Glasgow’s (13.1) Miles Better

Great Scottish Run Half Marathon Race Report Greenock Glenpark Harriers

Scotland’s biggest half marathon of the year followed on from the 10k race on Sunday. 59 Harriers finished the half marathon, (added to 44 in the 10km ) which was so packed with entrants this year that the race was split into two entirely separate start times for the first time.

The route remained the same as the rejigged 2023 version, with runners once again starting off by tackling the St Vincent Street mountain, before looping through Finnieston and onto the Kingston Bridge. They were then faced with a long stretch out to Pollock Park, where the familiar tricky hills tests the runners at the halfway stage. The same road is followed back before diverting over the Squinty Bridge, onto the Broomielaw and along to the loud finish in Glasgow Green.

Andy McCall took it out hard and sat in the top 20 for long spells early on, hitting halfway with a 10k PB! He battled through the pain in the latter half to bring home a 2 minute PB, last set 17 years ago.

Wes Pattison followed Andy and broke the 77 minute mark. The battle for third harrier home was a tight one between two recent top performers. There was only one second in it on the chip time between Kev Craig and Lewis McCrae. One week on from Loch Ness marathon, Kev smashed his half PB by 3 minutes to boot. Lewis had set his eyes on this one for months, managing to drag himself off the golf course, and was rewarded with a 5 minute PB and 4th U20.

Chris Mooney was on bold pacing duties for a pack of harriers looking to smash their PBs in the 85 minute region. Owen Atkinson, Graeme Percival and Chris all broke 84 minutes in the end. A PB for Owen,benefitting from the closed roads, and so near to a PB for Graeme who did take 5 minutes off his time from last year. Andy Blair had went with the group for long spells, but the half distance can hit hard. It was still a strong  run, finishing just behind William Taylor and in front of Stephen Harrison around the 91-92 minute mark. 

One of the runs of the day followed, with recent GGH trophy winner Graham McGrattan smashing it in just under 94 minutes to finish 3rd v65. Kevin O’Donoghue was on official pacing duties with a big 1hr35 banner flying above his head and the tunes blaring through his speakers, he was out there to help shave some time off of some runners PBs. Kevin clipped round in 1.34.25.

A tight pack followed Kevin, with newcomer Aaron Fullarton just ahead of the old guard in Stuart Austin, Stewart Anderson, Eric Lindsay and John Stevenson. Stewart wasn’t distracted by a juggler and a runners in crocs, and managed to take 3 minutes off his time from last year. David Thomson followed, and two weeks out from Amsterdam marathon, he cruised round bang on target marathon pace. It was a comfortable run for David, and that bodes well for his trip to the land of windmills and windows.

Stephen Campbell, Derek Mitchell and Martin McGonigal all ran around the 1 hour 40 mark. Our first lady followed, with Liz Gemmell running 1.41.13. The big chief organiser Alan O’Rourke had a cracker of a run, showing no signs of the stress of organising the big day out for the 115 entered harriers for all races. It was such an impressive number, I bet some other clubs thought we were cheating the books!

Ricky Long took his own coaching advice on board and smashed his half marathon PB by a whole 4 minutes! Martin Ward ended a 3 year wait for a half PB with a great run of 1.46.30, with Stephen Reid just behind and nipping under 1.47 by one second!

Paul Meahan ended an 11 year wait for a new PB with his run in under 1.48. Alan Robertson, Jennifer Rooney and Heather Lafferty all also ran under that barrier. Jennifer and Heather were second and third female harriers respectively. Heather scored a 3 minute PB and smashed her pre-race target. This run was a big personal victory for Jennifer who has battled from zero running back to half marathon distance in 2024. It was a similar story for Steven Smith, who had a great run as well after not being able to run at all at the start of this year. These are the great stories that crop up on days like this.

