Marian & Steven Win at Bute

Steven Campbell opens up winning margin

Marian Monk climbs clear of rivals

Greenock Glenpark Harriers returned to the Isle of Bute for their Singlehurst trophy race. The senior 5.km race started at Kingarth then headed down to the village of Kilchattan. The runners then turned on to the West Island Way trail, before reaching the sting in the tail, a 400 feet steep climb up Suidhe Chatain.

It was on the climb that Steven Campbell established his winning margin over Paul Monaghan and Chris Mooney.

Danny McLaughlin had a storming finish passing four on the return down the hillside and the short return along the road back to Kingarth.

Marian Monk with the club championship already sewn up, again claimed top spot, with the improving Nicola Stevenson in the runners-up position just heading last year’s winner Lorna Coyle.

Harry McGill left it late to put distance between himself and Ewan Ferguson and Jude Dolan for a comfortable win in the 3.5km run. It was an all-girl line up in the under 11s ½ mile race, with Sophie McLaughlan  powering away from a very closely matched Maria McCabe and Erin McEleny.

A special thanks to Shaun Lyon and his family for hosting the race and providing refreshments in the beautiful setting looking onto Kilchattan bay.

5km: Steven Campbell 19.20, Paul Monaghan 19.30, Chris Mooney 19.36, Mick McLoone 20.20, Daniel Doherty 20.36, Danny McLaughlin 22.06, Robert Dolan 22.07, John Stevenson 22.11, Chris Watson 22.18, Richard Davidson 22.23, Graham McGrattan 23.00, Stephen Reid 24.40, Alan O’Rourke 24.57, Marian Monk 25.08, Nicola Stevenson 25.57, Lorna Coyle 26.04, Andy MacLean 26.42, Marianne McKay 27.12, Lucas Bezian 27.52, Kevin Gill 27.55, Claire Monaghan 28.15, Lynsey Mooney 29.51, Eileen Stevenson 30.47, Yvonne Prager 32.11, Sharon Black 33.11.

3.5km: Harry McGill 12.41, Ewan Ferguson 12.45, Jude Dolan 13.00, Ruby McGill 14.16.

0.5Km: Sophie McLaughlan 3.22, Maria McCabe 3.27, Erin McEleny 3.28, Ashlin Monaghan 3.42, Leah Knox 3.44, Aimee McEleny 4.10, Stella McCabe 4.25, Elsie Doherty 6.48, Connie Dolan 7.58,

Due to Ferry being very busy we are aiming for the 11.30am sailing from Wemyss Bay – and if also getting the train – 10.31 at Drumfrochar/10.34 at Branchton. (*you can buy your ferry ticket on the train). – This way you should be guaranteed to get on the 12.15 sailing 🙂 🙂

Vets 5k, Clydebank, 27.06.18

A healthy contingent of Harriers headed to Clydebank last week for the Scottish Veteran Harriers 5k road race. The route around the Clydebank Business Park is a notoruiously fast course, so many went with PB ambitions. However, the recent heatwave had other ideas. The 30 degree heat put pay to many of the Harriers attempts at a pb, and most were just happy to finish!

Chris Mooney lead the pack home in 8th place overall with a time of 16.21, showing that the temperatures didn’t affect him too much with this time just off his pb. Paul Monaghan also broke 17 minutes in 16.46 and Mick McLoone narrowly missed out on 1st M50 prize by 1 second with a time of 17.22. Graham McGrattan and Danny McLaughlin both managed to get into the top 3 for their age categorys as well.

A few ‘youngsters’ headed up to take part as guest runners, with Chris Watson and Gordy Hepburn both comfortably breaking 20 minutes. Duncan narrowly missed out on the sub 20 mark, but was just happy to avoid the square go between runners and pedestrains on the busy course!

