Gerry Craig

Gerry is just back from his holiday in Singapore where he turned out for the MR25 Running Club based at Macritchie Reservoir.

Gerry was part of the team that finished 3rd in the National Cross Country Championships.  He completed the 5.2k in 19m 10s.

We'll take that as Gerry's entry for the vest competition.

Robbie was representing Killermont Primary School last week at a Cross Country competition at Boclair Academy where he led the field of 90 home to win the individual 1st and the Team 2nd place.

Well done Robbie.

Scottish Indoor League

Three of our teams have definitely qualified for the indoor final on Sunday the 18th of March with a fourth waiting for clarification.

Victoria Parks U20 ladies team qualified for the final from the AM League and should bag a healthy collection of medals between them.

City Of Glasgows U20 ladies also qualified from the PM League and this should make for a very interesting competition.

Victoria Parks U17 men are also through to the final but the fate of our U15's is in the balance.  They finished 2nd equal in the AM league with 38 points but the 3rd placed team from the PM league also scored 38 points.  My interpretation is that they have qualified.

Scottish Indoor League

The third and final round of the Indoor league took place at the Kelvin Hall on Sunday the 4th of February.

The star turn of the day, and not for the first time was Thomas Campbell who promised and then delivered two PB's in winning the U20 Pole Vault with a height of 4.15m and the High Jump with a height of 1.96m.  Jamie Sinclair followed that with his own PB of 3.85m when finishing second in the Pole Vault.

Sarah Gray also set a PB in winning the High Jump with a height of 1.52m before finishing 2nd in the 60m Hurdles in a time of 11.20s.

John Craig won the U17 60m in a time of 7.49s while Calum Innes won the 60m Hurdles in a time of 8.76s and the Long Jump with a distance of 6.12m and Gregor Innes won the U17 400m in a time of 52s.

For the U15 boys, Jax Thoirs won the 60m Hurdles in a time of 10.01s and Chris Barnes won the Shot Put with a throw of 9.79m.

For the U20 ladies, Rebecca Riches won the 60m in a time of 8.23s, Yvonne McFarlane won the 400m and Gillian Galloway was 1st in the 200m.

Our City Of Glasgow team were competing in the PM League and hopefully qualified for the final.

The pick of the crop from The U20 ladies was a win in the Long Jump from Kerry Steel with a distance of 5.30m, Eve Carrington who was 1st in the High Jump with a height of 1.55m and 1st in the 200m.  Natalie Doyle was 1st in the 60m with a time of 8.10s and Stephanie O'Neill who was 1st in the Shot Put with a throw of 7.41m.

For the U17's, Lucinda Logan was 1st in the High Jump with a height of 1.55m and 3rd in the Long Jump with a distance of 4.47m.

Apologies to all those not mentioned, I'll post a link to the official results as soon as they are posted.

Celtic Cup - Cardiff

The club was well represented at the International event in Cardiff on Saturday the 3rd of February.

David Martin won his first senior Scottish vest when winning the 400m with a time of 49.2s.

In the field, Alison Rodger won the senior womens Shot Put with a throw of 14.51m.

Alyssa Fullelove was 2nd in the 60m Hurdles with a time of 8.6s,  and Sara Whigham was 2nd in the 200m in a time of 25.5s.

Club Road Race - 1st February 07

An excellent entry of 48 athletes took part in the Club Road Race on Thursday evening.

The winners on the night were Eve Dunlop for the U11 Girls in a time of 16:44 and  Fraser Barbour for the U11 Boys in a time of 14:01. 

Iona Wilson was the winner of the U13 Girls race in a time of 15:57 and Max Aitchison won the U13 Boys race in a time of 12:23.

Corrine McConnachie was 1st in the U15 girls race with a time of 15:03 while Michael Gray won the U15 boys race in a time of 12:40.

David Law won the U17 mens race in a time of 11:53 and Martin Hayes won the U20 race in a time of 14:47.

Alan Hamilton was 1st home in the senior mens race in a time of 16:55 although that result was overturned with the handicapping which gave the result to Derek Gibb with a time of 12:10.

The full results can be found at this link.

