VPAAC Cross Country Championships

The Senior Cross Country Championship will take place on Saturday 11th February at 1200 hours.  The meeting point will be near to Douglas Academy in Clober Road, Milngavie.

The Junior Cross Country Championship will now take place on Saturday 4th March at 1200 hours.  The meeting point will also be near to Douglas Academy, Clober Road, Milngavie.

We're hoping for a large turnout of Juniors on the 4th of March, mark the date in your diary now.
 

Glasgow City Council Open Graded Meeting - Kelvin Hall - Wednesday 15th February

Hammer Coaching Workshop - Sunday 12th February

DM Hall Scottish Indoor Championships 2006

Day two of the indoor age group Championships provided our first and only winner of the weekend.  Colin Severin was 1st in the U20 mens 60m final in a time of 6.96.

Courtney MacGuire was 2nd in the U17 ladies Pole Vault with a height of 3.30m.

Abbey McGhee finished 3rd in the U17 ladies 800m final in a time of 2:18.5.

Jamie Sinclair was 3rd in the U17 mens Pole Vault with a height of 3.40m.

Katie Riches was 3rd in the U17 ladies Triple Jump with a distance of 9.37m.

Congratulations to all of our medallists and commiserations to all of the other athletes who represented the Club over the weekend. 

There was 16 seasons best performances this weekend and Kenny Gray has updated the spreadsheet to show your improvement.  Give it a look at this link.

The full results for day two can be found here.

DM Hall Scottish Indoor Championships 2006

Day one of the indoor age group Championships finished with two second places and a third place for Victoria Park boys.

John Craig finished 2nd in the final of the U15 boys 60m in a time of 7.61.

Jonathan Byrne Leitch was 2nd in the final of the U15 boys 200m in a time of 25.58.

Max Aitchison was 3rd in the final of the U13 boys 800m in a time of 2:29.43.

Sarah Gray finished just out of the medals in 4th place in a field of 32 in the U13 girls long jump with a distance of 4.16m.

Congratulations to our medal winners, hopefully more medals will follow on day two of the Championships.

Calendar for February 06

All of the junior athletes training venues are shown in Blue.  Rickys sprint group training venues are shown in Red.

DESPITE THEIR FAILURE to qualify for next month’s final, there was plenty to cheer for Edinburgh and Glasgow at the Indoor City Challenge semi-final at Sportcity, Manchester on Sunday.

Glasgow enjoyed individual victories by John Carr (long jump – 6.92m), Kevin Kane (800m – 1:53.24) and Gillian Kerr (triple jump – 12.29m) and a PB of 15.29m from Alison Rodger (pictured) who was third in the shot.

Meanwhile Edinburgh could take great satisfaction from victories by Kirsty Maguire (pole vault – 4.00m) and Jude Beimers (triple jump – 15.09).

MATCH RESULT
1. London North 114 points; 2 Birmingham 111; 3 London South 104; 4 Glasgow 101; 5 Belfast 86; 6 Edinburgh 72. The leading three teams go through to the final at the EIS, Sheffield, on 19 February.

 

Scotstoun Track - Wrist Band Inspections

There will be a general tightening up of wrist band inspections at Scotstoun Track. 

On Thursday 26th January, 25 people paid to use the track (including TSP card holders).  During that evening there were at least 100 people who were using the track. I would encourage all club officials and coaches to make sure that the athletes they are working with have paid and possess a relevant wrist band, otherwise they will be asked to leave the track immediately in order to purchase the required band.

I realise that athletes/coaches/clubs and the facility management all have a role to play in ensuring that people pay for the use of the facility. With the new management regime in Scotstoun I am hopeful this issue will be resolved, once and for all.  In the mean time the chronic lack of payment for the facility use, continues to create a problem for the hopes and aspirations that the Glasgow Athletics Association have when entering into discussion with Glasgow City Council.

Hopefully we can all work to ensure the correct usage figures are being entered into the system.
 

Brian Donaldson
Athletics Coach and Development Officer

Buchlyvie 10k - Saturday 28th January

Only three Victoria Park athletes took part in the 10K at Buchlyvie on Saturday in a field of over 350.

