Over the last few months, we have had some great success at a national level in races over various distances.
Sun 16th April – Round the Houses 10k
This year’s Round the Houses 10km race incorporated the British Masters 10k championships, providing an opportunity for our seniors to compete for medals on home soil. GGH had 5 senior men taking part in the championship race. Scot Hill, deep into his marathon training, competed in the V55 category finishing 14th and within the top 100 overall. Next across the line was Gavin Morrison fresh from his warm weather training. Building on his parkrun times Duncan Anderson will be really happy with his first 10k of the season finishing behind club mate Gavin Morrison. Gavin set off quick and held on the secure 7th place in the V55 championship. Neil Lafferty continues to show improvements, competing in the V45 category Neil came very close to the medals finishing in 5th place, 18th overall. Neil was only 24 seconds away from a British Medal.
The run of the day came from our medal man Paul Monaghan. In October 2019 Paul went on to win the British V50 Marathon title in the York Marathon. Since then, Paul has secured a number of National titles at almost every distance and had set his targets on a medal at this event. Paul’s dedication and hard work paid off once more as he secured the British Masters V50 title over the 10k distance. An incredible achievement.
Rounding off a hugely successful day, the Greenock Glenpark Harriers trio of Paul, Neil and Gavin secured the British Team silver medal in the V45 to 55 category.
Scot Hill – 47:35, Duncan Anderson – 38:01, Gavin Morrison – 37:36, Neil Lafferty – 34:35, Paul Monaghan – 34:25
Friday 28th April 2023 – Scottish 10,000m Championships, Crownpoint
Paul Monaghan toed the line at the track at Crownpoint to contend in the Scottish 10,000m championships. Gunning for the v50 Scottish title, Paul faced some stiff competition in his category from across Scotland and in his heat from local rivals in black and white stripes. In true Paul style, he went off hard and built a lead on the pack, and held a 100m lead after 4km. He then spent a good 15 laps on his own, not allowing the pack to get him over the sprint finishes in the last lap. It may have left him feeling a bit sick, but it was worth it to claim the v50 Scottish gold medal in 34.26. You may have heard Paul’s modesty and cander on a recent episode of our GGH podcast, and true to form he played this down and tried to pass performance of the day off to Andy Mcall’s excellent 3k on the green on the same day, but the gold medal speaks for itself.
Fri 5th May – Sri Chimnoy 5k (Scottish 5k champs)
Contrast to the previous night, conditions were perfect for a fast 5km in Edinburgh which incorporated the National 5k champs. With a number of drop outs leading up to the race two Harriers made it to the start line. Paul Monaghan was hoping to add to him impressive medal haul already this year but finished just outside the medals in an excellent time of 16:41, the quickest Paul has run over the distance since 2020. Making his return to the shorter distances was Oliver Reilly who was delighted to get back under 17 minutes with a chip time of 16:59. Shout out to Harry McGill who’s return to fitness has been impressive. Running for his University club, Harry destroyed his 5km PB with an incredible time of 15:27.
Paul Monaghan – 160th (5th V50) 16:41, Oliver Reilly – 188th, 16:59
Sat 13th May – West District Track champs
It was great performances in the sun from Nuala & Scarlett at the West District T&F Championships at the Ayrshire Arena in the U15girls 800m. In their first major track competition, the pair put in very quick first laps and suffered a little in the closing stages, but it was a great learning experience with the girls both recording big PBs for the distance. [Scarlett 2:54.72, Nuala 3:01.85]
June 4th – British Masters 1 Mile Championships
As if doing the club’s Chisholm Mile was not enough punishment, Neil Lafferty headed to Silverknowes for the British Masters 1 mile road race. Not only that, he went on to secure the gold medal in 4.32!! This was an improvement on his 4.41 in the club race just a few days previous. Neil won by 4 seconds from Philip Holden in the V45/50 race along the prom at Silverknowes.