Jim Brannigan, inspired by his better half serenading him with the Rock Choir at the top of St Vincent Street came home in 1.53.12 closely followed by Teri Wall(11th in Age Category) and the evergreen Micky Dunn. Following, we had a number of runners striving to sneak under the elusive and iconic sub two hour time. A number of runners managed this with Liza Brydon leading the way with another consistent run from the long distance specialist. She was followed home by a number of strong female performances, Susie Gillies, Olivia Devine, Marrianne McKay, Helen(The PB Queen) Crawford, Olivia Trainer, Jayne Munn and Debbie McKenzie. Craig  (The Ultra) Hyslop,Stuart (The Pacer) Crawford and Campbell (Malaga)McFarlane also had strong runs to come in under the two hour mark. Stuart and Helen make a formidable partnership and push each other to be the best runners they can be and Helen’s time of 1.57.51, smashed her previous PB by an incredible 4 minutes 11 seconds. Olivia was running her first half. There are rumours that she continued running all the way to the airport to catch her flight to Zante.

This year’s Club Most Promising Newcomer Jill Aikman had high hopes for her first half but with injury taking  its toll, Jill pushed herself from about 8 km to show true grit and determination to finish in just over 2 hours. Here’s  hoping she knows her way to a good physio. Next home was ‘new runner’  Alison Robertson who will no doubt continue to improve over the coming months. They were followed home by David McDiarmid, Marc ‘Ced’ Chesterman, James Docherty and Abbigael Crawford. Charlotte McKay continues to make this running lark look easy and strolled home in 2.26.20 for 6th in age category, closely followed by Angela Devlin with a determined run in under 150 minutes. Next home were friends and new members Maihri Biggart, Suzanne Dunn, Gill Orr and Amanda Deeney who supported each other from start to finish epitomising what running and our great club is all about. fun, friendship and fabulous finishes. Alison Smart continued her comeback, and in her first half and had a strong run along with Mary Robinson, in her new age catagory and Kirsten Robin who despite not feeling great pushed through and finished with a lot of relief and a huge smile.

This excellent turnout(over 100 runners over the weekend) and the wide range of stories, challenges and achievements are what make the wider running community such an amazing and supportive environment. Greenock Glenpark Harriers truly is a running club where everyone can find a home and the opportunities through weekly sessions, club races and a welcoming, inclusive environment supports every club member to be the best athlete that they can be. Our membership Secretary will be only too happy to help you find out more about improving your running with the best wee club in the west. greenockglenparkharriers@gmail.com 

Full Results

Andy McCall 73.39, Wes Pattison 76.58, Kevin Craig 80.26, Lewis McCrae 80.27, Owen Atkinson 83.50, Graeme Percival 83.57, Chris Mooney 83.58, William Taylor 91.22, Andy Blair 91.44, Stephen Harrison 92.09, Graham McGrattan 93.58, Kevin O’Donoghue 94.25, Aaron Fullarton 95.11, Stuart Austin 95.14, Stewart Anderson 95.41, Eric Lindsay 95.42, John Stevenson 96.02, David Thomson 97.11, Stephen Campbell 99.31, Derek Mitchell 1.40.08, Martin McGonigal 1.41.07, Liz Gemmell 1.41.13,  Alan O’Rourke 1.41.37, Steven Smith 1.41.45, Ricky Long 1.45.35, Martin Ward 1.46.30, Stephen Reid 1.46.59, Alan Robertson 1.47.05, Paul Meahan 1.47.36, Jennifer Rooney 1.47.55, Heather Lafferty 1.47.59 Jim Brannigan 01:53:12 Terri Wall 01:53:36 Mick Dunn 01:53:58 Craig Hyslop        1.55.14Liza Brydon 01:55:15 Susie Gillies 01:56:15 Olivia Devine 01:56:33 Marianne Mckay 01:56:41 Stuart Crawford 01:57:50 Helen Crawford 01:57:51 Campbell Macfarlane 01:58:22 Olivia Trainer 01:58:35 Jayne Munn 1.58.36 Jill Aikman 02:00:36 Alison Robertson 2.04.13 David Mcdiarmid 02:05:55 Marc ‘Ced’ Chesterman 02:06:08 James Doherty 02:13:16 Abbigael Crawford 02:16:50 Charlotte Mckay 02:26:20 Angela Devlin 02:28:58 Suzanne Dunn 2.33.52  Gill Orr 2.33.53  Amanda Deeney 2.33.53 Maihri Biggart 2.33.54 Alison Smart 02:43:15 Mary Robinson 02:44:11 Kirsten Robin 02:49:40