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The Indoor League meeting on Sunday 3rd of January at the Kelvin Hall has been cancelled because of the deteriorating Road conditions.

Please pass this information on to everyone who was planning on attending.

West Highland Way

Many thanks to Peter Wilson who posted a link on the Message Board to a well edited video from 1987.

The occasion was a successful relay attempt at the West Highland Way and included many familiar names and faces including Neil Hogg, Tony Malloy, Peter Wilson, Barry McKay, Stuart Barnett (speedo), Jason Logan, David Innes and Robert Blair.

The video itself is dedicated to the memory of Wallace Crawford 1940-2000, a past Secretary of Victoria Park who remained in post for more than 25 years.

Follow this link to see the full 15 minute video.

The annual handicap Road Race was held on Saturday the 19th of December at Scotstoun.  Kenny McVey won the Mens Race round the McAndrew Course with a handicap time of 24:39 and Andrew Moreland won the Junior Race over the short two with a handicap time of 12:12.

Well done to everyone who took part and congratulations to the weather men who predicted the snow wouldn't arrive until after everyone was safely home.

Good news received on Friday the 18th of December from Scottish Athletics, the Club has successfully completed the Clubmark accreditation process.

This is just one more step in providing a safe, effective and child-friendly environment for our members.

The objectives of the Clubmark Programme are to:

• Guide clubs to achieve a set of nationally recognised minimum operating standards 
• Modernise club infrastructures
• Assist with club development planning
• Help clubs identify their aims and resource requirements

The focus of the changes within the Club have included 'Management', 'Care and Welfare' and 'Coaching'.

A great deal of work was involved in changing many of our procedures and we are very grateful to Ros Halliday who worked tirelessly to achieve our objectives.

The standards now set by the Club will continually be monitored by the Committee and it's hoped this will drive everyone on to greater success.

Christmas Road Race

Everyone is invited to take part in our Christmas Road Race on Saturday the 19th of December.  If you would like to take part, you should meet in the old Crèche at Scotstoun Sports Centre in time for a 12.30pm start.

We're hoping for a large turnout on the day with competitors aged from 9 to Masters.  It's a special event and it's not just for the endurance Athletes. 

Competitors should arrive bearing a gift for the Lucky Dip. Value in the region of £5 - £6. e.g. Selection boxes/sweets/chocolates for the younger athletes and Bottle of Wine/Box of Biscuits, etc for the adults.  Competitors and their siblings can only collect a present from the lucky dip if they donate a gift on the day.

The event is a handicap race, with the slowest athletes and those not familiar with the distance starting first.

The distances for the event will be 2 miles for the juniors and the 3 and a quarter mile McAndrew Course for the seniors.

Parents will be most welcome as are any volunteers to help with stewarding the course.

There is a great opportunity for some of the volunteers who are currently working with Victoria Park City Of Glasgow and other clubs in the area to take part in the closing ceremony at the Delhi Commonwealth Games. We are currently looking for 53 volunteers from the clubs that we are working with, who would be interested in taking part in this event next October. (All cost in terms of transport and accommodation will be covered)

Volunteers who would be considered for this opportunity would need to meet the criteria which I have listed below.

Requirements:

Good physical strength, i.e. able to lift and manipulate large props

Basic dance and movement skills

Ability to commit to required rehearsals, Orientation, Boot Camp and performance schedule: Orientation: 10 - 11 June 2010

Boot Camp: 20 September - 8 October 2010

Travel and performance in Delhi: 11 October - 15 October 2010

**18 years or over on the first day of Orientation (10 June 2010)**

High level of fitness

No medical conditions preventing exercise / physical exertion, air travel, travel vaccinations, periods in hot environments

Full UK or other passport allowing access to India, consent to any necessary security checks.

If you can identify any volunteers within your club who fit the above criteria and would like to become involved can you forward me there name, address, D.O.B and contact telephone number to me by the 20th December 10.

If you require further information please do not hesitate to contact me.  Regards, David Bickley.

If anyone is interested in the above, can they contact Gordon in the first instance and I will pass their details on to David.

West District Cross Country Championships

The annual Cross Country Championships were held on Saturday the 5th of December at the Royal Academy, Irvine this year and once again VP-Glasgow athletes were among the medals.

The U13 Girls team of Gillian Black, Emma Ferrie and Kirsty Viera finished in 3rd place.  Gillian Black had the best time of the day, finishing 8th, she completed the 3,200m course in a time of 13:38.

The U15 Girls failed to get a full team out but there was some good individual performances.  Maria Milliken was 14th to finish the 4,400m course in a time of 20:19.

The U17 Girls team of Hollie Young, Deborah Hannah and Sarah Potter finished in 1st place.  Hollie Young finished 1st overall, completing the 4,400m course in a time of 17:46.

The Senior Womens team of Nicola Hood, Rebecca Finch, Rhian Dawes and Susan Finch also finished in 1st place.  Nicola Hood had the best time of the day when finishing 2nd, she completed the 6,400m course in a time of 24:23.

