Coves Reservoir, Saturday January 4th 2025
The first Saturday of 2025 saw Greenock Glenpark Harriers taking on the terrors of a tough four loop course around the hills of Coves Reservoir. The freezing weather of the previous days put the race in real doubt, with a late course check necessary to ensure the safety of the runners, and it was touch and go for most of the morning as the team battled with large stretches of ice. However, with the temperature rising slightly and with numerous buckets of grit spread around the course by Committee members Stephen Harrison, Lynne Harrison, Alan O’Rourke and Alison King it was decided the Greenock Club could go ahead with the first club race of the New Year.
There was a change to the course this year with the event planned around the new and improved tracks laid in the spring by Inverclyde Council, avoiding the treacherous bridge section and the notorious climb from the lower reservoir – the new route cutting left into the forest after the wooden steps and providing some much needed relief for the legs before runners tackled the ‘heart attack hill’ (aptly named by Stuart Crawford during the recce sessions) which took runners back to the start. This made the route a more technical run with a slightly shorter distance, runners being more able to use the undulating terrain to their advantage and leading to some fantastic battles all across the field.
At the top end of the mens field, the absence of joint club champion Dylan arguably put last year’s runner up Andrew McCall in pole position as the bookies favourite on the day, Andy being in fine form at present and the hills and trails being very much a preferred surface. So it proved as the runners kicked off onto the first lap, McCall going out hard and setting the pace for the leading men – taking the race to a very strong field of Neil Lafferty, John Logan, Daniel Doherty and youngster Lewis McCrae, all of whom also in the kind of form necessary to top the leaderboard on the day. However, as the race progressed, it became apparent that McCrae had been putting in the hard work in training, keeping up with McCall and the two men gradually breaking away from the pack, battling hard over the first two laps.
The tricky hill section took its toll as the two men headed into lap three and McCall was unable to hold pace as McCrae kicked on, and although he fought back to level going through the flat section at the lower reservoir, McCrae pulled away again as they entered the final lap, going on to cross the line 24 seconds ahead in (28:13) to take the well deserved win for the first time in a senior club race. McCall (28:37) had to be content with second place for the second race in a row and was followed home over a minute later by joint club champion Neil Lafferty (29:47) for third, the top three men the only runners breaking the 30 minute barrier.
Strong runs followed as the chasing pack began to cross the line – John Logan (30:09), Daniel Doherty (30:59), Chris Mooney (31:40 a very fine run after a recent illness), Kev Craig (32:12) and Paul Monaghan (32:39) all came home under the 33 minute mark; and then one of the great battles of the day was decided. Steven Campbell brilliantly using every part of his tactical knowledge to finish ahead of Stephen Hanley, as Hanley pushed hard to overtake. The two men were neck and neck over much of the course with Campbell fighting hard to take the lead, swapping positions several times but with Campbell (33:18) eventually closing out Hanely (33:23) by a slim margin in a race that went down to the wire.
Another exciting race followed with the now familiar Taylor – McKnight – Deegan – Harrison grouping. William Taylor, in great form and still improving off a combination of the Cross Country Season and intense training efforts, took the early lead with Matthew Deegan pushing him hard through the first lap. Colin McKnight, another runner who performs well on the trails was a steady presence behind the two men while Club Captain Stephen Harrison struggled with the fast early pace after running a hard Parkrun earlier in the morning, dropping further back down the places. Taylor and Deegan also swapped places throughout the race, and the group was joined by ladies champion Jill Cox. As the laps ticked down, however, it was Harrison who started to make the pace back up, finding a rhythm and picking off the group by going hard into the hill sections and eventually pulling away as the runners hit the final lap, crossing the line in (33:39) just ahead of ladies winner, Jill Cox in (33:51). Taylor (34:03) edged out Deegan (34:12) in the last stretch, with McKnight over the line in a respectable (34:30).
There was a big turnout and some great performances in the ladies race. While Jill Cox was always going to be favourite for the win, things were less certain for the other podium places with a few contenders fighting it out, in particular Jennifer Rooney, U20 Junior Evie Harrison and Ashley Anderson looking difficult to separate in the odds. The three ladies all put in a superb effort with Rooney eventually edging out Harrison to cross the line in 2nd place with a time of (37:27). Harrison struggled with the gradient but managed to stay ahead of Anderson to finish 3rd with (37:57), with Anderson just behind in (38:16). There were also strong runs from Vicki Smith (40:43), Ladies Captain Lynne Harrison (40:46) and Melissa Wilson (40:52) all finishing within ten seconds of each other.
HANDICAP RACE
The Harris Trophy is a non-conceding handicap race, time deducted from the scratch result meaning runners of all abilities have the chance of winning; the results are always hotly anticipated and usually anyone’s guess. As it turned out, the level of Lewis McCrae’s dark-horse effort really shone through as the young man also scooped first place in the handicap event, his 1m30s being enough to take the trophy with a HC time of (26:43). In second, it was ladies 2nd place runner Jennifer Rooney (10m / 27:27) and in third a great run from Stuart Crawford saw him finish in (13m / 27:53).
JUNIORS
A great turnout was also evident in the shorter junior races, with 14 junior runners going in single lap and 2 junior runners doing the double. The single loop was won by Elijah Taylor, with a really impressive sub 8 minute effort – Elijah was home in (8:41), and was followed by Nathan Rogoz (9:26) and Stella McCabe (9:56). In the double loop race, Nuala Quigley (20:14) edged out Jonathon Lamont (21:29) over the distance.
Club races continue to go from strength to strength for Greenock Glenpark Harriers and this race once again saw over 60 Harriers take the field – too many fine performances on the day to mention everyone, unfortunately.
A huge thank you to everyone who volunteered on the day to make this event happen!
Thanks to Race Sponsor WB Smith
Next up – The WILLOW BOWL Saturday 15th February 2025! Thanks to GBR Photos for supporting the event photos on this page!
