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John Ward

We received the sad news that John Ward had passed away on Thursday the 9th of April at Gartnavel Hospital. 

John and his late wife June were coaches and office bearers of Victoria Park Ladies section from 1970 till 1985.

Our thoughts are with his children, Brian, Avril, Angela and Heather.

The funeral service will be at Clydebank Crematorium, North Dalnottar on Thursday 16th of April at 10am.

All family and friends are invited.

Bank Of Scotland Hammer Grand Prix

Round 1 of the Hammer Grand Prix was held at Grangemouth on Saturday the 11th of April.  Chris Bennett set a new Club record for the Hammer with a distance of 59.84m.

Katie Horne and Claire Cameron were competing with the 4kg Hammer when they achieved respective distances of 46.41m and 28.27m.

Congratulations to Chris.  Round 2 of the Hammer Grand Prix will be held at Grangemouth Stadium on the 16th of May.

David Williams

We received the sad news on Tuesday the 7th of March that after a long and courageous fight, David Williams has lost his battle against cancer.  He passed away in a clinic near Munich where he had been receiving treatment.

David had been the City Of Glasgow AC treasurer for many years prior to the merger and continued in that roll with VP-Glasgow.

He made a tremendous contribution to the running of our Club over the years, generously giving many hours of unpaid service and his knowledge and experience will be greatly missed.

Our thoughts are with his wife Phyllis at this sad time.

Scottish Athletics Road Relay Championships

The 4 and 6 stage Road Relay Championships were held on Saturday the 4th of April at Livingston this year.

Our Womens 'A' team finished in 13th place in a field of over 30 teams.  Jacqui Thomson completed the first 3.15m leg in a time of 20:13, Donna Finlayson finished the 5.8m leg in a time of 37:33, Kirsty Baird completed the short third leg in a time of 22.02 and Christine Catterson finished her long leg in a time of 41:42.

Our Mens 'A' team finished in 15th place from a field of over 50 teams.  Alternating the short 3.15m leg and the 5.8m long leg, Sean Fontana completed leg one in a time of 17:24, Martin Hayes followed in a time of 33:42, Derek Watson finished in a time of 17:36, Derek Gibb was 34:00, Iain Townsend was 17:57 and Allan Ramsay finished in a time of 32:23.

The incomplete 'B' team finished in times of 19:36 for Ken Mitchell, 37:03 for Duncan Thomson, 20:59 for Kenny McVey and 35:34 for Gerry Craig.

Well done to everyone who took part.

Alloa Half Marathon

The 27th Alloa Half Marathon was held on Sunday the 22nd of March.  The annual event was once again hosted by the Alloa Road Table.  Only two of our athletes turned out for the event.

Gerry Craig was 50th overall and 10th Male Vet over 40, finishing in a time of 1:22:10. 

Mark Ashby was 110th overall and 12th Male Vet over 45, finishing in a time of 1:27.28.

National Road Race Championships

The Road Race Championships were held at the John Wright Sports Centre on Sunday the 22nd of March.  VP-Glasgow athletes enjoyed team and individual success.

The U13 Boys won the team event and Lewis Boyle carried off the individual gold with a time of 10:19 for the 3,000m course.  The other U13 boys were Liam Turner (4th), Marc Rooney (7th), Kieran Rafferty (25th), Jamie Middleton (29th), Jack Moreland (33rd) and Murray Sim (60th).

The U13 Girls team finished in 7th place with fine individual performances from Gillian Black (25th) in a time of 12:30 over the 3,000m course, Eliza Chiswell (28th), Melanie Chiswell (36th), Millie Boyle (43rd), Iona Wilson (62nd), Emma Ferrie (63rd) and Fiona Boyd (67th).

The U15 girls team finished in 5th place overall with Deborah Hannah narrowly missing out on an individual medal by finishing 4th in a time of 16:37 for the 4,500m course.  Also competing was Amy McLellan (12th) and Maria Milliken (27th).

The U15 boys didn't have a full team but they gave a good account of themselves over the 4,500m course.  Craig Young was 9th with a time of 15:32 and Paul MacFarlane was 33rd with a time of 16:56.

