile, and u17s 3miles around multiple laps  of the 800m course.

The u13 girls was the closest contest, with Sophie McGinty and Ava Beaton taking advantage of Katie Johnson’s absence to leap frog her to share the girls’ title. Douglas’ brother Ben took the u13 boys title.

In the U15s Harris Morrison won from Shaun Wiseman by 1 point, while ever present Abbie Tosh was the victorious girl.

Ewan Ferguson and Mhairi Moore came out top in the U17s age group.

The most improved athlete was Summer Taggart whose time of 7.26minutes for the hilly 1 mile xc route was 1minute and 40 seconds quicker than she ran in the first time trial.

This was the 2^nd year of the competition, with overall numbers taking part up by 50%

Final Time Trial:

1mile: Douglas Campbell 6.18, Leo Beaton 6.48, Connor McCrorey 6.56, Cameron Beck 7.00, Erin McEleny 7.07, Summer Taggart 7.26, Ruari Trainer 7.59, Ben Mullen 8.20, Brooke Taylor 8.23, Leah Knox 8.29, Aimee McEleny 8.43, Matthew Ross 8.46, Mirren McConnell 9.51,

2miles: Shaun Wiseman 12.07, Ben Campbell 12.14, Harris Morrison 12.45, Ruby McGill 12.59, Euan Johnson 13.10, Ava Beaton 13.13, David Docherty 13.22, Jude Dolan 14.06, Abbie Tosh 15.24, Sophie McGinty 15.43, Francesca McKay 16.01, Alex Wiseman 16.15, Olivia Trainer 16.56, Emma Aitken 17.22, Holly Beck 17.56,

3miles: Harry McGill 17.14, Alan Mollins 17.51, Ewan Ferguson 19.58,

Joint Overall League winners Douglas Campbell & Erin McEleny

Age Category Winners

U11s: Douglas Campbell, Erin McEleny

U13s: Ben Campbell, Ava Beaton & Sophie McGinty

U15s: Harris Morrison, Abbie Tosh

U17s: Ewan Ferguson, Mhairi Moore

U20: Ryan Brown

Harriers trio of Harris Morrison, Jude Dolan and Ben Cameron secured excellent performances at the National Indoor Age Group Championships held in the Emirates Indoor Arena.

Harris and Jude contesting the under 15 boys 800m both made huge improvements over the four lap event. Harris running for the first time in this age group was up to cruising speed and held a steady pace over the first 400m. Harris increased his speed approaching the last 200m to move into a qualifying spot to make the final in a new lifetime best.  In his final the pace from his competitors was a step up from the heat, however Harris stuck to his own race plan over the first half of the race, which proved fruitful as he began to pull in his competitors to finish a creditable 6th in a time under his previous best prior to this competition.

In the other 800m heat Jude was focused  from the gun and after a few laps was clearly ahead of previous best times, benefiting from his endurance strength Jude pushed himself into the final 200m and ran clear to cross the line improving his lifetime best by an incredible 10 seconds.

Ben participating over the longer 1,500m Final, in his first taste of indoor competition relied on his cross country endurance to tackle the new challenge of the seven and a half laps indoor. With a gutsy performance Ben created a new best to now work towards  lowering his time below the 5 minute barrier.

Results: 1500m Ben Campbell 5.06; 800m Harris Morrison 2.14 (heat) 2.15 (Final) Jude Dolan 2.30 (Heat)

The 2019 Renfrewshire road race took place last Sunday in Greenock. The annual 5 mile race continues to be every popular with the harriers with our senior runners once again turning out in superb numbers. Over 50 of our runner took to the streets on a bitterly cold Sunday afternoon and there were some great results in among them.

The 5 mile course takes runners on a lap of the battery park before heading out to the far end of the esplanade. They turn there and make their way back to the start, including another lap of the park to finish. It’s a flat course that often leads to very good five mile times, a race distance not often ran with strong fields. The weather looked horrendous as the senior huddled together inside the pavilion, not really wanting to venture outside. The gods were kind though and the rain eased off, and the wind did likewise. There was still a headwind on the second half of the race, but not as bad as the hour beforehand.

Stephen Trainer was unable to return to try and defend his gold medal from last year, as Inverclyde AC’s Sean Fontana took the win in just under 25 mins. Among the chasing pack were Glenpark’s form men in Chris Mooney and Andrew White. Andrew secured the V50 gold medal (and was also first V40!) in under 27 mins, just 10 seconds behind rival Mooney. Paul Monaghan was not far behind as 3rd harrier and newcomer Wes Pattison impressing in his first outing in the sky blue vest. These four as well as Stevie Campbell and Neil Lafferty made up the top 6 counters that claimed the district silver medal in the team prizes, just 2 points ahead of Bellahouston Harriers! Well done guys.

