2 weeks Ago
Perfect weather and the usual amazing atmosphere greeted the Greenock Glenpark Harriers teams heading up the short distance of the M8 to Cumbernauld House, for one of the most popular events in the XC championship calendar. The rain prior to the event gave way to cool and sunny weather, leaving the ground soft underfoot and conditions perfect for an amazing afternoon of relay racing. In the early race of the day over the shorter distance, the club's young females all had really strong performances, which meant that the contingent would place a creditable 51st out of 64 teams running.
Taking on Leg One in the Under 13 category was Orla Trainer, with a great effort over the distance to run the fastest time within the team posting a time of 13:32. Next in for the Harriers was Nuala Quigley, four seconds behind Orla’s time which meant that bringing the girls home was Under 17, Summer Taggart with a fine run in the same time, completing the team’s day with an overall 40:44. The ladies senior 'A team' was led off by Ashley Anderson, completing the first leg in a time of a respectable time of 19:04.
Ashley had a great battle round the entire four kilometre run with the club's B team first leg runner, Melissa Wilson. Both ladies went shoulder to shoulder around the course and a thrilling final climb up the last hill put Ashley just in front heading down the long stretch to the finish, going over the line three seconds ahead of Melissa who finished with a time of 19:07. Next out for the 'A team' was Evie Harrison, stepping up to the Senior race for the first time.
Evie was pleased with her run, going round the course in 18:29 and moving the team up nine places as she did so. Liz Heywood tackled Leg three, going over the line just under the 20 minute mark with a time of 19:57, and notching up a further six places. It was great to see Nicola Doohan turning out for the club once again in Leg four, running in her preferred position and doing a great job of chasing the pack down.
Nicola crossed the finish in a time of 17:29, taking five more positions, giving the team an overall finish of 35 from 73 teams. After Melissa in the B Team, Ladies Captain Lynne Harrison continues to improve her fitness and race condition after a long struggle with injury, going round in 21 minutes dead. She was followed by Kirsten Robin.
Cross Country stalwart Sarah-Jane Whalen ran the fourth leg with her usual determination in a time of 23:53, pulling in a few places to bring the team into 54th position. A last minute reshuffling of the ladies team allowed Glenpark to field a ladies 'Masters Team' of Marianne McKay, Cheryl Thomas, and Lynsey Mooney. The quartet performed really well in a very tough field, with McKay running the fastest leg in a time of 21:31, Thomas in 22:22 and Mooney with 22:53, putting the team into ninth place from 10 teams.
Finally for the ladies, Harriers had Alison Smart, Lorna Macmillan and Mary Robinson making up an over 50's team, with Macmillan running an outstanding race in just 26:14. Alison fell just outside the sub 30 with a time of 30:37 and a good run from Robinson in 31:16 put the team into 11th from 12 with a total time of 1:28:08. In the men's race, the 'A Team' was led off by Club Meritorious winner John Logan – amazingly, running his first XC for the club.
Logan is used to running much longer distances, but took to the fast, hard effort really well with a remarkable time of 14:34 over the distance before handing over to Chris Mooney for the second leg. Chris is another Harrier who has really been upping the training, and it showed as he brought the leg over the line with 16:17 on the clock. Next up for Leg three as another newbie, in Andrew Blair.
He put in a great shift at 16 minutes dead and moving the club up three places. Another notable Ultra Runner, William Taylor was handed the unenviable task of going out in fourth and he did really well to hold on for at time of 17:28, finishing the Glenpark effort in a total time of 1:04:21 and 61st from 115 teams. Harriers' 'B Team' was subject to some last minute shuffling of names and start orders due to some call-offs.
Leading off in Leg One with a great run was over 65's runner Micky Dunn – a particularly notable effort as Dunn hadn’t run since the Glasgow Half Marathon and was carrying an injury to his calf. Graham McGrattan picked up second leg and put in an amazing 19:24 round the 4k route, pulling the club up eight places in the process. Coach Alan took over, and despite being disappointed with his time of 20:01 also managed to take another eight places off.
Another Cross Country stalwart, Gerry Gallacher’s time of 20:16 also pushed the Harriers team up a further six places in the leader board, finishing in 88th position with a time of 1:19:49. The late call offs meant Stuart Crawford had to take on the first leg of an incomplete team, but that didn’t mean he put in any less of an effort, with a great showing at 21:58. The final team for Glenpark was their men's over 50's, which is becoming quite an exciting age category for the club.
Leading out, Stevie Campbell put in an absolutely amazing effort to bring the first leg home in a time of 15:05, only 40 seconds off the overall lead in the category, and third place for the team at that point in the afternoon. A brilliant tactical run from Stevie, using the course and the conditions to move through the pack, and his time would end up putting him in the top ten overall for the group. Neither of the following pair of Gavin Morrison in second leg or Stephen Harrison in third could hold the placing.
But Morrison ran really well after coming back from illness, with a steady 16:51 holding the team to 5th; Harrison ran a personal best for the course in his least favourite type of racing, bringing the team home in seventh place from 25 teams and a time of 49:16 overall..