Hollie Young won the U15 race over the 4,500m course with a time of 15:57 while Michaela Stephen finished in 6th place with a time of 17:35.

Rebecca Finch was our only U20 woman competing and she finished in 2nd place with an excellent time of 21:47 over the 6,000m course.

Sean Fontana was our only representative in the U20 mans race, finishing 19th in a time of 26:29 over the 7,500m course.

Well done to everyone who turned out to represent the Club.  The full results are available at this link.

Scottish Athletics Indoor League - Final

The full results of the Indoor final at the Kelvin Hall on the 15th of March are available at this link.  2 VP-Glasgow athletes set new League Records on the day.

Erin Halliday set a new record for the U11 60m with a time of 9.14s and Calum Innes set a new record for the U20 60m Hurdles with a time of 8.28s.

Congratulations to our new record breakers.

Club Road Race Series

The result of the winter Road Race series is recorded below.  Over the three races, 5 points was awarded for a win and 1 point for 5th place.

Club Road Race

The 3rd and last of this seasons Club Road Races was held at Scotstoun on Thursday the 19th of March.

Holly Little was 1st among the U11 Girls, with Rachel Dick 1st for the U13 Girls and Maria Milliken 1st for the U15 Girls.  Hamish Glass was 1st for the U11 Boys, Lewis Boyle was 1st for the U13 Boys and Craig Young narrowly missed out on breaking the 10 minute barrier when winning the U15 race.

Place	Name	Age	Time
2nd	Holly Little	U11	12.25
3rd	Emma Ferrie	U11	12.46
4th	Robyn Connolly	U11	13.21
1st	Hamish Glass	U11	21.15
1st	Rachel Dick	U13	12.21
2nd	Iona Wilson	U13	12.53
3rd	Jude Sloan-Dennison	U13	15.25
4th	Sylvia Bremner	U13	15.34
1st	Lewis Boyle	U13	10.04
2nd	Liam Turner	U13	10.25
3rd	Mark Rooney	U13	10.26
4th	James Finlay	U13	10.32
5th	Fraser Barbour	U13	11.15
6th	Murray Sim	U13	11.18
7th	Jack Moreland	U13	11.19
8th	Fraser Glass	U13	12.07
1st	Maria Milliken	U15	11.22
2nd	Charlotte Gibson	U15	15.34
1st	Craig Young	U15	10.01
2nd	Paul McFarlane	U15	10.48
1st	Sandra Branney	Snr	34.12
1st	Francis Gilroy	Snr	33.50
	Kenny McVey	Snr	36.01

Well done to everyone who took part and a special thanks to our Marshals and Timekeepers who braved the cold weather.

National Young Athletes Road Relay Race

The Road Relay Championships will be held at the John Wright Sports Centre, East Kilbride on Sunday the 22nd of March.

A minibus will be leaving Scotstoun car park at 0930 hrs on Sunday morning.  Anyone requiring a lift should meet Gordon there.

Indoor League Final

The final was held as usual at the Kelvin Hall Indoor Arena on Sunday the 15th of March.  VP-Glasgow had five teams in the final and numerous entries in the 4x200m relay.

Our U11 Girls team finished in 2nd place on the day with wins for Erin Halliday in the 60m and Robyn Connolly in the 600m.

The U13 Boys team also finished in 2nd place with PB's for Liam Turner, 2:23.95 in the 800m and Jamie Middleton, 11.96s in the 60m Hurdles.

The U15 Boys team finished in 2nd place overall with two PB's for Steven Thistleton, 1.5m in the High Jump and 4.70m in the Long Jump.

The U17 Men missed out on a medal when finishing in 4th place in the Final.  Andy McFarlane won the 200m.

The U20 Men were our only team winners on the day with individual wins for David Clark in the 60m and 200m, Calum Innes in the 60m Hurdles and the Long Jump, Usman Ashraf in the 400m and Alan Ramsay in the 800m.

Relays

In the 4x200m relay competition, Our U11 girls were 2nd in the final in a time of 2:15.00 and our U15 girls were also 2nd in a time of 1:53.19.