Gerry Craig was 12th in a time of 36:41

Kenny McVey (pictured right) was 42nd in a time of 40:30

Ronnie Johnstone was 58th in a time of 42:51

The race which started at 1.30pm was to raise cash in aid of The Buchlyvie Village Funds.

New Club Tracksuits

The first batch of our new tracksuits has arrived.  Gordon will be in the Pavilion at Scotstoun on Tuesday and Thursday from 6.45pm with a range of sizes.

The price of the tracksuits and rain jackets has been discounted with the additional expense coming from the funds raised by bag packing last year at Sainsbury's.

There are two options available.  Nike tracksuits (right) priced at £20 in children's sizes and £25 in adult sizes and a Nike rain jacket priced at £12 in Children's sizes and £15 in adult sizes.

A second order of kit will be placed at the end of this week with delivery expected within a fortnight.

To see the tracksuits and rain jackets, follow this link.

Daily Record, Young Athlete Of The Year Award  (From The Daily Record 27th January)

David Martin (Victoria Park) and Jo Finch were last night named Daily Record Young Athletes of the Year. Our search for the best of Scotland's rising track and field talent drew an overwhelming response with readers voting in record numbers.

The Glasgow 17 year olds will collect their awards in their home city tomorrow as part of a VIP day out at the Norwich Union International match at the Kelvin Hall.

Middle distance star Finch was runner-up in the girls' vote last year The City of Glasgow Club member said "It was disappointing to miss out last time but this really makes up for it."

The £500 Daily Record training grant comes just at the right time for Finch. She will move to the US later this year to train with Margo Jennings who guided Kelly Holmes to double Olympic gold. Finch said, "the money will really help out with the costs of travel to events and training."

Martin, of the Victoria Park Club has risen to No. 2 on the all-time Scottish Junior 400 metres hurdles rankings over the last 12 months.

He said, "This has come as a surprise but it's a really big boost to my confidence."

Martin added his prize has fuelled his desire to match the achievements of idol Colin Jackson who gave him a masterclass last spring as part of the Spar Sprints Initiative. He said, "Colin taught me a lot. Hopefully, I can go on and emulate him."

How the voting counted:-

David Martin 65% Scott Hughson 15% Conor McNulty 14% Jude Beimers 6%

Jo Finch 42% Jade Nimmo 32% Natalie Doyle 23% Nomy Mordi 3%

Congratulations David, once again a credit to Victoria Park.

Scotland International Team - National Indoor Athletics Centre, Cardiff.

Joanna Ross (800m) and Alison Rodger (shot putt) have been selected to represent Scotland at next weekend’s Jeff White Indoor International at the National Indoor Athletics Centre, Cardiff on Sunday 5 February.

The full team is listed here.

This Seasons PB's.

Kenny and Michael Gray have been recording all of the Personal Best performances by our Junior athletes on an Excel spreadsheet and they can now be viewed on this link.

There is also a link on the left of this news page and in the drop down menu to allow you to follow your progress over the season.

Senior Championships - Sunday 22nd January 2006

Joanna Ross and Alison Rodger were a class apart from their fellow athletes at the Scottish Senior Championships on Sunday.  Both athletes had memorable performances on a great day for Victoria Park Ladies.

Joanna was 1st in the 800m with a time of 2.04.27 which is a new Scottish Native Record.  Joanna led from the first bend and appeared to be racing against the clock, in a race which she most certainly won.  The old record was set in Glasgow in January 1989 by Karen Hutcheson.  Joanna's new record is only a quarter of a second outside of Yvonne Murrays Scottish National Record which was set in Budapest in February 1987.

Alison finished 2nd in the Shot Putt to Eva Massey of Ireland with a throw of 14.83m which like Joanna is a new Scottish Native Record.  The existing record was set back in February 1987 by Mary Anderson.  I'm afraid I missed the record breaking throw but I'm led to believe that Alison's celebrations left everyone in no doubt that something had been broken.

Sunday's records are a magnificent achievement for both athletes.  I know that everyone connected with the Club will be talking about their success as if they were first cousins.

Congratulations Ladies.

One other success at the Championships was Lisa Whigham Doyle who finished 3rd in the 400m final in a time of 56.15.

