Renfrewshire Road Race

Renfrewshire Road Race, February 2022

A strong westerly wind, gusting to over 42 miles per hour and driving rain welcomed 168 brave runners this Sunday at the Battery Park for this year’s Renfrewshire 5m Road Race.

The club photo-shoot quickly dispersed and 65 Glenpark competitors gathered on the start line for what was to be one of the most brutal tests of character in this race for a good few years. It was most definitely “a hingin’ in day”.

The starter quickly briefed the runners and sounded the starting pistol to release the field from the car park at the pavilion into a driving westerly wind towards Gourock. The course followed an anti-clockwise lap and a half of the park and out the middle gate. Turning left, with the wind behind all the way to the end of the Esplanade, runners faced the daunting challenge of heed doon into the teeth of the wind all the way back to the park again, finishing with a punishing lap and a half back to the start.

First home for the club and first V-50 was Paul Monaghan, leading the mens’ team who finished 4th. Paul clocked an impressive time of 27:44. Andrew Osbourne, Andrew McCall and Kev Craig followed within 20s of each other in just under 29 minutes, with Michael McLoone and Steven Campbell finishing in 29:43 and 30:03 respectively. Other excellent runs came from Shaun Wiseman (U-20 silver), Daniel Docherty, Gordon Hepburn and Michael McLoone (V-50 silver). Graham McGrattan won gold in the men’s V-60 category, another excellent return to form whilst Owen Atkinson had an excellent run following his recent gradual return to fitness.

The ladies team did one better than the men, clinching bronze. First in was Marian Monk with yet another excellent performance, finishing 7th overall and V-40 silver, whilst Charlotte McKay won the V-60 gold. Marian was followed in by recent new members Lorna Mitchell (V-40 bronze) and Lyndsey Hunter; both showing tremendous improvement and great potential for the future. Heather Lafferty continues to improve, being our 5th lady finisher in 38:53. With a further 22 Glenpark ladies completing the challenging course on the day, we can confidently say the ladies’ team has a strength in depth to be proud of! Full results can be seen here.