GGH Race roundup
Races have been coming thick and fast over the last two months, and below is our first summary of some of the amazing events that Harriers have been taking part in since early March! Look out in coming weeks as we bring you reports on more spring marathons, the Babcock 10k series and some National and District medals for our runners!
D33 Ultra Marathon – Sat 11th March
Our ultra specialists Kyle and Lorna headed to the East coast to compete in the D33 Ultra Marathon which follows the scenic Deeside Way. In his 3rd ultra race Kyle led from early in the race and went on to win by some margin. The experienced Lorna Mitchel used the race as marathon preparation by racing to marathon distance and finishing the last 7 miles of the race as an easier pace. Lorna went on to compete in the Renfrewshire Road Race the following day!
Kyle Wilson – 1st place, 3h 39m 53s
Lorna Mitchell – 47th and 10th female. 5h 16m 27s
John Muir Way Ultra Marathon – Sat 18th March
Carrying on the Ultra theme, next up was Viki Smith who went on to smash her PB on the 50km course. Viki commented on how muddy and wet the course was this year but that didn’t stop our Viki. On the day Viki took an incredible 23 minutes off her first attempt and finished 3rd FV50. You can check out Viki’s finishing video here – https://www.whatsmytimeresults.co.uk/MyResults.aspx?uid=17047-6139-1-177134&yt=1
Viki Smith – 5h 6m 53s
Coniston 14 – Sat 25th March
Cheryl Thomas ran a 6 minute half marathon PB (1:47:38) during the 14 mile race. The scenic road race, with only 840ft of elevation to compete with, laps around the Coniston Lake in the Lake District. Cheryl was clearly in great shape leading into Manchester Marathon.
Cheryl Thomas – 1h 54m 25s
Ultra Tour of Arran – Sat – Sun 1st & 2nd April
Whilst most of us are content with parkrun on a weekend, ultra runner Lorna Mitchell was off on an adventure on Arran. Competing over 2 days covering 60 miles this one is not for any mere mortal. Day 1 takes you across the south of the island starting in Brodick making your way down to the foot of the island to Kildonan, which is relatively flat. Then you turn, making your way back to Brodick via the forest trails and hills covering well over 4,000ft of elevation. Having just about recovered from a sickness bug Lorna completed day 1 in 6hours 42min and 9secs. And that’s just day one.
On day 2, with 30 miles in her legs, Lorna and fellow runners head north through Arran’s stunning Glen Rosa to summit Caisteal Abhail, continue North to Lochranza, follow the coastline back to Sannox before heading uphill to the mighty Goatfell via the North ridge. Most people struggle to walk this in a day. Thankfully Lorna felt better on day 2 and managed to enjoy the day out on the hills. After another 30 miles with near 7,000ft of elevation gain, Lorna was delighted to finish day 2 in 8-and-a-half hours. Giving an overall time of 17 hours and 8 minutes.
Lorna Mitchell – 61st overall, 13th female, 17h 8mins 8secs.
Kaim Hill race – Wed 19th April
The Kaim Hill race was blessed once again with a gloriously sunny evening. With a recent spell of bad weather the underfoot conditions were always going to provide a challenge to runners on one of the first hill races of the season. First across the line for the club was Andy McCall in 4th place. Not far behind was Daniel Doherty who smashed his previous years time with a gutsy race. Marianne McKay was delighted wit her time as was Nathalie Smith, both showing real strength on the hills.
Andy McCall – 4th, 30:39
Daniel Doherty – 27th, 35:25
Marianne McKay – 90th, 47:38
Nathalie Smith – 115th, 65:43
Dick Wedlock Fire Five – Sun 7th May
Three Harriers travelled to Cambuslang for the annual Dick Wedlock Fire Five, a race run in memorial of local firefighter and Commonwealth athlete Dick. Former firefighters Danny McLaughlin and Jim Cuffe were keen to attend to show their support. Showing off his recent return to race fitness was Danny who finished in 16th place. Kevin McNeil was next home in a brilliant time of 38:03. Jim was hot on Kev’s heels finishing in 40:19. The race held an extra special place for Jim. Both of his boys have recently joined the fire service following in their Dad’s footsteps and both Ross and Jamie competed in the race with Jim showing the boys how it’s done. Well done to the Cuffe family.
16th Danny McLaughlin – 33:01
35th Kevin McNeil – 38:03
48th Jim Cuffe – 40:19
53rd Ross Cuffe – 43:10
63rd Jamie Cuffe – 45:36
Moray Way Coastal Ultra & Kintyre Way Ultra – Sat 13th May
Back to Ultra racing with Kyle Wilson in action on the East Coast and Kev Craig on the West. Both distance runners are well versed on the ultra scene and both hoping for a place on the podium.
For Kyle this was a step up in distance to the 50 miles and was going to provide a real challenge for him. He set off quick establishing a lead on the experienced Jacob Snochowski but the lead was cut several times due to navigation errors by Kyle. In the end Kyle took 2nd place and will be delighted with his efforts over this distance with both 1st and 2nd smashing the previous course record.
Kyle Wilson – 2nd, 5h 53m 40s
On the West coast, it was a much tighter race with top 3 athletes finishing within 2 minutes of each other over the 36 mile race. Captain Kev finished 3rd place and will be delighted to take home the bronze medal (or a lovely bottle of whisky) for his efforts.
Kev Craig – 3rd, 5h 16m 33s
Goatfell Hill Race – Sat 20th May
Goatfell hosted the Scottish Athletics hill running champs on the island of Arran with the sold out at 250 entries. The race attracts the best runners hill runners from Scotland to compete for the medals. Andy McCall was the solo Harrier competing in the near 10 mile race and was delighted to be accompanied by club mates Neil Lafferty and Chris Mooney who stopped off at Eglington parkrun on route. Andy had been training hard for this one in the hope to emulate his time from 2008, back when he was selected to represent Scotland. After a good climb to the summit, just shy of 3,000ft, Andy held himself back on descent to allow for a quicker run over the last 1.5 miles road section and his tactics paid off as he passed several runners to the finish line finishing in 18th place and a course personal best time of 1:28:03.
Andy McCall – 18th, 1h 28m 3s
Rotary club of Gryffe Valley 10k – Sun 21st May
Back to local racing where several Harriers lined up in Houston to tackle the undulating Gryffe 10k. The top performances of the day came from Charlotte McKay and Sharon Doherty. Charlotte took more than 2 minutes off her previous time for the course with Doherty finishing within 9 secs of her training partner. It was great to see former club champion Donald Shaw pull on the famous club colours again and finishing first Harrier. Local lass Lorna Mitchell was next across the line supported by Marianne, Jennifer and Nathalie.
16th Donald Shaw – 41:13
36th Lorna Mitchell – 44:28
69th Marianne McKay – 49:06
73rd Jennifer Rooney – 50:07
101st Nathalie Smith – 55:57
145th Charlotte McKay – 67:32
147th Sharon Doherty – 67:41
3k on the Green – Fri 31st March and Fri 28th April
Paul Monaghan was the solo Harrier in the monthly Glasgow Green 3k lunch time race. Paul came agonisingly close to breaking 10 mins to finish 4th overall and 1st V50.
Paul Monaghan – 4th, 10:01
The following month, two harriers toed the line of the “Best wee race in Scotland”. Andy McCall smashed his previous time in a new personal best of 9:29 taking 3rd place with William Taylor running his quickest 3k of the year in a time of 11:39.
Andy McCall – 3rd, 9:29
William Taylor – 31st, 11:39