The U13 Boys were 2nd in their final with a time of 2:00.22 and the U17 Men were 2nd with a time of 1:36.17.  The U20 Men were also 2nd in their final with a time of 1:31.43.

Well done to everyone who took part in this years indoor league.  It was especially pleasing to see so many U11's and U13's taking part on the day.

Club Road Race - Postponed

Due to a hectic schedule of Schools Cross Country Races and the Indoor League Final this weekend we have decided to postpone the Club Road Race which was planned for Thursday the 12th of March.

The Race will now take place at Scotstoun on Thursday the 19th of March.

England Athletics - Combined Events

The age group Championships were held at the EIS in Sheffield on Saturday the 7th and Sunday the 8th of March.

Andy McFarlane won the U17 Bronze medal with some excellent performances in his first Heptathlon.  He achieved PB's in the Shot Putt with a distance of 11.58m, the Pole Vault 2.91m and the 1,000m where he recorded a time of 2:53.81.

Andy is currently ranked at number one in the UK for the Pentathlon.

Inter Counties Championships

The Inter Counties Championships were held at Wollaton Park Nottingham on Saturday the 7th of March 2009.

Beth Potter was representing Scotland West and finished in 5th place overall in the U20 race with a time of 23:13.

Beth was part of the winning team that included her Club-mates Jo Moultrie who was 7th in a time of 23:27 and Nicola Hood who was 8th in a time of 23:32.

Hollie Young was also representing Scotland West when she finished in 19th place in the U17 race in a time of 19:36.

The full results are available at this link.

Club Tracksuits

The last of our supply of 250 Club tracksuits has now been exhausted and we will have to wait until early summer to learn if it will be replenished.

We are very grateful to Katie and all her staff at Achilles Heel for holding the stock and distributing it among our members.

I'll let everyone know through the website if and when we receive another supply.

Sprint Group Introductory Sessions, Spring 2009

Following on from the introductory sessions the group ran in the autumn, this block of sessions work on introducing and developing the Sprint Start.  The first session is on the 19th of March.

The sessions will be held at the Kelvin Hall, and start promptly at 7-00 pm, meeting at the 60m start line. The Kelvin Hall reception can be very busy at this time so we would suggest arriving at 6-50pm.

• Session details

• Introduction

• Warm-up with Sprint Group.

• Sprint specific drills.

• 4 x 60m build ups.

• Sprint session.  (See below)

• Warm down with sprint group.

• (Informal Q&A with athletes/coaches/parents)

Week

1          19th March - Standing start; Falling Start; Reaction Drills

2          26th March - 3 point Start; Crouch Start; Medicine Ball starts

3          2nd April - Crouch start; Introduction to Blocks. Demo of block starts & coaching methods

 Reaction drills

            Flat on track

            Kneeling on track

            Kneeling on track fall forwards

Split of arms

More information is available on this word document about sprint start techniques.

Coaches Wanted - Spring Holiday Programme

The GAA are looking for athletes with a coaching award who can deliver the GAA Easter Holiday programme for Spring 2009. Payment will be £7.00 per hour and the minimum of 17.5 hours each week.

It is preferred if the Athletes have a level 2 Coaching Award but will accept a level 1 Coaching Award.

If you would like to be involved, you should contact Brian Donaldson and he will arrange a training evening lead by Stuart Grieve on the evening of Friday 3rd April.

The GAA will require a minimum of 12 coaches to deliver this programme.  Without coaches the Holiday Programme will not be delivered.

Scotstoun Stadium

The new stadium appears to be on schedule for a September opening.

As you can see, the roof is now on the main stand and work is progressing also on the new stand on the back straight.

It looks like the long wait will soon be over.

Masters Championships

The Masters Championships were once again held at the Kelvin Hall on the 21st of February and VP-Glasgow was well represented.

Jimmy Christie was 1st in the Shot Putt in the M75 category with a distance of 5.06m.

Jill Dinsmore was 1st in the Long Jump in the F40 category with a distance of 4.22m and 1st in the Triple Jump with a distance of 9.18m.