Selection of New Vest

As a result of the amendment accepted at the IGM on Tuesday 31st January, we will be organising a new competition to select a club vest.

To keep the cost down we will try to conduct the competition on the web site, in person at the trackside and by post if required.

New designs for the vest, which may include matching shorts should be sent to Gordon Innes by post or email by Thursday the 8th of February.  Vests which were submitted as amendments to the constitution will be automatically added and need not be re submitted.

My contact details are: E-mail – gordon@vpaac.com Home – 38 Deepdene Road, Bearsden, G61 1NT

Track side – 7pm at the Kelvin Hall on Tuesday the 6th February or 7pm at Scotstoun on Thursday the 8th of February.

The nominated vests will appear on the web site by Saturday the 10th of February. For those without internet access, a hard copy will be available at the trackside, 7pm at the Kelvin Hall on Tuesday the 13th of February.

Scottish National Cross Country Championships

The Scottish Power Championships are being held at Callendar Park, Falkirk on Saturday the 10th of February.

A minibus has been booked and places are available at a cost of £2 per head.  Contact Gordon Innes if you intend to travel on the bus.

We will be leaving from the car park at Scotstoun at 10am.

Inaugural General Meeting - 31st January

The first meeting of Victoria Park City Of Glasgow AC was very well attended by members from both clubs.  As a consequence, a new web site will have to be designed and a new address chosen.  This will take up to six weeks.

I agreed with the speaker who said that our history should not hold the club back but I am just as determined that we will remember our history and hopefully add many interesting and exciting chapters.

For the majority of our juniors who attended the meeting it must have seemed like the most boring and pointless evening they have ever spent at Scotstoun.  To put things in perspective though, Victoria Park was 76 years old last year and the last surviving founder member of the club, Frank Beattie died at the age of 96.  Frank was the star turn at our 75th anniversary dinner in 2005 when everyone wanted to know how it all began.  He too, as a junior, probably failed to appreciate the significance of the decisions made that night in 1930 and that he was part of history in the making.

Some of our younger members will still be around at future anniversaries and hopefully they will be proud to say that they were there, not at the beginning but at an important turning point in the development of our club and a new chapter in our history.

The decisions made at the inaugural meeting did not affect our past, only our future, and we should feel rightly optimistic about that.

The following were elected as Office bearers and Committee members:

• President                                             Graham Smith
• Vice President                                     Susan Finch
• Secretary                                            Gordon Innes
• Assistant Secretary                            Hugh Stevenson
• Treasurer                                            David Williams / Julie McGhee
• Membership Secretary                       John Innes
• Track and Field Secretary                  Katherine Crighton / Kenny Gray
• Cross Country Secretary                   Sandra Murray / Charlie Murray
• Road Running Secretary                    Lindsay McNeill / Kenny McVey
• Welfare Officer                                   Annette Moultrie / Cathy Menzies

Committee members:  Margaret Bennett, Hilary Gossman, Christine Stoops, Iain Stephen and Douglas MacFarlane.

Club Men's Captain - Neale Kelly        Club Ladies Captain - Lisa Doyle

Junior Representatives - David Martin and Gillian Galloway

Norwich Union International

Glasgow hosted another very successful Indoor International meeting at the Kelvin Hall on Saturday the 27th of January.

It was pleasing to see that Victoria Park was once again well represented by our officials with Sheila Baillie (Field Referee), Hugh Baillie (Field Judge), Angus Cameron (Chief Starter Assistant) and Kate Whigham (Track Steward) all involved.

As part of the pre match entertainment, Scottish Athletics staged a 20-minute FASTathletics challenge between Bank of Scotland Regional squad athletes.  The competition involved teams of 14 athletes from 5 Scottish regions in three FAST and furious athletics events, the 1km, the long jump and the 4 x 200m relay.

Three Victoria Park athletes were selected for the West squad which was the winner of the team competition.

Aisling McGhee was part of the ladies 4x200m relay team that finished 2nd in a time of 1:45.01.

David Martin and Calum Innes were part of the mens 4x200m relay team that finished 2nd in a time of 1:32.70.

