Junior training returns to Darroch Park Gourock on Saturday at 11am (18th Aug). Meet at the middle gate entrance on Larkfield Road.

Bute Highland Games

Glenpark Juniors

The sun shone on another fabulous day at Rothesay, as the Harriers made their annual visit to the Bute Highland Games. The club’s 16 junior athletes put in some terrific performances in the 100, 200 and 800metres events in front of thousands of spectators in the town’s packed stadium.

The primary school events got proceedings under way with Aimee McEleny, Stella McCabe and Orla Trainer impressing in the under 9 events. Leo Beaton, despite his pre-race nerves, was the most convincing winner streaking clear of the field in both sprints. Team mates Patrick McCabe and Ruari Trainer had their own close battle over the shorter distances. Under 11s Erin McEleny and Maria McCabe were among the medals with Leah Knox and Ashlin Monaghan battling close behind. Douglas Campbell also had success winning 2 silvers. Under 13 Ava Beaton was most successful of all, with wins in all her 3 races, while Ethan Cooper ran strongly to make both sprint finals.

The under 15 girls’ Abbie Tosh and Olivia Trainer both looked impressive in the 800m, finishing with strong burst to the line. Jude Dolan was another who was among the prizes.  Thanks to all the organisers at Bute with a special mention to Cameron Spence and Shaun Lyon from Inverclyde AC & Glenpark who helped organised the athletic events.

Seniors

Four of the seniors gave the 10k run a go. The route takes runners from the track north along the Bute coast towards Port Bannatyne where they are turned to head back to Rothesay, finishing on the track. Paul Monaghan was first harrier home in 35.31, just outside the top 10 and in a similar time to his 10k at the Bill Elder. Jon Stevenson ran a sub 40 with 39.47 as he continues his comeback from injuries sustained in his borderline mental ultra efforts in the spring. The better halves of both runners also ran the 10k, with Claire Monaghan running in 48.48 and Eileen Stevenson in 56.03.

For some however, running was a bit too dull. With a storied history of multiple martial arts, and generally battering folk, Marianne ‘The Hitwoman’ McKay decided to compete in the Scottish Backhold Wresting competitions. Whilst getting to grips with the new technique; Marianne, with Stone Cold focus, impressed to take 2nd place in the under 10 stone category. Now that she was used to the technique, she entered the open weight category. In front of the Rowdy home crowd, Marianne was able to Hulk up and gain the Edge over her opponents, convincingly winning the Bute Highland Games title belt.

Scottish Track and Field Championships

At the Scottish Track & Field championships at Grangemouth on Saturday Harry McGill achieved both his aims in the Under 17 men’s’ 1500m heats – a personal best and a place in the final. He clipped two seconds from his PB bringing it down to 4.18 to scramble into the last 12 by just ½ a second. In Sunday’s final despite being seeded last, he ground out another fantastic performance. After 3 laps he was well off the back of the field and looking out of it, but a determined effort in the last 400m saw him close the gap and pass two athletes to claim an unexpected top ten finish.

Port Glasgow 10k

The highly anticipated first running of the Port Glasgow 10k was on Sunday. The innagural event had been organised by Glenpark’s own Andy McCall and Nicola Gillespie among others. heir hard work and dedication to getting the event up and running has to be commended. They were rewarded with a fantastic turnout of just under 200 runners, even if the Scottish weather didn’t quite play ball.

Andy himself set off as the leading bike and took the runner around lower Port Glasgow, a route he devised and perfected over the last few months. The runners started in the Coronation Park and headed west towards Kingston Dock, they then looped back towards the Port town centre before heading east to Woodhall. The final 2k straight along the boardwalk towards Newark Castle allowed runners a chance to pick up the pace with a good breeze behind them and finish in style back in the Coronation Park.

There were almost 30 Harriers in attendance, and the light blue vests were dominating the Port Glasgow streets. They were dominating the podium as well by the end of the race! Club champion Chris Mooney had a great battle with Bellahouston Harriers Colin Thomas (capable of sub 33 on his day). Chris is the form man though and stuck to his task, shaking off the competition with 1km to go and coming home in just over 34 minutes. Home favourite Daniel Doherty was spurred on by the partisan crowd and grabbed 3rd overall in 36.11.

Emma Baxter returned from her injury troubles to run her first race in months. She was able to cruise round in 43.19 to take 2nd in the ladies race behind Kilbarchan’s Jennifer Rooney. Great to see Emma back out in a Harriers vest. There were good runs elsewhere for Kevin Gill, Gordon Hepburn and David Black (running his first race as a Harrier).

Results: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14Sy2mBj_mGi_5GjgWsHGhgM4lHa4EJsr/view

Run Mhor Marathon

Sue Hewitson has been a big advocate of the MAF heart race based training regime for the last few months. This has led up to the Run Mhor marathon, a 2000ft gain race from Callander going north towards Loch Voil and ending in Monachyle. Sue completed the race in 4.07 to claim 3rd v40 overall. The race was tough on her legs but a great result and showing the progress the MAF training has done over a long period of time. A 35th overall position out of 180, well done Sue!

