3k Near the Green

Steven Prentice

With Glasgow Green being set up for the weekend's Great Scottish Races and an associated event being held for hundreds of school children on Friday lunchtime there was a real danger of the monthly 3k on the Green being cancelled.  However in the spirit of the Olympics and Paralympics the runners and organisers soon agreed to set up an improvised course.  We made our way along the path until we reached a part of the N75 cycle track which was not being used in the Great Scottish Races.

Arlene Bristrow

As I had my bike with me, I volunteered to cycle out 1.5k and act as the turning point for the racers.  By coincidence 1.5k was at a point where the path opened up a little and split into two, one direction going under a bridge and the other leading to the steps up to the road.  I parked my bike and quickly set up my camera before the first of 22 runners, Bellahouston Harrier Steve Prentice, reached the halfway point of the, rapidly concocted, course on his way to winning the men's race.  The 120 year old Glasgow club also took gold in the women's event with Jennifer Clark crossing the line ahead of Cambuslang's Arlene Bristrow.

Well done to everyone who cobbled together a great wee race, with runners and organisers alike displaying patience and humour on what could have quite easily been a non-event and of course they also helped to raise some money for Help the Hospices Charity.

Photos here:

Full Results


3k on the Green

 

Paisley 10k 2012 (Set 2 of 2)

Paisley 10k 2012 (Set 2 of 2), a set on Flickr.

Some photos of the 55+min runners, faster runners and full results here

Paisley 10k 2012 Results and Photos

Jill Knowles and Ken MacBeth

I cycled along to Paisley on Sunday morning to support the many runners participating in the annual 10k race and to take a few photos of the runners leaving the cycle path with 9k or so under their belt.  Well done to all of you.  It was good to see so many friends running, there were some happy, smiling faces to photograph and some less so.

Pictures here
and here

Results here

Contact me if you would like a copy of any of the photographs.

Old Friends at my 111th parkrun

After my canter along the canal on Wednesday, I had a couple of days away from running opting for a core/strength session in the gym on Thursday lunchtime topped up with a 20k+ cycle in the evening.  Friday was my ‘rest’ day and I settled for some retail therapy.  Although I popped out for a couple of pints in the evening I wasn’t really in the mood for a drink, I seldom am if I haven’t been training.  With three hard weeks of training this was supposed to be my easy week and I decided to combine an easy training run with my 111^th parkrun, my 96^th at Glasgow. 

After my warm up and pre race chatting, I lined up with some 342 other runners for the 9:30am Start.  The 1^st kilometre took me 4:22.  I spied Tom Halliday passing me, I hadn’t seen him for ages and wished him well.  He came over and we ran together for a while as he told me about his injuries, which have restrained his racing this year before continuing his race.  Despite the absence of many of the Bellahouston runners, many of which were running in the Paisley 10k on Sunday, there were still a few runners that I could have raced against but I decided to keep to my ‘training run’ and the second k took me 4:44.  Club mate Angela Campbell overtook me at this point and I decided to stick in behind her, I attacked the wee hill, overtaking Angela in the process but the 3^rd still took me 4:47 to complete.  I could just about see Tom, Martin Myant and Emma Blair in front of me but they must have been about 300m in front.  I was initially thought that there was no way that I could catch them with about one mile remaining but then switched to a positive frame of mind and started chasing after them.  The 4^th k had taken 4:44 but I was up for racing the last kilometre.  With about 300m to go, I caught Tom, who shouted “It’s yours Ian, go for it!.”  I then caught a young lass with a Scotland West vest on but she wasn’t for letting me beat her easily and I had to give it my all in the final 200m to beat her. We managed to overtake another two runners in the final strait and I also further closed the gap on Martin and Emma.

I crossed the line in 84^th place in a time of 22:54, a final k of 4:13.  In a reversal of the positions at the recent Bella Belter, it was Martin that took the honours placing 82^nd in  22:47, with Emma 83rd (7^th female) in 22:48.  The young lass, who turned out to be a Kilmarnock Harrier from Stewarton, Amanda Hughes placed 85^th in 22:55, with Tom placing 88^th in 23:04.  We all exchanged mutual congratulations before heading to the queue to hand in our race position tokens.  I had worked a lot harder that I had planned but I had still enjoyed my run. 

Nadia

“You’re Ian Goudie, I’ve been looking out for you” said the volunteer who took my token and I knew straight away that, although we hadn’t seen each other for some 38years, it was my old class mate Nadia Toni (now Cowan) from Stewarton.  After my warm down we went to the Burrell to catch up on old times over a coffee, with Nadia’s daughter and some of my running buddies.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning.

First Bella

A look at the full results reveal that for the second race in a row, the other being the Canal Canter, I had placed first Bellahouston Harrier, now that’s something that won't happen very often.

