West District and Scottish National 10 Mile Championships
Over the last couple of week, Glenpark has had runners attending two other 10 mile races in Scotland on top of our own 10 mile club race which was held on Saturday 1st April. Clydebank was the venue for the West District 10 mile road race and Strathclyde was the venue for the annual Tom Scott 10 miler, used as the Scottish Championships.
The race in Clydebank was the Dunbartonshire 10 miler, a new event organized by Dumbarton Amateur Athletic Association. The flat out and back course attracted a good field, and saw some quick times for the Harriers in attendance. Starting at the Titan Crane, runners followed the canal tow path out to Bowling, and looped around the new Bowline cycle path and back to Clydebank. A flat route and a calm day was welcome for those looking for a fast time or a hard session in their marathon block.
Stuart Greenway lead the way for Glenpark in 56.13 in 17th overall, going through a good battle with the strong turnout from Garscube Harriers around him. Next was Oliver Reilly closely followed by Stephen Hanley, recording a 4 minute PB for the distance. Michael McLoone was not far behind Stephen and was placed as 5th V50. Scot Hill smashed his 80 minute target in 78.35. There was not much between Craig Melrose and Jennifer Rooney, with Jennifer being first female harrier ahead of Nathalie Smith who ran a 90+ second PB.
Results: Stuart Greenway 56.13, Oliver Reilly 60.52, Stephen Hanley 61.37, Michael McLoone 62.59, Scot Hill 78.35, Craig Melrose 86.32, Jennifer Rooney 86.53, Nathalie Smith 87.11
The Tom Scott race has been the Scottish 10 mile championships for a number of years now, and attracts the strongest field for the distance in Scotland. We had five runners this year as it clashed on the same weekend as our club race, such is the business of this time of year for running events. The route was changed slightly this year, but still consisted of a combination of different parts of the loch at Strathclyde Park and the surrounding roads.
Scot and Michael returned for this race, with Scot improving by 2 minutes but Michael just a little behind the previous time. The Tom Scott is a hillier route than Clydebank, and shows that it was a great run from Scot. Mick making it into the top ten in the country for his age category. Wes Pattison was first back for the club, with Duncan Anderson just edging out Alan Poole by 5 seconds to be second back. Great string runs from both guys! Inverclyde’s John bell had a great run to secure third overall.
At the same event three Harriers took on the ‘Round the loch’ race. Jill Cox, who is in excellent form, led the team home to finish 4th quickest female and fastest veteran. Jennifer Telford and Jennifer Rooney followed close together with 10th and 12th female respectively with Telford taking the top v50 prize. With three really strong runs the team finished in an excellent 2nd place.
10 Mile Results: Wes Pattison 58.11, Duncan Anderson 61.51, Michael McLoone 64.08, Alan Poole 64.13, Scot Hill 76.54
Round the Loch Results: Jill Cox 24:29, Jennifer Telford 27:59, Jennifer Rooney 29:42