Scottish Veteran Harriers 10k

Not satisfied with a 10k race on Tuesday and Saturday, Paul Monaghan headed to Pollock Park for the Scottish Veteran Harriers 10k. Excited by the prospect of the flat fast course that was used for June’s Brian Goodwin 10k, Paul was sorely disappointing to find that a different, hillier course was the actual venue! Not to matter, Paul went out and comfortably won the race in 38.06, almost 90 seconds clear of his nearest competitor. Having ran close to 35 for his last 2 10k’s, this shows that the route was much tougher than expected.

The 2018 Greenock Glenpark Harriers season came to a close on Tuesday night with the Bill Elder 10k road race. The turnout for the seniors race was excellent with 52 senior runners starting the race, a good increase on last year. The conditions were ideal, with very little breeze on a mild night. The rout takes the runner out from the Battery Park, along the esplanade and further east to the old Custom House. Runners are looped around the clock and retrace their steps back to the finish line in the Battery Park.

Club Champion Chris Mooney set off chasing the lead bike and set a rapid early pace that saw him break away from the crowd early on. Impressively, Chris maintained this pace all the way to the finish and recorded a PB of 33.21 to bag his 7th club race victory of the season. It was almost enough to bag him the Handicap championship too. Andrew White led the way going into the final race, with only a 2 point cushion over Chris, Robert Dolan and John Stevenson. With the latter 2 unable to attend, Chris looked like Andy’s biggest threat. Once the sums were done, Chris was 30 seconds ahead of Andy on the night and leapfrogged him in the standings. However, out of the chasing pack there was to be a twist in the tale…

Duncan Anderson ran his first 10k PB since 2014 with a great time of 39.35. This was good enough for 3rd in the handicaps on the night and sent him to the top of the handicap standings to take the overall title by 2 points. Duncan has been knocking on the door in the handicap races in the last few months and has continued to improve as the season wore on, a well deserved winner. The handicap winner on the night was Sandra Campbell. Sandra has been in the club for the majority of this season and has shown good form leading up to this race, and she took the handicap race on the night by 30 seconds from Grace Campbell. Grace took 2 minutes off of her time from last year’s race.

Ladies Champion Marian Monk took home her 7th club race win of the season in 45.16. Marian has shown incredible consistency this season and this win tops it off. One of the most notable runs in the ladies race was from brand new member Lauren Reid. Having joined the club this week, Lauren ran a superb 45.48 to finish in 2nd position. With fellow youngster Nicola Stevenson in 3rd spot on 46.16 (a great PB for Nicola), the young ladies are right on Marian’s heels going into next season and hopefully for the upcoming cross country season!

Another runner who has been improving throughout the season is Claire Monaghan. Claire ran an incredible 1min 35sec PB on the night! Another notable PB was for Steven Smith. Steven has struggled with injuries this year, and has been slowly recovering over the summer months. His patience was well rewarded with his PB time of 43.44, having not raced in at least 6 months. Well done guys!

Other notable good runs came from Daniel Doherty who looks like he is close to being back to his best with a time of 35.38, only 17secs shy of a PB. Shaun Marshall pushed his way close to the top 5 with a run of 37.25. Steven Watson dipped under 40 mins as he continues his return from injury. There were also strong runs from Richard Davidson, Ross Neilson and Mick McLoone.

The age category championships were also concluded on Tuesday night. Andrew White capped off an excellent season by taking home the v40 title. Danny McLaughlin won the v50 while Graham McGrattan won the v60 and Eddie Devine the v70. On the ladies side, there was further success for Marian Monk in winning the v35 and v45 titles whilst Lorna Coyle won the v55. Well done everyone!

10Km: Chris Mooney 33.21(31.51), David Tamburini 34.33 (guest), Andrew White 34.51 (32.21), Paul Monaghan 35.16 (32.16), Sean Gaffney 35.28 (guest), Daniel Doherty 35.38 (31.38), Mick McLoone 36.06 (32.06), Steven Campbell 37.07 (34.07), Shaun Marshall 37.25 (31.35), Andy Osborne 37.31 (32.31), Andy McCall 37.32 (33.32), Colin Morrison 38.15 (guest), Chris Watson 39.11 (33.41), Alan Mollins 39.19 (J), Duncan Anderson 39.35 (31.05), Richard Davidson 39.37 (32.07), Paul Beaton 39.41 (33.41), Steven Watson 39.44 (32.14), Chris Jones 40.05 (34.05), Stephen Hanley 40.16 (32.46), Ross Neilson 40.28 (32.58), Brian McCluskey 40.32 (32.32), Danny McLaughlin 40.37 (33.07), Graham McGrattan 41.30 (33.00), Stewart Anderson 42.22 (32.52), David Roberts 43.23 (37.53), Roger Stewart 43.28 (35.28), Stephen Reid 43.35 (32.05), Steven Smith 43.44 (32.44), David Ness 44.15 (32.45), Stuart Crawford 44.23 (33.23), Ian McKee 44.24 (32.54), Matthew Young 44.33 (35.03), Alan O’Rourke 44.47 (34.17), Robin McAuslan 45.01 (32.31), Marian Monk 45.16 (33.16), Mick Dunn 45.40 (35.10), Lauren Reid 45.48 (34.18), Nicola Stevenson 46.16 (32.16), Claire Monaghan 47.03 (31.33), Sandra Campbell 47.17 (30.17), Jim Cuffe 47.55 (34.55), Marianne McKay 48.06 (32.36), Cheryl Thomas 49.10 (33.40), Kenny Scott 49.44 (33.14), Fiona McFarlane 49.57 (33.57), Gerry Gillespie 50.16 (34.16), Sharon Black 52.42 (35.42), Simon Hutton 53.48 (35.48), Grace Campbell 56.46 (30.46), Angela Hill 65.24 (guest)

