The Great Harrier Takeover

With a city centre start and finish, the Great Scottish Run is a celebration of everything Glasgow: impressive architecture, beautiful parks and welcoming people; all with bags of personality and humour.

Over 20,000 competitors took part in the half marathon and 10k running event this year, challenging themselves and raising money for many good causes. Scotland’s “friendliest city” certainly delivered on the support front too, with crowds of family, friends and locals turning out to cheer and high-five from beginning to end.

After many months of preparation by coach Alan O’Rourke and committed dedication by each individual club member, Sunday 3rd October saw over a hundred Greenock Glenpark Harriers in the hallowed blue and golden vests descending upon Glasgow, each with aspirations to smash their goals over the 10km and half marathon distances. As the word got around over the summer build-up, numbers at training soared. All harriers participating, having shown great commitment and dedication, were now prepared and ready to perform to the best of their ability.

10km Race Report

The early morning rain had cleared for the 10km runners who set off just as the half marathon runners were due to leave Inverclyde. With the conditions looking favourable, the course was set for some quick times. Des and Jenny from Heart Radio got the crowd in fine vocal form as the starters set the runners on their way up St Vincent Street. All eyes were on the woman’s race as GB athlete Lily Partridge set a blistering pace winning the race in 33:08. Next across the line was Josie Wren-Golder (36:14). Run of the day and making headlines across the country was our Jill Cox. Jill crossed the line in 3rd place (37:53) in the women’s race, a remarkable feat. It’s been some time since a female GGH athlete podiumed at such a major event and we are all very proud of Jill. Jill’s 3rd place finish received recognition from Scottish Athletics as Jill had previously won this event in 2003 and again in 2004. Fast forward 19 years and the evergreen athlete is still able to podium at such events. You can find some of Jill’s impressive achievements on her Power of 10 and World Athletics (yes you read that correct) profiles.

From one club champion to another it was over to Dylan Crawford who had set his sights on another sub 34 performance to match his impressive 15th place in the same event last year. Dylan set off quick but knew clubmate Andy McCall was going to be hunting him down in search of his own sub 34 minute performance. With 2 km’s to go Andy pushed ahead of Dylan to finish 15th place (34:24) and Dylan close behind in 18th (34:40). Dylan can take comfort that he finished 8th place in his age category. Fresh from his outstanding Berlin Marathon just a week ago Oliver Reilly continued his rich vein of form to finish in 35:30 and 3rd Harrier. Ruby McGill set a new personal best time and finished 10th u20 female and 2nd Harrier to cross the line backed up by Cheryl Thomas who was the 3rd Harrier home and will be delighted to take 1 second from her PB over the distance (46:39).

Making his comeback, Andrew White produced an excellent run to finish 1st M50 in 36:09 with Paul McAulay having another belter of a run in 37:39. Gavin Morrison will be delighted to have finished first in his age group in 38:47. U17 athlete Summer Taggart will be delighted to not only record a PB at the distance but finish 16th in her age group. Eddie Devine finished a brilliant 11th in his age group in 77:46. In our opinion, and close to Jill’s outstanding performance, was new member Necole McAuley’s performance who obliterated her previous 10km times and personal goal of 1 hour finishing 53:27. It’s always a joy to see runners like Necole who are unsure about joining a running club and reaping the benefits of training, hard work and consistency.

Other notable performances highlighted on our socials are Margaret Bryce who raced her first 10km and first time racing outside of the local area! Aidan Coyle’s PB is now an impressive 51:26 for the 10km distance. Robin McAuslan’s return from injury continues as he took 2 minutes from his previous 10km this season in 45:23 and finished in an incredible 4th place in his age category. Matthew Deegan also achieved a PB in the 10km in 40:17. Jill Aikman enjoyed her first outing wearing club colours and chuffed with 10km time. Marianne McKay running with daughter Erin as she smashed her 10km in a PB of 51:41. Ross Slater paced his son Jonny to 44:07 in the 10km. Following in her mothers footsteps, Olivia Trainer ran a brilliant time of 54:21.

