Great Scottish Run 2022
The Greenock Glenpark Harriers got their season underway in September, but the big one that everyone had been looking forward to was on the first weekend in October. The rallying cries had started in early summer, with chief coach and motivator Alan O’Rourke putting the feelers out to see how many from the club were doing the Great Scottish Run 10k or half marathon. From there it gathered momentum, and Alan pulled out all the stops to ensure we had one of the biggest representations from any running club in Scotland. What a day it was.
We had over 100 runners signed up to go to Glasgow to run or support, and we packed busses from the clubhouse for the big away day! The day kicked off with the 10km race, where our runners could pit their wits against Scottish superstar Eilish McColgan, who went on to record breaking race (for a few weeks anyway…). Eilish had inspired our club with her heroics at the Commonwealth Games and European Championships, and had previously turned up for a GGH junior training session! The 10km ultimately ended up having an issue with the course measurement, but that didn’t stop our 27 runners enjoying the race and the incredible atmosphere.
Dylan Crawford was the fastest male for the 10k, with a great run of 33.46, with Chris Mooney and Shaun Wiseman not far behind. Fiona MacFarlane, fresh off her meritorious award at the recent prizegiving, was first female just ahead of Ruby McGill and Sandra Campbell. There were some excellent runs throughout, with Matthew Deegan, Jim Cuffe and Jennifer Hanley running particularly well on the day. It was also great to see some of the newer faces from Alan’s training sessions running their first big race for the club.
The 10k runners could relax in Glasgow Green at the finish line and wait to see the half marathon runners take to the streets and parks of Glasgow. We had an incredible 59 runners signed up for the half marathon, many of them doing this distance for the first time. Shaun Lyon certainly wasn’t doing it for the first time, and he cruised home as the first Glenparker in a great time of 73.58. Paul Monaghan was second but took home the Scottish v50 title in doing so! Massive congratulations to Paul.
Liz Gemmell has recently joined the club, with a high pedigree, Liz does most of her club running in Liverpool but now travels home to don the Glenpark vest for our Scottish races when she can. Liz ran a great time of 1.33.47 to be the fastest female harrier on the day, ahead of Liza Brydon and Lorna Mitchell. There were a big group of ladies all pushing under or around that 2 hour barrier with Lynne Harrison, Natalie McKnight, Debbie McKenzie, Cheryl Thomas, Olivia Devine, Gill Sullivan and Terri Wall coming in consecutively with great runs. It is a tough course around Glasgow, with some nasty little hills in Pollock Park around half way that can eat at your legs!
There were some great runs elsewhere in the ladies race too, with mother and daughter Charlotte and Marianne McKay running together. June Anne McKnight, Lorna MacLean and Lynne Fulton all ran their first half. Maybe the biggest shout goes out to Viki Smith, who ran the Dunoon Ultra marathon on the Saturday, she came back for another 13 miles on the Sunday! Outstanding.
The men saw a great battle for third harrier, with form man and other meritorious winner Andy Osborne taking it just ahead of Andy McCall and Neil Lafferty. This was Neil’s first real step up to this distance, having shown championship winning form over the shorter runs for the last few seasons. There were good sub 90 runs from Stevie Campbell, Daniel Doherty, Duncan Anderson, Owen Atkinson, Gordon Hepburn and Paul McAuley. William Taylor just missed out, but a cracking PB none the less. Eric Lindsay, Ross Slater and Stephen Reid were among the other men to run really well on the day.
A big Glenpark day out would not be complete without post-race celebrations, so the runners and supporters headed back over to West on the Green for some German themed scran and liquids…! A great day out was had by all, and it was all thanks to Alan O’Rourke for putting so much time and effort into bringing us together as a club for what many will rightly see as the biggest running day of the year! Thankfully, the inspiration to run does not stop there, and we’ve had good attendances at club training, XC races and this weekend’s Colin Shields Road Race. En Avant!
10k Results:
Dylan Crawford 33:46, Chris Mooney 36:26, Shaun Wiseman 38:55, Matthew Deegan 40:44, Ross Morrison 43.15, David Roberts 43:49, Fiona MacFarlane 44:11, Ruby McGill 44:30, Alan Hatherall 46:20, Sandra Campbell 46:51, James Cuffe 46:59, Claire Monaghan 50:18, Stephen Fulton 52:34, Lorna Coyle 53.42, Jennifer Hanley 56:08, Aidan Coyle 58:20, Lynsey McLaughlin 58:40, Gill Gilmour 59:12, Mary Robinson 1:00:27, Eileen Stevenson 1:01:02, Caroline Sharpe 1:01:11, Sharon Black 1:01:43, Alison Smart 1:06:51, Edward Devine 1:09:44, David Black 1:11:11, Robin McAuslan 1:14:3, Emma Benstead 1:38:54
Half Marathon Results:
Shaun Lyon 1:13:58, Paul Monaghan 1:16:15, Andrew Osborne 1:17:22, Andrew McCall 1:17:53, Neil Lafferty 77.55, Steven Campbell 1:21:23, Daniel Doherty 1:24:52, Duncan Anderson 1:25:16, Owen Atkinson 1:26:07, Gordon Hepburn 1:28:25, Paul McAuley 1:28:38, William Taylor 1:30:43, Stephen Hanley 1:31:09, Eric Lindsay 1:32:52, Malcolm MacLean 1:33:06, Paul McGonigle 1:33:24, Liz Gemmell 1:33:47, Stephen Harrison 1:34:14, Ross Slater 1:35:05, Graeme Boyce 1:35:46, Craig Canning 1:37:29, Alan O’Rourke 1:37:37, Colin McKnight 1:40:20, Liza Brydon 1.40.33, Stuart Austin 1:42:50, Lorna Mitchell 1:43:24, Stephen Reid 1:43:33, Donna Campbell 1:45:45, Scot Hill 1:46:20, Matthew Young 1:49:31, Robert Adams 1:50:14, Lynne Harrison 1:51:03, Natalie McKnight 1:53:24, Debbie McKenzie 1:55:28, Cheryl Thomas 1:55:55, Olivia Devine 1:56:17, Gill Sullivan 1:57:06, Terri Wall 2:00:06, Ruari Dunsmuir 2:05:03, Katie O’Donnell 2:05:05, Graeme Crawford 2:06:46, Elaine Medinelli 2:06:56, David Benstead 2:07:53, Sam McVicar 2:11:52, Kevin Gill 2:12:30, Angela Devlin 2:13:01, Lucia Giuntoli 2:14:54, Alan Munro 2:15:36, James Campbell 2:15:41, Kirstin Arthur 2:18:00, Viki Smith 2:18:00, Stuart Crawford 2:18:16, Helen Crawford 2:18:17, Craig Melrose 2:21:05, Marianne McKay 2:28:56, Charlotte McKay 2:28:58, June Anne McKnight 2:44:01, Lorna MacLean 2:44:44, Lynne Fulton 2:45:30