The third and final event in the Babcock 10k series took place in Helensburgh on Thursday 30th May 2024, and a return to sunny weather made for a pleasant change to the torrential rain runners faced in Event 2.
The sunshine didn’t make the race conditions any easier though, with runners heading into a strong wind on the first three miles of the course. The course starts and finishes at Hermitage Academy and is a fast, flat single circuit with two leg melting hill
climbs on the out and return section. Sixteen Harriers represented Glenpark on the evening, with some heavy legs lingering after the terrors of the Chisholm mile the previous Tuesday.
A niggling injury meant Neil Lafferty had to drop out before the start, which was unfortunate as he had been in 3rd place for the series overall, but with Neil fighting for the club championship it was the right decision not to risk it. That left Oliver Reilly,
who was sitting in ninth for the series overall before the Helensburgh event, with it all to do – and he had a brilliant run (and a PB for the course), coming in first harrier home in 21st overall with a time of 35:17.
Next in was Paul Monaghan, 4th in the V50 age category in 37:25, followed by ladies Champion Jill Cox with a time of 37:55, only a few seconds slower than her showing at Dumbarton and taking 1st place in the ladies V40, and also in the West District race, continuing her fine run of form representing the club.
In his first event in the Babcock this year, Steven Campbell ran well in a time of 38:24, keeping pace with Jill for much of the race, and despite sustaining a blood injury to the head in the first few hundred meters – next year, Steven advises watching out
for low branches on the way out. Ducking is also a good game plan.
Men’s Captain Stephen Harrison was just unable to repeat his sub-40 effort of the previous event but was pleased to record his second fastest 10k time with 40:16 and 10th in the V50 category; Stephen was followed in by Colin McKnight (41:23), who was slightly struggling with the effects of his excellent performance in the Chisholm Mile. Next home were Donald Shaw and Malcolm MacLean in times of 41:30 and 44:46 respectively.
Another remarkable performance came from Jill Aikman, who is working hard in training and continues to go from strength to strength. Jill recorded another PB over the distance to finish 3rd in the F50 category with another huge chunk off her best time, and getting tantalisingly close to the 45-minute milestone. Across the series, Jill has managed PBs in every successive race – Shettleston 47:35, Dumbarton 45:47 and now Helensburgh in a time of 45:16.
Ladies Vice Captain Cheryl Thomas and Captain Lynne Harrison both put in strong runs, with Cheryl over the line in 48:35 and Lynne taking F50 6th with a time of 49:29.
Another standout run came from Charlotte McKay with a fantastic effort to finish 2nd in the F70 category, over the line in a time of 1:03:51, just ahead of daughter Marianne in 1:03:52. Another age category top 10 for Doris Heron in the F60 class, Doris put
in a great shift to come in at 1:05:14.
Bringing home the Harriers representation, Mary Robinson and Alison Smart both had good runs and were cheered home by the team with times of 1:08:45 and 1.08:54.
