Sunday 4th August 2024 saw the final race of the 2024 season take place on Greenock Esplanade, with no shortage of drama as the championship tables were decided.
The course is a fast out and back loop from Greenock Boat Club to The Point and was sponsored this year by BRBR (Kevin O’Donoghue), with a new special trophy being awarded to the Handicap Winner of the race in the day, presented by the family of our late member George McCallum who sadly passed away last year.
75 runners lined up at the start on a blustery day, with every championship except the senior ladies still to be decided. With table topper Neil Lafferty unable to run, Dylan Crawford had the chance to battle it out for top spot – and only a win would do for Dylan if he had any hope of retaining the men’s title for the second year in a row. The race set off at a tough pace with Dylan setting the tone, kicking off early into the front of the pack and taking the race to the rest of the runners.
He didn’t have it all his own way in Neil’s absence and was pushed hard throughout by youngster Kyle Johnstone, who has been showing some excellent form of late. However, Dylan’s experience came through in the end and he powered home in a PB time over the distance with 34.20. It wasn’t enough on the day to secure an outright championship win, with the men’s senior title ending up a draw between Dylan and Neil.
Kyle finished with a time of 35 minutes, first junior boy and edging out fellow junior runner Lewis McCrae into third place and in doing so securing third place in the men’s senior table behind Neil and Dylan, and excellent season overall and showing much promise for the future.
With the ladies senior title long since secured, Jill Cox still put in an excellent effort to win the ladies race with a time of 38:57, with the returning Sue Hewitson (42:50) over the line in second. Lorna Mitchell scooped third place with another fine run in 44:24. The race had no effect on the placing of the senior ladies championship top three, with ladies Captain Lynne Harrison unable to make up any ground on daughter Evie in the championship table, with the younger Harrison lady finishing second and Lynne in third for the season overall.
Evie also finished the race today as first junior girl in 49:16, closing out rival Summer Taggart (54:14) over her preferred distance. The girls have also had a great season this year, battling out many club race – again, things look good for the future for both girls.
The Handicap title, as ever, was open to a host of runners on the day with Men’s captain Stephen Harrison three points ahead going into the race. However, disaster struck for Stephen, who had been on PB pace through the first 4k when injury struck, forcing him to pull up and walk the remainder of the race. Bad luck for Stephen but it opened up the field for several runners to leave it all on the course and clock up the points.
Some strong times from Graham McGrattan, Liz Heywood, David Thomson all put them into contention but in the end it was Lewis McCrae who took the title with a third place in the handicap table enough to finish two points clear of the season. A hugh thanks to the Handicap Committee as once again the season came down to the final race.
Finally, the one we were waiting for was the presentation of the newest club trophy, the McCallum Cup, awarded to the fastest handicap time on the day and it was possibly the loudest cheer of the day when the winner was announced – a more deserving Harrier would be hard to find then Graham McGrattan, winning the HC race with a time of 32:15.
A special shout out to the ‘fantastic four’ runners on our feature photo, Helen Crawford, Debbie McKenzie, Stephen Hanley and Lynne Harrison who competed in every club race this season – and to William Taylor, competing today on his 40th birthday and a first venture into a new age category!
FINAL 23-24 CHAMPIONSHIP TABLES CLICK HERE
With Special Thanks to:
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Race Sponsor BRBR (Kevin O’Donoghue)
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McCallum family for presenting the new McCallum Handicap Trophy
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Handicap committee for providing a fantastic exciting close to the season
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Extra Special Thanks to all our fantastic volunteers who gave the runners a safe environment to participate in, today and over the course of the season.
- Race date for the 2024/25 season.
- Season 23 / 24 full summary.