Colin Severin reached the final of the 60m and finished 6th in a time of 7.12.  Jamie Sinclair finished 5th in his first senior pole vault with a new PB of 3.40m and Courtney MacGuire finished 4th in the Ladies Pole Vault with a height of 3.30m.

The full results can be found at this link.

Junior Relay Championships - Sunday 22nd January

Victoria Park had another successful day at the Kelvin Hall on Sunday with three of their six 4x200m relay teams picking up medals.

The best result of the day went to the U17 Ladies who finished 2nd in the final to City Of Glasgow in a time of 1.46.96.  The team of Rebecca Riches, Aisling McGhee, Gillian Galloway and Courtney MacGuire worked hard for their 2nd place ahead of thirteen other teams.

The U17 Men finished 3rd in a bruising but exciting final behind City Of Edinburgh and Giffnock North.  This was the first time that the Kelvin Hall crowd had witnessed the Aussie Rules version of the 4x200m but it had them on their feet and clearly expecting more of the same at the final of the Indoor League on the 12th of March.  The team of Lorn Menzies, Gregor Innes, Carlo Pontini and Calum Innes finished in a time of 1.37.38.

The U15 Boys were unlucky to finish 3rd in a final where the winners, Giffnock North set a new Scottish Native Record.  The team of John Craig, Max Martin, Jax Thoirs and Jonathan Byrne Leitch finished in a time of 1.45.11 in a very exciting final.

Congratulations to all of the medal winners and special thanks to all of our athletes who came along and took part on the day.

The full results can be found at this link.

Club Road Race - Thursday 19th January

34 Athletes took part in the latest Club Road Race.  Many PB's were set on an exciting night which ended in a dead heat for the U11 Girls.  Well done to all of those who are more comfortable with the shorter distances who took part and supported their team-mates.

The Jack Crawford 10K Springburn Cup - 14th January

The senior men were out again at the Jack Crawford on Saturday 14th January.  Hosted by Springburn Harriers and supported by British Waterways.

The race began at the Bishopbriggs Sports Centre and followed the tow path along the Forth and Clyde Canal for 10k.

Gerry Craig was 36th in a time of 36.45 minutes.

Kenny McVey was 87th in a time of 39.56 (10th Vet over 50)

Rab Daly (pictured) was one of the first home among the over 60 Vets but we don't have his official time.

Nigel Barge Road Race - 7th January

The Senior men were in action on Saturday the 7th in the Garscube Estate in the Annual Nigel Barge Memorial hosted as usual by Maryhill Harriers.

Gerry Craig finished in 37th place in a time of 35.00 mins

Mark Ashby was 64th in a time of 36.47 (10th Vet over 40)

Kenny McVey was 90th in a time of 38.36 (4th Vet over 55)

Rab Daly was 138th in a time of 42.21 (5th Vet over 60)

The full results can be found on the Maryhill Harriers web site.

West District Championships - 14th and 15th of January

Victoria Park Athletes had mixed fortunes at the West District Championships.  With several top athletes missing through injury we were still able to muster 6 first places and a string of personal best performances.  Congratulations to all of the medal winners.

Calum Innes was 1st in the U17 Men's Long Jump with a distance of 6.12m and 2nd in the U17 200m with a time of 24.16.

Aisling McGhee was 1st in the U17 Women's 300m with a time of 42.71.

Alison Rodger was 1st in the Senior Women's Shot Putt with a throw of 14.??m.

John Craig was 1st in the U15 Boys 60m with a time of 7.59.

Courtney MacGuire was 1st in the U17 Women's Pole Vault with a height of 3.20m

Lisa Whigham Doyle was 1st in the Senior Women's 400m with a time of 55.97 and was 2nd in the 200m with a time of 24.98.

Thomas Campbell was 2nd in the Senior Men's High Jump with a height of 1.90m and 2nd in the Pole Vault with a height of 3.60m.

Jax Thoirs was 2nd in the U15 Boys Long Jump with a distance of 4.84m and 3rd in the U15 60m Hurdles in a time of 10.35.

Max Aitchison was 2nd in the U13 Boys 800m in a time of 2.31.07.

Abbey McGhee was 2nd in the U17 Women's 800m in a time of 2.23.89.