Sandra Branney was 1st in the F50 1500m with a time of 5:03.82 and 2nd in the 800m with a time of 2:36.00.

Derek Watson was 2nd in the M45 400m with a time of 56.37s and 3rd in the 800m with a time of 2:12.77.

Claire Cameron was 1st in the F50 Shot Putt with a distance of 11.27.

The full results are available at this link.

Combined Events

At this years Combined Events Championship at the Kelvin Hall on the 21st of February, Andy McFarlane won Gold with excellent performances over the five events.

Andy achieved 3 personal bests on the day with 8.40s for the 60m Hurdles, 6.38m for the Long Jump and 10.96m for the Shot Putt.

Eilidh McEvilly was 2nd in the U15 Girls event.  Eilidh achieved 3 personal bests on the day which included 10.23s for the 60m Hurdles, 1.51m for the High Jump and 2:45.94 for the 800m.

Erin Crichton was our only other representative and she finished in 9th place in the U13 Girls.  Erin achieved PB's in the 60m Hurdles where she clocked 12.37s and in the High Jump where she cleared 1.29m.

Great effort.

Susan Scott

Susan was 2nd at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham on the 21st of February.  She clocked a time of 4:09.55 over 1500m which is inside the guideline time for the European Championships in Turin next month.

The Championships will be held between the 6th and 8th of March.

Death of Sandra McCracken

We received the sad news this week of the death of Sandra McCracken at the age of 63, wife of one of our most popular Coaches, Andy McCracken.

Sandra was heavily involved with Victoria Park AAC behind the scenes for over ten years.  She helped out with admin tasks, scoring at league meetings and she raised funds by operating a Club tuck shop in the Pavilion at Scotstoun.  Both Sandra and Andy, who coached our middle distance athletes until he retired two years ago followed their daughter Eileen into the sport.

Sandra's funeral will be at Woodside Crematorium in Paisley at 9.30am on Saturday 28th of February.

National Cross Country Championships

VP-Glasgow athletes returned from the Cross Country Championships at Callendar Park, Falkirk on the 21st of February with a barrow load of medals.  Our U13 Boys, U17 Women and U20 Women all returned home with team Gold medals.

Our U13 Boys team of Lewis Boyle, Fraser Barbour, James Finlay and Liam Turner won Team Gold and an individual Silver for Lewis Boyle who completed the course in a time of 12:10.  The non scoring athletes competing were Kieron Rafferty, Murray Sim, Jack Moreland, Jamie Middleton and Marc Rooney.

The U13 Girls team of Georgia Callander, Rachel Dick, Iona Wilson and Eliza Chiswell finished in 8th place.  Georgia Callander was 5th overall to finish in a time of 14:13.  Anna Cunningham retired injured.

The U15 Boys team of Max Aitchison, Craig Young, Miro Ralston and Hugh MacKenzie finished in 2nd place.  Paul MacFarlane was our non scoring athlete.

Our U15 Girls team was an athlete short but individually Deborah Hannah was 13th, Amy MacLellan was 24th and Maria Milliken was 27th.

Our U17 Women's team of Beth Potter, Hollie Young and Rhian Dawes won team Gold.  Beth also won the individual Gold with an excellent time of 15:59.  Sarah Potter 33rd and Michaela Stephen 46th were our non scoring athletes.

Our U20 Women's team of Nicola Hood, Jo Moultrie and Abbey McGhee also won team Gold. Nicola was the winner of the individual Gold medal and Jo followed her onto the podium to collect individual Bronze.  Rebecca Finch 22nd was our non scoring athlete.

The Senior Women's team of Lindsay MacNeill, Kirsteen Young and Jacqui Thomson won team Bronze.  Donna Finlayson 29th and Christine Catterson 89th were our non scoring athletes.

Allan Ramsay was our only U20 man to compete and he finished in 9th place with a time of 27:07.

Only three senior men completed the course, Gerry Craig was 184th to finish in a time of 47:13, Ken Mitchell was 187th with a time of 47:23 and Kenny McVey was 352nd with a time of 55:28.

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