Full Results

Springburn Harriers Canal Canter

I had another long run at the weekend 23k+ at 9min/mile pace in the mid day heat.  I was happy enough with that.  I rested the old legs on Monday and worked hard at training on Tuesday.  I was weighing up the options of a recovery run or a wee cycle on Wednesday night when I noticed a FB posting from Tony McGale about the Canal Canter at Bishopbriggs.  This is a race that I’ve never got around to running before so a quick change of clothes and I jumped in the car and headed north for the 7pm Start. 

Although the sun was shining when I left the south side by the time I got to the Bishopbriggs Leisuredrome there was no need for my sun glasses as the sky had darkened and the sun rays had been replaced by heavy rain.  As a number of the runners sheltered under the bridge on the Forth and Clyde Canal, myself and Graeme Aitken warmed up along part of the route.  I had thought that most of the canal pathway had been improved in recent years but it was obvious that this part had not, as we encountered puddle after puddle along the way. 

Local Member of Parliament Jo Swinton sent us on our way at 7pm before joining in the ranks of the 65 runners heading southwards into the wind and rain.  Most of us tried to avoid the deepest puddles on the way out along the narrow canal path.  I started relatively quickly with the first kilometre taking me 4:22 but soon slowed down to 4:42 and then down to 4:50.  Just before 3k the marshals directed us off of the canal path along an even narrower trail, which took us through the wet willow woodland and marshes and around the shallow freshwater of Possil Loch.  On the north side of the Loch, I caught a glimpse of a large boulder, which marks the site where the High Possil Meteorite landed on 5 April 1804, a fragment of which is held by the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. It is one of only four recorded meteorites to fall on Scotland in ‘modern’ times.  Despite the historic and natural importance of Possil Marsh I was glad to see a marshal indicating that I would be soon back on the canal path.  “C’mon Eddie!” she shouted at presumably a local club runner behind me.  I had a quick glance over my shoulder as I turned a sharp left to start the homeward strait but rather than catching sight of one of the 150 or so birds which have been recorded in the area, I spied my Bellahouston Harrier club mate Tom Keanan and Ronhill Cambuslang’s Kirsty Grant.  With both of these on my tail there would be no room for complacency along the final 2.5k, or so.   I say ‘or so’ as really I didn’t know how far there was until the Finish line.  I only knew that I would need to work hard to hold off Tom and Kirsty and I increased my pace straight away.

There were two runners in sight in front of me and they were a good bit apart from each other but I set off in pursuit of them.  I caught the first one, Andrew Low, but there was no way that he was letting me pass him easily. However I wasn’t for giving in either and we ran along shoulder to shoulder for a while.  I was splashing my way through every puddle as if every second was a prisoner.  The 5^th k had taken me 4:46 but it wasn’t fast enough and I dug deeper, convincing myself that the race was a short 10k rather than a long 5k.  I managed to pull away from Andrew, with the next kilometre taking me 4:35.  I saw a camera flash ahead and was glad that the end was near but Andrew came flying past me like a man possessed.  I chased after him and was right behind him as he crossed the line one second ahead of me in 30:49. I placed 29^th out of 65 finishers.  Both Tom and Kirsty had overtaken Eddie Dickson to place 30^th and 31^st respectively with times of 30:54 and 31:03. Garmin indicated that the race had been 6.66k long. 

Upfront Springburn Harrier Scott Partakya had placed first in 24:43 with the home club also taken the honours in the women’s race with Marlene Hunter crossing the line in 26:17.

A youngster by the name of Darren Goudie brought the great wee race to a close finishing in a time of 62:27.

All runners were awarded with a bottle of water and either 

a Tunnock’s Caramel Waver or Tea Cake as they crossed the line. With the entry cost being £2, this is what I would call a good old school type of race.  I don’t know how old/young Darren Goudie is but I do remember running cross country races when I was under 15, so if he sticks in and follows in his namesake’s footsteps he has at least another 40 years of running to look forward to. I hope that he enjoys them as much as I have. 

Thanks to all at Springburn Harriers, the best wee running club in Glasgow, for organising such a great event and to all of the marshals, supporters and running buddies, both old and new, for making the event so special.  See you all next year!