Indoor City Challenge

Manchester stormed to victory in the first semi-final of the UK Indoor City Challenge at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, on Sunday 21 January in a match illuminated by another Scottish triple jump record by Gillian Kerr. 

The match ended: 1 Manchester 118; 2 Glasgow 115; 3 Sheffield (defending champions) 110; 4 Newcastle 99; 5 Edinburgh 92; 6 Belfast 73.

The leading three are guaranteed places in the final at the EIS, Sheffield, on 18 February. The remaining five finalists will be determined at the second semi-final at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre on Sunday 28 January.

Victoria Park athletes were to the fore with Alison Rodger winning the Shot Put with a throw of 14.50m and Sara Whigham was 3rd in the 200m with a time of 25.26s and 4th in the 60m with a time of 7.93s.

Thomas Campbell was 5th in the High Jump with a height of 1.87m, David Martin was 2nd in the 400m with a time of 49.31s and Neale Kelly was 3rd in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.52s.

A place in the final was only secured by a great performance in the medley relay by Abbey and Aisling McGhee who finished in 3rd place in a time of 5:22.26.

Well done Team Glasgow, and good luck in the final on the 18th of February at Sheffield.

Indoor Senior Championships - Junior Relays

A decent medal haul from our senior athletes at the Indoor Championships at the Kelvin Hall on Saturday 20th of January.  Alison Rodger was our only winner but there was several excellent performances.

Chris Watson was 3rd in the final of the 1500m in a time of 3:57.03.

David Martin was 2nd in the final of the 400m in a time of 48.45.

Aisling McGhee was 4th in her heat of the 400m in a time of 1:01.04.

Neale Kelly was 4th in the final of the 60m hurdles in a time of 8.44 ahead of his club mate Liam McDermid who finished in 5th place in a time of 8.50.

Abbey McGhee was 4th in the final of the 800m in a time of 2:18.09.

Thomas Campbell was 2nd in the Pole Vault with a height of 4.10m and 4th in the High Jump with a height of 1.95m.

Fraser Gibson was 4th in the Pole Vault with a height of 3.80m, just ahead of his club mate Jamie Sinclair who finished 5th with the same height of 3.80m.

Courtney MacGuire was5th in the Pole Vault with a height of 3.40m.

Congratulations to all of our medal winners.

Indoor City Challenge

Victoria Park will be well represented at the Indoor City Challenge on Sunday the 21st of January at the Kelvin Hall.

Selected to compete for Team Glasgow are David Martin, Thomas Campbell, Neale Kelly, Alison Rodger, Sara Whigham, Abbey McGhee and Aisling McGhee.

The event starts at 12.15pm and will finish at about 4.15pm.  Entry is free for spectators so why not come along and support our athletes in what should be a great spectacle.

12 Cities from every corner of the UK will be competing to become the UK Indoor City Challenge Champion.  This will be the first semi final with teams from Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield competing to reach the final in Sheffield on Sunday the 18th of February.

The second semi final will be at Lee Valley, London on Sunday 28th of January.

Brian Donaldson is looking for kit carriers aged between 13 and 16 years of age for this event and also the Norwich Union International on Saturday 27th of January.  If you are available for either of these dates, contact Brian at this email address or speak to Gordon Innes.  T-shirts and a packed lunch will be provided.

Good luck to everyone taking part.

Chris Bennett

Chris is one of 4 athletes who have been nominated for the Daily Record Young Athlete of the Year Award which was won last year by our own David Martin.

Voting forms have already featured in the Daily Record last Saturday and will again appear this Saturday the 20th of January.

Chris has had a remarkable year, winning Gold medals at the Scottish Championships, Celtic Games and Uk School Games where he set a new Scottish record of 65.44m for the hammer throw and silver medals at the British School Games and the Ashley Kozvar Memorial throws competition in Croatia.

The other athletes nominated for this award are Sean Watson (400m), John McCafferty (high jump) and Scott Huggins (pole vault).

I think Chris deserves a leg up with this one.

Jack Crawford 10k - 13th January

Martin Hayes had an excellent run at Bishopbriggs on Saturday.  He finished 13th overall and 1st junior to finish in a time of 35:11.