Results: Chris Mooney 16.21, Paul Monaghan 16.46, Michael McLoone 17.22, Daniel Doherty 17.26, Chris Watson 18.44, Gordon Hepburn 19.06, Danny McLaughlin 19.29,Graham McGrattan 19.58, Duncan Anderson 20.09, Kevin Gill 22.30, Angela Hill 34.08

Calderglen Harriers 10k

Only 2 Hardy Harriers headed to East Kilbride on Friday night for the Calderglen Harriers 10k trail race. It was a first time at this race for both Viki Smith and Marianne McKay and with the current hot weather the organisers advised they had set up a water station at the half way mark. The race is set within Calderglen Country Park and it’s surrounding areas. As well as a 10k race there is also a 1k, 3k and 5k trail race so this event is suitable for the whole family.

There were 383 runners over all race distances on the night with 209 of them taking on the 10k. The race is a great mix of terrain to test you at every step. Stoney paths, dirt track, boardwalk, through woods over logs, up and down steps and lots of steady climbs and descents. This race is definitely one to tick off the list at a mere £10.50 registration fee which includes a free technical t-shirt and a post race buffet.

Marianne was the first Harrier home in 54:18,.Viki came racing over the line in well under the hour mark in 57:31. Both girls were delighted with their performance on the night which proved to be a route where the runners finished the race in around 7 minutes slower than their fastest flat 10k. Luke Traynor picked up another win on the night in 35.55, which shows how tough the course was!

The 2018 Greenock Glenpark Harrier Cornalees Cup hill race took place last Saturday. The annual slog from Woodstock Road to Hillside Hill and back down was once again ran on a hot and sunny Saturday, testing the runners to their max. The traditional rout takes the runner from Woodstock Road, crossing the Greenock cut and making it’s way onto the stony road to Loch Thom. Runners then cut up towards the radio mast, and are soon sidetracked towards the final steep summits to Hillside Hill before flying back down to the finish.

Last year, this race decided the senior championship, and this year was exactly the same. Going in to the race, Chris Mooney knew a win would secure his first senior championship. He lead from the front and put on an impressive show to see it through. Guest runner Graeme Hyett kept Chris honest throughout, and on some of the more challenging downhill stretches at the crest of the hills he closed the gap to mere seconds. But once on the open downhill roads, Chris built on his lead and flew home in under 35 minutes. Over 1 minute faster than last year’s winning time.

Graeme held on for overall second place, with Paul Monaghan not far behind. Andy White was third harrier and keeps his advantage at the top of the v40 championship with 2 aces to go. Experienced hill runner Andy McCall was 4th just narrowlly pipping his Port Glasgow training buddy Daniel! Danny McLaughlin showed his experience to secure the first v50 position and 6th overall after a great battle with David Roberts, who sadly pulled up injured 150m from the line.

One of the most impressive runs on the day came from junior member Ryan Brown. Ryan ran this route earlier this month and managed to take 9 minutes off of that time on Saturday! Ryan did not look out of place among the senior runners. Stephen Hanley took over 3 minutes off of his time for this race from last year, and he is also now the only Harrier to complete all club races this year. Graham McGrattan, a member of the club for over 20 years, ran this race for the very first time. Graham put in a good show too, just narrowly pipped by Richard Davidson as 3rd v50. The v50 championship is very tight this year!

Marian Monk secured the 2018 Ladies championship in a dramatic day for the title race. Marian lead from the off and put in a really strong run throughout to claim the victory. Donna Clark came into the day right on Marian’s tail in the championship standings, and found herself in second place at the top of the hill in a good battle with Cheryl Thomas.

However, from out of the pack came Marianne McKay who surged past both of the on the downhills to take second place. Cheryl edged Donna into 3rd place on the day. This meant that even if Donna won both the final races, she would still be 1 point shy of Marian in the standings.

The club would once again like to thank all of the volunteers who helped out on the day. There were so many supporters up on the hill making sure the event ran smoothly. Next up is the Singlehurst Race next Saturday, July 7th on Rothesay. If this weather keeps up it is sure to be a cracking day out for seniors and juniors!