Junior Training returns to Notre Dame High School on Tuesday 14th August at 6pm. See you all there  🙂

*The ladies running group will also meet there at 6pm.

Good luck to all the Juniors competing at the Bute Highland Games (Sat 11th Aug). You should be at Wemyss Bay in plenty of time for 9am Ferry. (If travelling by train to Wemyss Bay get Train at Drumfrochar 8.26am / Branchton 8.29am).

It was an exciting end to the 2017-18 Junior championship with all of the titles finally decided as 24 youngsters contested  the 1km & 2km road races around the Battery Park in Greenock.

A tremendous battle unfolded at the front of the field with the under 11 trio of Douglas Campbell, Euan Johnson and David Docherty setting a fast tempo.  The three remained neck and neck throughout, and into the last 200m the pace was gradually wound up to a full-on sprint to the line. It was a delighted Douglas this time taking the honours in the closest of finishes.

Sophie McLaughlan dominated the girls’ race, going out very strongly from the start for a clear victory, but bunched closely together for the minor places were Maria McCabe, Erin McEleny and Leah Knox.

Over 2km the results went as expected with Harry McGill taking the win from Ewan Ferguson. The pair waited till the second lap before putting in an injection of pace, Ewan doing well to hold the gap to 8 seconds. Katie Johnson again looked impressive with top place in the girls group, who are continuing to show steady improvement. In the Handicap competition David Docherty took maximum points, showing the biggest improvement in recent weeks.

Boys 1km: Douglas Campbell 3.42, Euan Johnson 3.42, David Docherty 3.43, Nathan Adams 3.58, Connor McCrorey 4.03, Leo Beaton 4.10, Oliver Jones 4.22, Ruari Trainer 4.47.

Girls 1km: Sophie McLaughlan 3.52, Maria McCabe 4.07, Erin McEleny 4.11, Leah Knox 4.14, Ashlin Monaghan 4.38, Charlotte Jones 4.38, Aimee McEleny 5.01, Stella McCabe 5.03.

Boys 2km: Harry McGill 7.05, Ewan Ferguson 7.13, Shaun Wiseman 8.06, Alex Wiseman 9.22.

Girls 2Km: Katie Johnson 8.20, Ava Beaton 8.42, Abbie Tosh 9.06, Olivia Trainer 9.47.

Handicap – 1^st David Docherty, 2^nd Abbie Tosh. 3^rd Leah Knox

Well done to all our Junior 2017-18 Club Champions, with 4 youngsters taking a club title for the first time (Olivia, Euan, Sophie & Abbie)

U20 Joshua Ruddy

U17 Ryan Brown

U15 Harry McGill & Olivia Trainer

U13 Jude Dolan & Ruby McGill

U11 Euan Johnson & Sophie McLaughlan

Handicap Champion – Abbie Tosh

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It was a fitting finale to the club championship as new senior champions confirmed their dominance over the season by claiming the Bill Elder 10k silver salvers. Chris Mooney set a PB of 33.21, over a minute clear of the trio of veterans David Tamburini 34.33, Andrew White 34.51 and Paul Monaghan 34.16.  The first over 50 was Mick McLoone in 36.06.

Marian Monk was made to work for the win (45.16), but she will have new competition in the next season with the addition to the club of Lauren Reid who’s excellent debut time of 45.48 gave her 2nd place. Also close behind in 3rd was Nicola Stevenson 46.16.

The closest finish of the evening was the under 11 boys 1km race, with just one second separating Douglas Campbell, Euan Johnson and David Docherty, with Douglas just having the edge in a thrilling sprint to the line. Sophie McLaughlan was top girl with a very strong run to go under the 4 minute mark, ahead of  Maria McCabe and Erin McEleny.

In the 2km race Harry McGill (7.05) left it late to push clear of Ewan Ferguson (7.13) with Shaun Wiseman taking 3rd in 8.06. Katie Johnson (8.20) looked impressive over the longer distance as she pulled away from runner-up Ava Beaton (8.42) and Abbie Tosh (9.06).

Full Results (including Handicap) to follow

Winners Chris Mooney & Marian Monk

Junior Race gets under way