Alan Hamilton was 53rd over the line in a time of 39:10.

Mark Ashby was 57th and 20th over 40 years to finish in a time of 39:28.

Rab Daly was 177th and 9th over 60 years to finish in a time of 46:54.

Christine Catterson was our only female entrant and she finished in 212th place in a time of 49:44.

295 athletes completed the course.

Inter-district Cross Country Championship - 13th of January

Max Aitchison once again made everyone connected with Victoria Park very proud by winning the U13 Inter-District Cross Country Championship in atrocious weather conditions at Holyrood Park, Edinburgh on Saturday.

Max was the individual winner of the U13 championship with a time of 13:17, one second ahead of his nearest rival in a field made up of the best 34 cross country runners from within the West, East and North Districts.  He was also a member of the winning West District team.

Max Ralston was also representing Victoria Park in the West District Team and finished in 21st place with a time of 18:11.

Well done to both athletes, it was a great achievement just to be selected for these championships.

Closed Senior Championships - 13th and 14th of January

A great turnout at the Senior Championships from Victoria Park and it was especially pleasing to see that the majority have just moved up from the U17's.  The highlights of the weekend were another 1st for Alison Rodger and David Martin in the Shot Put and 60m Hurdles respectively.

David Martin was 1st in the final of the senior mens 400m with a time of 48.68.

Aisling McGhee was 4th in her semi final of the senior womens 400m in a time of 60.86.

Gillian Galloway was 3rd in her heat of the senior womens 400m in a time of 63.49.

Yvonne MacFarlane was 4th in her heat of the senior womens 400m in a time of 68.00.

Andrew Strain was 3rd in his heat of the mens 60m with a time of 7.30.

Rebecca Riches was 4th in her heat of the 60m with a time of 8.29.

Thomas Campbell was 2nd in the senior mens Pole Vault with a height of 4.00m and 3rd in the High Jump with a height of 1.90m.

Fraser Gibson was 4th in the senior mens Pole Vault with a height of 3.70m and Jamie Sinclair was 5th with a height of 3.60m.

Alison Rodger was 1st in the senior womens Shot Put with a throw of 15.48m.

Rebecca Riches was 4th in her heat of the senior womens 200m in a time of 27.63.

Neale Kelly was 2nd in the final of the senior mens 60m hurdles in a time of 8.57 and Liam McDermid was 3rd in a time of 8.68.

Abbey McGhee was 4th in the final of the senior womens 800m in a time of 2:30.11.

Courtney MacGuire was 5th in the senior womens Pole Vault with a height of 3.10m.

West District Championships - 13th and 14th of January

Victoria Park athletes were out in force at the Kelvin Hall on Saturday and Sunday and picked up a good collection of medals.

Sean Fontana won the U17 mens 1500m in a time of 4:23.52.

Gillian MacFarlane was 3rd in the U17 womens 300m in a time of 46.28.

Jonathan Byrne-Leitch was 2nd in the U15 boys Long Jump with a distance of 4.89m and 2nd in the 200m with a time of 25.37.

Lorn Menzies was 2nd in the U17 mens 400m in a time of 53.93.

John Craig was 1st in the U17 mens 60m in a time of 7.33.

Jax Thoirs was 1st in the U15 boys 60m hurdles with a time of 9.96 and 3rd in the Long Jump with a distance of 4.78m.

Sarah Gray was 2nd in the U15 girls High Jump with a height of 1.50m and 5th in the  long jump with a distance of 4.39m.

Catherine Clark was 4th in the U15 girls High Jump with a height of 1.35m and 4th in her heat of the 200m with a time of 30.43.

Calum Innes was 1st in the U17 mens 60m hurdles with a time of 8.59 and 1st in the long jump with a distance of 6.25m.

Paul MacFarlane was 4th in his heat of the U15 boys 800m in a time of 2.36.3.

Michael Gray was 3rd in his heat of the U17 mens 800m with a time of 2:16.3.

Well done to everyone who took part.  Hopefully we'll bag a few more medals at the 200m relays next week.

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