The medals didn’t stop there for the men. Graham McGrattan secured the v60 gold with a solid run. Eddie Devine was first v70 and it was great to see Eddie out there smling his way round 5 miles! Among the other men competing, there were some big 5 miles PBs, Robert Dolan, Stephen Hanley and Oliver Reilly standing out. There was also a Harriers debut for Owen Atkinson and Rhys Jones.

There was a superb turnout from the Harriers ladies with captain Marian Monk rallying the troops down to the Battery. Sadly the reigning ladies champion had to cheer on from the sidelines due to injury. Sue Hewitson was first Harrier home as she chased down Chloe Simpson (running for Kilbarchan on the day), and Chloe just edged it on the line. Sandra Campbell, Claire Monaghan and Cheryl Thomas all had great runs to make the top 4, but it wasn’t quite enough to sneak into the medals in the team race. It was a day of near misses from the ladies in the medal stakes, as Sue’s run just missed on on v40 bronze.

There were a number of debuts from the lady Harriers, with Sandra Devine, Heather Lafferty, Elaine Medinelli and Angela Nelson pulling on the vest for the first time. All have been regulars at Greenock parkrun and more recently at the Harriers sessions, and are loving life in the club!

This thirst for running can be continued next Saturday, with the 2019 Willow Bowl up at the Greenock Cut! A conceding handicap race taking in a full loop of the cut is arguably the best club race of the year, it’s certainly the most scenic! It all kicks off at 2pm at the Watermans Cottage Saturday 16th February, with registration in the clubhouse and refreshments in The Willow Bar after! See you there!

Results: Chris Mooney 26:45, Andrew White 26:55, Paul Monaghan 28:04, Wes Pattison 28:21, Neil Lafferty 28:47, Steven Campbell 28:51, Daniel Doherty 29:16, Robert Dolan 29:36, John Stevenson 30:27, Stephen Hanley 30:39, Chris Jones 31:13, Owen Atkinson 31:21, Duncan Anderson 31:40, Chris Watson 31:56, David McCorkindale 32:01, Ross Neilson 32:16, Oliver Reilly 32:22, Sue Hewitson 33:01, Graham McGrattan 33:43, David Ness 33:58, Alan O’Rourke 34:24, Stuart Austin 34:29, Ian McKee 35:08, Stephen Reid 35:09, Stuart Crawford 35:51, Craig Canning 36:02, Robin McAuslan 36:12, Sandra Campbell 36:21, Claire Monaghan 36:29, Cheryl Thomas 37:15, Donna Campbell 37:26, Marianne McKay 37:37, Frank McMahon 37:44, Rhys Jones 38:51, Terri Wall 39:29, Kenny Scott 40:04, Viki Smith 40:05, James Campbell 40:22, Lisa Boonsanong 40:34, Sharon Black 41:26, Gerry Gillespie 41:51, Dannie Seddon 42:14, Boyd MacKenzie 42:14, Eileen Stevenson 42:22, Heather Lafferty 42:23, Angela Nelson 44:45, John Carruthers 44:55, Grace Campbell 45:14, Elaine Medinelli 45:32, Simon Hutton 45:59, Sandra Devine 47:18, Edward Devine 49:00, Charlotte McKay 51:02, David Black 54.34

It was a successful day for Glenpark Harriers Junior athletes when they competed in the Renfrewshire Road Race Championships at a cold and windy Battery Park.

There was a big turnout out especially in the under 11s, as the boys got underway over 1 mile.  The young harriers were all packed closely together, and they were unfortunate not to grab the bronze team medal as they fell short by just 2 points. Douglas Campbell led the boys’ home in 8^th place and was quickly followed by Euan Johnson and Connor McCorey.

The girls were next and they recorded the first success of the day. Sophie McGinty looking powerful in the strong wind finished in an impressive 6^th place, and with Maria McCabe and Erin McEleny just a few seconds behind they took a well-deserved team Bronze.

The under 13s raced over 2 miles, and Katie Johnson stepped up to claim the clubs first individual medal of the day. A battling run saw her place 3^rd to win bronze, ahead of team mate Ava Beaton finishing in a respectable 6^th. It was also a good performance from David Docherty who is looking stronger in every race.

