Greenock Glenpark Harriers have been out and about around Scotland over the last few months, with lots of our members taking part in various races over the summer. In the second part of our August Roundup, we’ve been island hopping round Cumbrae, over the water at Dunoon, down the coast in Ayrshire and up the road in Paisley.
The Kenny Phillips 10 mile RR
Cumbrae 28th July 2024
In memory of the late photographer, Kenny Phillips, the Around Cumbrae re-named it’s race this year to celebrate the life of Kenny. We had Liza Brydon represent the club at what used to be a popular race for the club as runners take on the 10 mile challenge of running the perimeter of the island. In a busy race, Liza came round the ten miles in 253rd position in a fantastic time of 1:34:32.
Kilmaurs Gala 5km & Dundonald 10km
Ayrshire 31th July 2024
Our Harriers don’t just wait until the weekend for a good race. There were two mid-week races taking place down in ‘the shire’ with four Harriers representing the club. At Kilmaurs, Gerry Gallacher managed the sub 25 easily in 118th position, with a time of 24:16. In 157th, Sarah Whalen also had a great run in a time of 27:13.
VIki and Andy Smith have been steadily tackling the 10k’s over the season and had another strong performance at Dundonald, an undulating course finishing at Dundonald Castle via Symington. Viki had a great run and finished first in her age category, with 54:02 her time – in 93rd position overall. Getting close to the hour milestone, Andy crossed the line in 13th position in a time of 61:25.
Dunoon 10km
3rd August 2024
After our Harriers Takeover in 2023, where we won the individual men’s (Dylan Crawford) race, the men’s team (Dylan, Oliver Reilly, Stephen Harrison), and ladies team (Marianne McKay, Terri Wall, Lynne Harrison) it was unfortunately a smaller turnout for the coastal Dunoon 10k from the club, due to the final club race of the season (Bill Elder 10k) taking place the following day. Lots of runners decided to save their legs for the championship, but the results for those who made the trip were nonetheless impressive with all 4 runners finishing in the top positions on the day.
13th place Oliver Reilly – 38:23
15th place Donald Shaw – 40:19, second place in the V50 category
62nd Terri Wall – 50:54 fourth place in the FV50 category
140th Charlotte McKay – 64:19 another great run from Charlotte, second in the V70 category.
Weekend of 10k’s
We were all over Scotland on the Sunday 18 August 2024, with representatives from the club taking part in several 10k events. In Musselburgh, Greg Luke finished in 43:03 (101st position) as he gets back to fitness for the Great Scottish Run. Elaine Medinelli had a decent run in 630th position, with a time of 59:41 getting in under the hour mark.
Forth Road Bridge 10km saw Greig Turner home in 55th position with a time of 46:46.
Paisley 10km – 36 Senior Harriers made the short trip up the M8 to take part in one of Scotland’s busiest (and most enjoyable) 10k events, the course is packed all the way round with one of the best finishing sections you’ll ever experience, with crowds lining the long funnel cheering the runners home. Too many great runs to mention them all, but you can check the results HERE.
Notable runs came from (as ever!) Jill Cox, 7th female overall and 1st in the her age category. Donald Shaw had a great run to notch up his first sub 40 for a while in 39:20, and the battle of the senior / junior McCrae’s saw dad Alan edge Lewis in a dead heat time of 39:46 for both men. Matthew Deegan came agonisingly close to his sub 40 goal in 40:26, with Aaron McCrone just behind in 40:46. Stephen Harrison put his Bill Elder injury woes behind him with a time of 41:27, and Graham McGrattan recorded an excellent time of 43:28, well below his goal of 44 minutes to take 4th in the V60 category.
Jill Aikman continues her fantastic 10k form to bag 2nd place in the VF50 Category with another great run in 43:46. Summer Taggart did really well to go under the 50 minute milestone to take 3rd U20F place; Terri Wall put the celebrations for her 60th Birthday on ice for 51.33 minutes, just behind Lauren Boyce running her first race in club colours. Of the runners closing out the hour mark, Mhairi Biggart notched up a PB over the distance in a time of 1:05:22.
In the Paisley 3km Fun Run Elijah Taylor clocked in at 11:35 with Celeste McKnight coming home in 15:23 and her sister Iona McKnight in 16:52.
Inverclyde Triathlon
There were some fantastic performances in the Inverclyde Sprint Triathlon this year, none better than Kyle Johnstone who upped his performance from last year to come home in first place, with a fantastic time 52:50 over the three disciplines. Kyle has really been putting the training in over the last few months and his performances keep getting better and better, a wholly justified victory for the Glenpark youngster.
In the Team event Fiona Cushnaghan, Kirstin Arthur & Eve Cushnaghan had a terrific event, finishing first in the female category and third overall! In the mens event, Jim Cuffe had another great performance in one of his regular events, taking 47th overall and 7th in his age category.
National Track Championships
Glenpark’s fastest ever Harrier Simon Okiti represented the club at the National track championships, narrowly missing out on the 100 meters final by a heartbreaking 1/1000th of second in 10.92s. In the 200m Simon put in and amazing effort to qualify for the final in 21:87, going on the secure 5th place overall with a time of 21:81.
Remember, if you have represented the club at race around the world, we want to hear from you! Get in touch at greenockglenpark@gmail,com
Thanks to Andrew McCall for gathering this information!