It’s not always about the PB’s and good performances. Simon Hutton continues his come back and found his love of running again. He was delighted to be racing once again and celebrating a Personal Worst (PW) in the 10km. Gavin Morrison ran his slowest 10km of the season but celebrated as he took first M55 spot. Wife Catriona also running a PW but it will give plenty of reflection chat in the Morrison household I’m sure. Having injured himself at the local Port Glasgow 10km Gavin’s brother Euan, ran an impressive 56:15 despite having not ran since that day. In the half marathon Charlotte McKay confessed to a Personal Worst performance in the half marathon, but more on the half in a moment. Full results below – taken from the Great Run website.

Half Marathon Report

In the more popular 13.1 miles distance, the bus load of Harriers arrived to the warm Glasgow sun as it shone down clearing away any surface water that had greeted the 10km runners. Shaun Lyon was the first Harrier home, very close to a PB and a phenomenal time of 1:12:28 and 21st place overall. It’s great to see Shaun finding his form again. On a high after some exceptional performances of late Andrew Osborne ran yet another PB in a time of 1:15:51. Backing the team up and finishing 3rd Harriers was Lewis Khan in a seriously impressive 1:21:27 and 7th in his age category. A sign of what is to come from Lewis after a short period in the club.

Jennifer Rooney’s (1:37:47) first half marathon as a Harrier and a special moment for Jennifer as she completed her first half since 2019 after major surgery. What an impressive performance Jennifer as she came home as first female Harrier. Liza Brydon was the next female Harrier to enter Glasgow Green as she sped across the line in 1:47:13. The experienced Terri Wall was 3rd home and not far behind Liza in an impressive 1:49:28. It looks like our Terri is rolling back the years finishing the Half Marathon only a mere 30 seconds shy of her half marathon time in at Dunoon in 2015. To top off a successful day for Terri she finished an amazing 5th place in her age category.

It’s great to see Eileen Stevenson getting back to racing longer distance after injury troubles and great to see her doing so well. John Stevenson ran his best time over the distance since 2019 and 7 minutes quicker than the previous years event in 1:28:30, a great day out for the Stevenson’s. Youngster Lewis McCrae completed his first half marathon 1:25:38 which makes him the 13th quickest in Britain and quickest in Scotland over the distance according to Run Britain Rankings. Mary Robinson ran a PB of 2 hours and 41 minutes! Susie Gillies took a whole 6 minutes off her time from Kilmacolm half only a few weeks earlier. David McDiarmid took 7 minutes from his Kilmacolm time. John Green completed his first half marathon in over 10 years and smashed his own personal target of 2 hours. Nathalie Smith knocked nearly 15 minutes, yes FIFTEEN MINUTES off her previous half marathon time in 1:55:10. Colin McKnight continues his quest to get under 1h 30 in the half marathon, celebrating a PB of 1:35. We are sure you will get that goal soon enough. Despite a dramatic finish Greg Luke took a course PB and only 30 seconds away from a lifetime best. Owen Atkinson continues to impress as he smashed his half marathon PB in a time of 1:25:23. Stephen Harrison ran 4 minutes quicker than the previous years event. It was Ultra man Craig Hyslop’s first outing in the Glasgow half and he achieved target time. Danny McLaughlin finished a brilliant 7th place in his age category. Lee McLaughlan and bother Sean (hopefully a new member soon?) enjoyed a great day out with the team. Proud Mum and Dad watched as Abbigael ran her first Glasgow half marathon smashing her target of 2 hours and in the top 10 in her age group, very well done Abbigael. Sharon Black and daughter Eilidh finished within 1 minute of each other. Having both started running at parkrun together it’s heart warming to see both achieving their goals together. Despite sustaining an injury early in the race, Richard McCall continued through the pain barrier to complete the half marathon.