The under 15 girls’ hard work in training was rewarded as Abbie Tosh led the closely grouped quartet who were delighted with their Team Silver. The biggest improvement among the girls’ coming from Emma Aitken.

Shaun Wiseman, another who has developed over the past year, put in an outstanding run to finish 8^th, with his brother Alex in 16^th.

The best was left to last in the under 17 men’s’ race as Alan Mollins and Ewan Ferguson contested the 3 mile event. Leaving the park after 1 mile Alan was off the pace lying a distant 2^nd, but in a remarkable turnaround he hit the front at half way and extended his lead to 19 seconds to win  Gold and his first County title. Ewan running steadily placed 5^th.

Under 11s 1 Mile: 06:45 Douglas Campbell, 06:48 Euan Johnson, 06:54 Connor McCrorey, 07:01 Leo Beaton, 07:03 Cameron Crawford, 07:12 Cameron Beck, 07:37 Oliver Jones, 07:45 Ruari Trainer, 09:15 Mathew Ross, 09:31 Ben Mullen, 07:25 Sophie McGinty, 07:37 Erin McEleny, 07:38 Maria McCabe, 07:46 Brooke Taylor, 07:51 Summer Taggert, 08:05 Leah Knox.

Under 13s 2 Miles: 12:44 David Docherty, 12:40 Katie Johnson, 13:31 Ava Beaton.

Under 15s 2 Miles: 14:13 Abbie Tosh, 14:21 Emma Aitken, 15:04 Francesca McKay, 15:07 Olivia Trainer, 11:33 Shaun Wiseman, 14:02 Alex Wiseman.

U17s 3Miles: 16:45 Alan Mollins, 19:32 Ewan Ferguson.

Harry ‘The Harrier’ McGill continued his rich rein of form of late by winning silver in the National Indoor under 17s 1500m, adding to his 3,000m medal won a few weeks back.

Harry returned to the Emirates Indoor arena in Glasgow a week after representing Scotland at the Celtic Cross Country International in Ireland to contest his age group 1,500m race.

With a swift start Harry put himself into the mix shadowing the leaders for the first few laps. With a tactical change of pace Harry sliced through the field to sit on the shoulder of the leader as the pace of the race increased causing the field to spread out leaving the few quality athletes at the front.  Counting down into the last 2 laps a serious turn of speed saw Harry and local Kilbarchan athlete Jack Patton leave the others trailing as both contested for gold with Harry being edged for the title by the narrowest of margins.

Shaun Wiseman on his first indoor Nationals displayed the ‘Harriers’ fighting spirit in the under 17  800m and will be proud of his display and the creation of a solid foundation to build on in the future events.

In the senior races Scott McCluckie returned to competitive action with solid performances over both the 200m and 400m events. The popular Mark Magee improved his seasons best over 400m before tackling the unforgiving 800m where he just missed improvement on previous performances.

The Harriers now look forward to a busy few weeks with members contesting the National Indoor Championships, National Masters events and local Renfrewshire Championships, with a big thanks to all coaches, official and parents who support athletes over the coming period.

A trio of Harriers competed at the National Track & Field indoor Championships at the Emirates Arena with mixed fortunes. First away, making her indoors debut, was Under 13 Ava Beaton in the 200m. Using it as a warm up to her main event the 800m, Ava recorded an excellent 31.49 to finish 3^rd in her heat, but not quite quick enough to progress to the semi’s.  With very little time to recover she was straight back on the track for the 800m. She tired slightly in the penultimate lap before recovering to again place 3^rd with a personal best time of 2 minutes 43 seconds.

Alan Mollins, stepping up to the U20 age category, smashed his personal best in the 1500m by 26 seconds. Running a very even paced race he recorded a time of 4 minutes 25 seconds to finish 7^th in his heat.

The unluckiest athlete of the day was medal hopeful Scott Hannaway, who looked impressive when winning his 200m heat. Always in control he came off the final bend in the lead crossing the line in a time of 22.83 seconds, the 2^nd quickest of all the athletes in the three under 20s semi-final heats. Unfortunately picking up a hamstring strain meant a disappointed Scott was unable to take his place on the track for the final.

Thursday 31st January – Junior Training at Ravenscraig track is cancelled for endurance groups as  it is currently covered in ice and the weather forecast shows no sign of improving over the next few days.

Alternative arrangements as follows – Weather permitting – Athletes that work with Coaches Ian, Paul, Andy & Ross to meet at Greenock Esplanade at 6pm (The Cafe end).

*Terri’s mini group have the evening off 😀

Check FB for update on Thursday to check if Esplanade is runnable!!!!!