Full Results

 Springburn Harriers Canal Canter 2012

Pos No Name  Club M/F Cat  Time

1 171 Scott Partakya Springburn Harriers M Sen 00:24:43

2 147 Robert Rogerson Kirkintiloch Olympians M 50+ 00:24:50

3 154 Brian McKie Non Affiliated M 40+ 00:25:14

4 149 Mohamed Dayib Tama St Rocks Runners M U 00:25:30

5 146 Grant Cairns Springburn Harriers M Sen 00:25:38

6 139 Kevin Ferris Springburn Harriers M Sen 00:25:48

7 166 Colin McLean Springburn Harriers M 40+ 00:25:58

8 115 Marlene Hunter Springburn Harriers F 40+ 00:26:17

9 169 Gordon Jame Gallacher Kilbarchan AAC M 40+ 00:26:56

10 143 Anthony Quinn Cartha Harriers M 50+ 00:26:59

11 113 Claire McArthur Non Affiliated F Sen 00:27:07

12 142 James Lewis Springburn Harriers M Sen 00:27:15

13 141 Greg Dimmer Non Affiliated M 40+ 00:27:37

14 145 Peter Jardine VP-Glasgow M 40+ 00:27:39

15 167 Graham Allerdice Springburn Harriers M 40+ 00:27:40

16 125 Dannielle Brown Springburn Harriers F Sen 00:27:50

17 161 Graham Aitken SRC Glasgow M 40+ 00:27:52

18 104 Wendy Gorman Glasgow Triathlon Club F 40+ 00:28:18

19 170 Tony McGale Springburn Harriers M 40+ 00:28:33

20 107 Graham Lamont Springburn Harriers M 40+ 00:28:46

21 116 Clare Gemmell Springburn Harriers F 40+ 00:29:03

22 148 Shahab Samaki-Rahmat St Rocks Runners M U 00:29:07

23 150 Sion Bingham Non Affiliated M U 00:29:08

24 151 Stephen Wilson Garscube Harriers M 40+ 00:29:09

25 155 James McAveety Non Affiliated M 40+ 00:29:29

26 158 Alan Jenkins Garscube Harriers M 50+ 00:29:38

27 159 Scott Walker Non Affiliated M 40+ 00:30:32

28 164 Andrew Low Non Affiliated M Sen 00:30:49

29 156 Ian Goudie Bellahouston Harriers M 50+ 00:30:50

30 106 Thomas Keenan Bellahouston Harriers M 50+ 00:30:54

31 111 Kirsty Grant Ronhill Cambuslang F Sen 00:31:03

32 153 Eddie Dickson Springburn Harriers M 50+ 00:31:15

33 160 John Gillooly Glasgow Jogging Network M 50+ 00:32:22

34 117 Jennifer Beanie Kirkintiloch Olympians F 40+ 00:32:57

35 120 Shirley MacNab Kirkintiloch Olympians F 40+ 00:34:12

36 162 Ian MacDonald Non Affiliated M 50+ 00:34:15

37 130 Anna Bogulki Springburn Harriers F Sen 00:34:31

38 129 Jo Swinson Non Affiliated F Sen 00:34:58

39 105 Carol Keenan Bellahouston Harriers F 50+ 00:35:28

40 157 Francis Doherty Glasgow Running Network M 40+ 00:35:38

41 109 Gillian Wallis Springburn Harriers F Sen 00:36:14

42 108 Lorraine Gray Springburn Harriers F Sen 00:36:22

43 114 Jean Clews Non Affiliated F 50+ 00:37:10

44 110 Fiona Nimmo Non Affiliated F 45+ 00:37:53

45 118 Mhairi McCallum Garscube Harriers F Sen 00:38:30

46 140 George Ingles Springburn Harriers M 50+ 00:39:02

47 102 Gillian Campbell Non Affiliated F 40+ 00:39:19

48 163 David Low Non Affiliated M U 00:39:33

49 165 Malcolm Young Non Affiliated M U 00:39:44

50 126 Hazel Fisher Springburn Harriers F Sen 00:40:27

51 127 Pippa Smith Non Affiliated F 40+ 00:40:30

52 131 Marie McCready Springburn Harriers F Sen 00:40:32

53 128 Sandra McLean Non Affiliated F 40+ 00:40:35

54 119 Margo Gillooly Springburn Harriers F 40+ 00:40:40

55 168 Andrew Dunn Non Affiliated M Sen 00:41:22

56 132 Lorna Dunn Non Affiliated F Sen 00:41:22

57 134 Victoria Devoy Non Affiliated F Sen 00:44:53

58 133 Gwen Hendren Non Affiliated F 40+ 00:46:06

59 144 William Drysdale Law+District M 50+ 00:46:27

60 112 Mary Gemmell Springburn Harriers F 45+ 00:46:53

61 124 Ailsa Young Non Affiliated F Sen 00:48:13

62 122 Fiona Young Non Affiliated F 40+ 00:51:15

63 123 Allison Low Non Affiliated F 50+ 00:58:47

64 121 Jane Munroe Non Affiliated F 50+ 00:58:48

65 152 Darren Goudie St Rocks Runners M U 00:62:27

Glasgow parkrun #186

Glasgow parkrun #186, a set on Flickr.

With my 10k race on Friday and a long run scheduled for Sunday, I decided to support the many runners at the 186th Glasgow parkrun and take a few photographs of the event too.