The U13 Boys team of Liam Turner, Jamie Middleton and Damon Rafferty finished in 5th place.  Liam Turner finished in 3rd place, he completed the 3,200m course in a time of 11:55.

The U15 Boys team of Max Aitchison, Lewis Boyle and Kieron Rafferty finished in 2nd place.  Max Aitchison finished in 2nd place, he completed the 4,400m course in a time of 16:10.

The U17 Boys team of Marc Austin, Ethan Sloan-Dennison and Hugh MacKenzie finished in 5th place.  The best performance came from Marc Austin who finished the 6,400m course in a time of 23:26.

We failed to get a full team of Senior men out but there was some good individual performances.  Sean Fontana finished in 26th place and had a time of 34:48 for the 10,000m course.  Derek Gibb was 28th and Max Ralston was 37th.

Well done to everyone who turned out on the day and congratulations to our medalists.  The full results are available at this link.

VP-Glasgow are competing in the West District Cross Country Championships at Irvine on Saturday the 5th of December.

A minibus will be leaving Scotstoun at 0930 hrs on Saturday morning.  There are plenty of spaces and therefore no need to reserve a seat. 

Donald Wilson will be out driver for the day and the cost of the return journey will be £3.

Good luck to everyone taking part.

Dunbartonshire Cross Country Championships

The annual Championships were held at Maryhill Park on Saturday 28th of November.  VP-Glasgow athletes had an excellent day with medals won from U11 to Senior.

Jamie McKinnon was 1st to finish the 1 mile course for the U11 Boys in a time of 6:10.

Robyn Connolly was 1st U11 Girl to finish with a time of 6:19 for the 1 mile course.  She was followed home by her team-mates Emma Williams and Nicole Waters who together won 1st place in the team event.

Gillian Black was 1st in the U13 event with a time of 12:38 for the 2 mile course.  She was also part of the winning Girls team that included Millie Boyle who was 4th and Eliza Chiswell who was 5th.  Melanie Chiswell finished in 6th place only 4 seconds behind her sister.

Max Aitchison was 1st U15, finishing the 3 mile course in a time of 17:00.  Craig Young (4th) and Marc Rooney (7th) joined Max in the winning team.

Rachel Dick was 2nd for the U15 Girls with a time of 23:15, just ahead of her team-mate Iona Wilson who was 3rd with a time of 23:21.

Ethan Sloan-Dennison was 1st in the U17 3 mile event with a time of 17:01.  Marc Austin (3rd) and Paul McFarlane (5th) completed VP-Glasgow's winning team.

Amy MacLellan was 2nd in the U17 Womens event with a time of 21:33.

Sean Fontana was 1st in the Senior Mens Race over 6 miles with a time of 35:38.  Derek Gibb was 2nd in a time of 36:19.  Together they formed one half of the winning team which included Derek Watson (10th and 1st Vet) and Ian Townsend (12th).

VP-Glasgow's B team of Gerry Craig, Tom Ord, Drew Nicol and Kenny McVey finished in 10th place overall.

Well done to everyone who took park and congratulations to all of our medal winners.

The full results are available on the Garscube website, follow the link at the top of the page to downloads.

The McCain Liverpool Cross Challenge - 2009

The McCain Cross Challenge and European Trials was held on Saturday the 28th of November at Liverpool.  VP-Glasgow was well represented on the day with some excellent performances.

Beth Potter secured her Aviva GB & NI team spot for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships (Dublin, Sunday 13 December) by finishing 3rd U20 and 4th overall.

Beth completed the 4.4km course in a time of 15:58.  Nicola Hood was 18th to finish with a time of 15:53.

Abbey McGhee was 30th over the line with a time of 16:19, just ahead of Hollie Young who was 49th with a time of 1647.

Rhian Dawes was 107th to finish in the same race with a time of 18:16 and Sarah Potter was 111th with a time of 18:30.

Liam Turner was competing in the U13 Boys 3k where he finished in 14th place with a time of 11:04.

Well done to everyone who made the journey.  The full results are available at this link.

Annual General Meeting - 2009

The Annual General Meeting of the Club and our awards presentation will be held on Wednesday 25th of November 2009 in the Hillhead Sports Club, 32 Hughenden Road, Glasgow at 7.30pm.

Medals will be presented for this years Club Championships and the 2008/09 Club Road Race Championships.

All members are invited to attend.

I've attached a copy of the agenda at this link and a copy of the full Secretary's report which you will be pleased to hear will not be read out in full at the AGM.

Once again our successes as a Club are too numerous mention at the AGM and to save time I've reduced it to a tiny fraction of what is recorded here.

Club Road Race

The first of this seasons Road Races took place at Scotstoun on Wednesday 20th November in monsoon like conditions.