Results: Chris Mooney 34.54, Graham Hyett 35.41 (guest), Paul Monaghan 36.38, Andrew White 36.58, Andrew McCall 37.13, Daniel Doherty 38.01, Danny McLaughlin 40.36,  Stephen Hanley 41.53, Ryan Brown 42.12 (Junior), Richard Davidson 42.53, Graham McGrattan 44.00, David Roberts 44.33, Matthew Young 48.39,  Mick Harrington 48.54, Marian Monk 50.05, Stephen Reid 51.16, Marianne McKay 52.06, Cheryl Thomas 52.19, Donna Campbell 55.24, Simon Hutton 65.54

Travel details for next club race – Saturday 7th July – GGH Singlehurst Trail Race for ALL Juniors & Seniors at Kingarth, – approx 2.00pm: Junior/Senior races

Total cost of Return Fares(Train/ferry/bus)  (Adult £13.30/Child £6.70)

TRAIN (adult £3.60/child £1.80)
Depart Drumfrochar 11.31am, Branchton 11.34,
Arrive Wemyss Bay 11.47

FERRY (adult £6.30/child £3.20) *Car £22.60
Wemyss Bay to Rothesay 12.15pm, arrive 12.50pm

BUS (adult £3.40/child £1.70)
Rothesay to Kingarth dep 13.00pm, arrive 13.18pm

Return Buses from Kingarth 15.22/16.22/17.02/18.24
Arrive Rothesay 15.40/16.42/17.22/18.40

Return Ferry times Depart Rothesay:
16.00/ 16.45/ 17.30/ 18.15/ 19.00/ 19.45
Arrive Wemyss Bay
16.35/ 17.35/ 18.10/ 19.15/ 19.40/ 20.35

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There were some fine performances at the Harriers Cornalees Hill races from both the Junior & Senior athletes. Marian Monk retained her title, running clear of Marianne McKay who just managed to pull away from Cheryl Thomas on the final drop from the “Cut”. Chris Mooney was a convincing winner leading from start to finish with guest runner Graham Hyett taking the runners up spot after coming through strongly in the 2nd half of the race to pass Paul Monaghan and Andrew White.

It was another great turnout from the junior Harriers following last week’s track & field championships. This time instead of the flat of the track, 19 of them faced the ½ mile steep hill climb from Pennyfern up to the Greenock Cut.

In the warm summer heat it was under 15 boys Cameron Patton and Shaun Wiseman who led the way.  Their previous encounter at Dunoon finished in a dead heat, so it was expected to be close again, and it was. The pair stayed together all the way to the finish, but on this occasion Cameron was able to gain a few metres on Shaun to take the win. Douglas Campbell in 3^rd gained maximum points in the under 11 category.

Katie Johnson was quickest girl, holding off the challenge of Ava Beaton, with Sophie McLaughlan taking third. This gave Katie her first victory of this season’s club championship.

Again the coaches were pleased with all the juniors’ performances, this was highlighted by the big improvement in times by those who competed in the race last year.

Junior ½ Mile Race: Cameron Patton 2.50, Shaun Wiseman 2.52, Douglas Campbell 3.16, Katie Johnson 3.18, Connor McCrorey 3.24, Ava Beaton 3.25, David Docherty 3.29, Leo Beaton 3.33, Sophie McLaughlan 3.41, Patrick McCabe 3.45, Abbie Tosh 3.47, Maria McCabe 3.54, Ruari Trainer 3.57, Alex Wiseman 3.58, Erin McEleny 4.02, Olivia Trainer 4.11, Leah Knox 4.19, Murray Brown 4.21, Aimee McEleny 5.08,

Senior 5Mile Race: Chris Mooney 34.54, Graham Hyett 35.41, Paul Monaghan 36.38, Andrew White 36.58, Andrew McCall 37.13, Daniel Doherty 38.01, Danny McLaughlin 40.36,  Stephen Hanley 41.53, Ryan Brown 42.12, Richard Davidson 42.53, Graham McGrattan 44.00, Matthew Young 48.39, David Roberts 44.33, Mick Harrington 48.54, Marian Monk 50.05, Stephen Reid 51.16, Marianne McKay 52.06, Cheryl Thomas 52.19, Donna Campbell 55.24, Simon Hutton 65.54,