Despite not everyone racing a Personal Best (PB) everyone agreed that the day was, in the words of ladies captain Lynne Harrison a “Personal Belter”. We do like the sounds of this.

Huge thanks to Alan O’Rourke once again for all the hard work an effort into getting our athletes race ready and organising a brilliant day out in the city. The Harriers enjoy food and refreshments in the local St Luke’s who looked after us all.

I’ve included as many Harriers as I could find in the race results. If you find your name to be missing from the list just get in touch and we will get you added. In total 90 Harriers are recorded on the results with 40 running the 10km and 50 running the Half Marathon.

Photos courtesy of Bobby Gavin.

10km times
Andrew McCall 34:24
Dylan Crawford 34:40
Oliver Reilly 35:30
Andrew White 36:09
Harry McGill 36:56
Paul McAulay 37:39
Jill Cox 37:53
Gavin Morrison 38:47
Matthew Deegan 40:17

Malcom Maclean 41:41
William Taylor 41:48
Ross Slater 44:07
Jonny Slater 44:07
Robin McAuslan 45:23
Ruby McGill 46:17
Gerry Gallacher 46:28
Cheryl Thomas 46:39
Kevin Begley 46:44
Fiona MacFarlane 47:25
Ross Morrison 47:35
Summer Taggart 49:26
Mark Magee 49:35
Stephen Fulton 50:04
Aidan Coyle 51:26
Erin McEleny 51:41
Marianne Mckay 51:44
Necole Mcaulay 53:27
Craig Melrose 54:13
Olivia Trainer 54:21
Sarah Jane Whalen 55:11
Melissa Wilson 55:53
Euan Morrison 56:15
Maria Mccabe 59:04
Donna Campbell 59:41
Liz Heywood 01:02:16
Amy Macdonald 01:02:18
Alison Smart 01:07:43
Simon Hutton 01:15:55
Lorna Maclean 01:17:09
Edward Devine 01:17:46
Margaret Bryce 01:22:00

Half Marathon results
Shaun Lyon 01:12:28
Andrew Osborne 01:14:51
Lewis Khan 01:21:27
Steven Campbell 01:21:58
Owen Atkinson 01:25:22
Lewis McCrae 01:25:38
Daniel Doherty 01:26:51
John Stevenson 01:28:31
Stephen Harrison 01:30:36
Greg Luke 01:32:27
Kevin O’Donoghue 01:34:11
Eric Lindsay 01:35:09
Colin Mcknight 01:35:38
Shaun Wiseman 01:35:59
Danny Mclaughlin 01:37:37
Jennifer Rooney 01:37:47
Stewart Anderson 01:38:24
Craig Hyslop 01:40:50
Alan O’Rourke 01:42:17
Graeme Boyce 01:44:03
Derek Mitchell 01:45:12
Stephen Reid 01:45:48
Liza Brydon 01:47:13
John Green 01:48:22
James Doherty 01:49:13
Terri Wall 01:49:28
Mark Sullivan 01:49:33
Debbie Mckenzie 01:52:18
Jack Harrington 01:52:30
Paul Dillon 01:52:53
Lynne Harrison 01:52:56
Olivia Devine 01:54:09
Nathalie Smith 01:55:10
Abbigael Crawford 01:55:18
Lisa Boonsanong 01:56:40
Susie Gillies 01:56:45
Helen Crawford 02:02:06
Stuart Crawford 02:02:06
Heather Lafferty 02:05:24
Eileen Stevenson 02:07:36
Richard McCall 02:10:24
David McDiarmid 02:10:28
Angela Devlin 02:13:06
Sharon Black 02:18:57
Lee McLaughlan 02:20:11
Elaine Medinelli 02:26:11
Mary Robinson 02:41:42
Sharon Doherty 02:45:14
Charlotte McKay 02:45:16
Lynne Fulton 03:02:05