Max Aitchison had the fastest time of the day completing the 2 mile course in a time of 9:22.  Gillian Black was the 1st of the girls to finish with a time of 11:32.  The full results are as follows:

 

Pos:	Name:	Age:	M/F:	Time:
1st	Max Aitchison	U15	M	9:22
2nd	Lewis Boyle	U15	M	9:38
3rd	Ethan Sloan-Dennison	U17	M	9:58
4th	Craig Young	U15	M	10:17
5th	Liam Turner	U13	M	10:21
6th	Mark Rooney	U15	M	10:30
7th	Liam McLoone	U15	M	10:39
8th	Paul MacFarlane	U17	M	11:14
9th	Fraser Barbour	U15	M	11:17
10th	Jamie Middleton	U13	M	11:22
11th	Jack Moreland	U15	M	11:28
12th	Gillian Black	U13	F	11:32
13th	Ross Galbraith	U13	F	12:07
14th	Elisa Chiswell	U13	F	12:19
15th	Iona Wilson	U15	F	12:24
16th	Rachel Dick	U15	F	12:30
17th	Kirsty Viera	U13	F	12:31
18th	Robyn Connolly	U11	F	12:45
19th	Emma Ferrie	U13	F	13:14
20th	Jude Sloan-Dennison	U13	F	14:09
21st	Mariana Denton	U13	F	15:13
22nd	Thomas Connolly	U11	M	15:46
1st	Chris Sheridan	Senior	M	21:35
2nd	Kenny McVey	Vet 60	M	24:13
3rd	Rab Daly	Vet 65	M	27:30

Katie Horne (or Dunlop)

Katie sent in her apologies for the AGM as she has now officially retired from competitive athletics.  I've copied her e-mail and attached a couple of her wedding pictures.  In case your in any doubt, her new husband Keith is an 800m runner who competes for Edinburgh A.C.

Hello,
Just to let you know that I have officially retired from athletics now so to send my apologies for the AGM.  Totally loving having a lot more freedom and keeping myself busy having taken up hockey goalkeeping (I just like jumping on people with all my pads on, I don't actually know how to play hockey!) and rock climbing which I totally love and even hoping to do a 10k soon (I can run really far really slowly!). 

I've had a great last 17 years with the club and met people I would never have met and been places I would never have been if it wasn't for athletics.  Hopefully once I get a bit of the madness out my system I'll get back into coaching as I really enjoy doing that so hopefully you haven't seen (or heard...) the last of me!
 
Keith and I got married last month and I've included a couple of photos of me in a dress.  Plus our cake topper was a wee Keith and I in our club vests, Glasgow and Edinburgh united!  We had a fantastic day and looking forward to our honeymoon in New Zealand in Feb.
 
Hope you are all well and my best wishes to all at the club, here's hoping it goes from strength to strength!
 
Cheers
Katie
(Mrs Dunlop!)

I've attached a picture of Katie and Keith at this link and a picture of Katie with her bridesmaids Carey Easton and Lee McConnell at this link.

Annual General Meeting - Trophies

Could all of our current holders of Awards presented at last years AGM please return their trophies to any member of the Committee or to your Coach as soon as possible.

We would like to have these awards available at this years AGM to present to the new recipient.

McCain UK Cross Challenge

VP-Glasgow athletes took park in the UK Cross Challenge in Gateshead on Saturday the 14th of November and returned North with two prestigious medals.

Liam Turner was 1st in the U13 3,000m event with a time of 11:25.

Lewis Boyle was 7th in the U15 4,000m event with a time of 14:43 and Mark Rooney was 40th with a time of 16:55.

Beth Potter also finished in the medals, 3rd in the U20 5,000m with a time of 18:24.  Rhian Dawes finished in 21st place with a time of 21:33.

Sarah Potter was 14th to finish in the U17 5,000m with a time of 21:44.

Well done to everyone who travelled South and took part in what must have been atrocious conditions.

The full results are available at this link.

Annual General Meeting - 2009

The Annual General Meeting of the Club and our awards presentation will be held on Wednesday 25th of November 2009 in the Hillhead Sports Club, 32 Hughenden Road, Glasgow at 7.30pm.  All members are invited to attend.

The National Relays were held at Cumbernauld on Saturday 24th of October.  VP-Glasgow athletes turned out in force and narrowly missed out on team medals.  What was especially pleasing was the high number of young athletes who took part in this event.

The U13-U17 Girls A team of Gillian Black, Maria Milliken and Hollie Young finished in 6th place overall with a time of 32:51.

VP-Glasgow's C team finished in 16th place with a time of 34:56 while the B team finished in 24th place with a time of 35:32.  Our D team finished in 25th place with a time of 35:43.

The U13-U17 Boys A team of Liam Turner, Max Aitchison and Ethan Sloan-Dennison finished in 4th place with a combined time of 28:11.

VP-Glasgow's B team finished in 20th place with a time of 29:54 and our C team finished in 30th place with a time of 31:06.  Our D team finished with a time of 32:34.

Our Senior women's team of Nicola Hood, Kirsty Baird and Rhian Dawes finished in 10th place with a time of 50:47.  Nicola had the 6th fastest individual time of the day when finishing in 15:39.

Our Senior Men's team of Sean Fontana, Derek Watson, Derek Gibb and Allan Ramsay finished in 12th place with a combined time of 58:05.  Our B team finished in 72nd place with a time of 1:08:10.

Well done to everyone who took part.  The full results are available at this link.