Rebecca Riches was 2nd in the U17 Women's 60m in a time of 8.29.

Jamie Sinclair was 2nd in the U17 Men's Pole Vault with a height of 3.20m.

Joanna Ross was 2nd in the East District Women's 800m with a time of 2.06.79.

Rebecca Kay was 3rd in the U17 Women's Shot Putt with a throw of 7.79m.

Sarah Gray was 3rd in the U15 Girls Long Jump with a distance of 3.97m.

Colin Severin was 3rd in the Senior Men's 60m in a time of 7.00.

Sara Whigham was 3rd in the Senior Women's 200m with a time of 25.13.

At the time of posting, there was errors and omissions on the results pages at the Scottish Athletics web site.  I'll update the results as soon as they are available.

To see the full results, follow this link.

Special General Meeting - Thursday 12th January

There was a large turnout for our SGM on Thursday at the Pavilion, Scotstoun.  The voting members of the Club overwhelmingly supported the changes to the Constitution which had been recommended by John Innes.

A full copy of the new Constitution can be seen at this link and in future will be found in the menu under club/constitution.

Indoor League, Match 3 - (Final Qualifying) Sunday 8th January

The unscrutinised results have arrived and can be viewed at this link. 

5 of Victoria Park's teams have qualified for the final on the 12th of March.  Over 40 Clubs from all over Scotland took part in the 3 qualifying Matches at the Kelvin Hall over the winter and only one Club has more teams in the final than Victoria Park.

Well done to everyone who took part, it's a great achievement for a relatively small Club like ours to have so many teams in the final.

Calendar for January 06

All of the junior athletes training venues are shown in Orange.  Rickys sprint group training venues are shown in Green.

As you can see, the Junior Relay Championships are on Sunday the 22nd of January.  The format for all age groups is 4x200 metres.  If you are available for selection, please notify your coach or team manager.

Contact From An Old Member

David Adam contacted the Club on behalf of his father Jimmy Adam to say hello. He decided to look up his old Athletic Club on the internet and found the web site.  Jimmy ran for Victoria Park in the 1940's as a junior and did exceptionally well.  He sent in this photo from the 1946 season and the team are the Junior 1/2 mile, mile and relay champions.  Jimmy is the tall one on the right. He was about 17 at the time.  He was very interested in the club history from 1930 to 1970.

Jimmy joined in 1946 having been encouraged by Peter Morrison and he remembers a lot of the names like the Forbes brothers and Alex Breckenridge amongst others. He himself is a life member but has obviously lost touch through various moves over the years. He was made a life member after winning an event in Birmingham.  We think he left the club around about 1952.

Death of Chick Forbes

We received the sad news yesterday, Thursday the 22nd, that Charles Forbes died aged 80 at Greenbank Nursing Home, Irvine.  Chick as he was known, was a Life Member of Victoria Park.

Chick and his brother Andy were members of the famous Victoria Park Relay team that in 1952 became the only Club outside of England to win the English National Cross-Country Championship.  The other members of that winning team were John Stirling, Ronnie Kane, Jimmy Ellis and Ian Binnie.

He had been ill for some time and was unable to attend the 75th Anniversary Dinner but we are reliably informed that he enjoyed having the signed menu cards read out to him.  His former team mates spoke very fondly of him and he was greatly missed on the night.

We have sent a message of condolence from the Club to Chick's daughter Rosalind Dunn and her husband Steve, but should anyone wish to send their own personal message, please contact Gordon Innes for their current address.

His funeral has been arranged for Thursday the 29th December 2005 at 3 P.M. at Holmsford Bridge Crematorium, by Dreghorn, Irvine.  An announcement has been placed in the Glasgow Herald and the Scotsman stating "all friends respectfully invited".

An obituary will appear in The Herald this week.

Jigsaw Puzzles

Follow this link and try out our jigsaw puzzles.  More familiar faces of course.

A4 Poster

Scotstoun Leisure Centre have agreed to display a new poster advertising the Club Web Site.  Copies can be downloaded here if your local school, Sports Centre or other suitable location is agreeable to it's display.

Copies can also be obtained from Gordon or Linda.

Previous versions of the news page are archived below.

  Visitors since March 2005.