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Well done to everyone who helped with the bag packing at Braehead on Saturday the 24th of November.  It was a great turnout of athletes, coaches, parents and supporters (over 70). 

The final total of cash donations is in excess of £1,700.

All of the adults present were very proud of the way our younger athletes conducted themselves and the number of compliments received from customers was heartening.

Your efforts made it another great day for the Club.  Well done.

VP-Glasgow were well represented at the Harriers, Open Cross Country on Sunday 11th of November.

Hollie Young was 2nd in the U15 race and completed the 3,260m course in a time of 19:31, ahead of her team-mate Michaela Stephen who was 3rd in a time of 20:11.

Rhian Dawes was 2nd in the U17 race with a time of 19:44.

Max Aitchison was 1st in the U13 Boys race with a time of 11:05 ahead of Lewis Boyle who was just outside of the medals when finishing 4th with a time of 11:56.

The full results are available at this link.

The Masters Cross Country Championships were held at Stormont Estate, Belfast on Saturday 17th of November.

Susan Finch was 6th in the F45 category.   Susan completed the 6k course in a time of 25:07 and won a Bronze medal in the team competition.

Rab Daly was 16th to finish among the M65 category and was rewarded with a team silver medal.  Rab's time round the 6k course was 29:53.

Congratulations to both.  The full results are available at this link.

Dunbartonshire Cross Country

VP-Glasgow's athletes competing at the Dunbartonshire Cross Country Championships at Hermitage Academy, Campbell Drive, Colgrain, Helensburgh on Saturday 24th of November should meet at Scotstoun Stadium at 0945 hrs.

The minibus will drop you in time for the first event and return to pick you up at 1400 hrs.

VP-Glasgow's AGM and Awards presentation will take place on Monday the 12th of November at 7.30pm within the Hillhead Sports Club, Hughenden.

Medals will be awarded to athletes who finished in the first three overall places in each age group at the Club Championships at Linwood and special awards will be made to the following:

David Martin, Sandra Branney, Chris Bennett, Gregor Innes, Hollie Young, Andrew McFarlane, Calum Innes, Martin Hayes, Max Aitchison, Jill Knowles, Nicola Hood, Beth Potter, Sarah Gray, Iona Wilson, Emma Ferrie, Rhian Dawes, Suzanne Begg, Augusta Carman, Clair Cameron, Kenny Gray, and Katie Riches.

All members are invited to attend.

UK Cross-Challenge

This weekend saw the start of the UK Cross-Challenge Series, with the first outing in Gateshead. A fast course with some very “challenging” hills. The Club had several representatives competing in various age groups.

Max Aitchison did himself proud in coming in 3rd in the U13 Boys 3K race in a time of 11:20.

Michaela Stephen, who is relatively new to the distance, finished the U15 Girls 4K race in 14th place in a time of 16:07.

Nicola Hood finished 13th in the Junior Womens 4.5K race in a time of 17:19 behind several UK Junior Internationals.

Josephine Moultrie was 18th in the U17 4.5K race in a time of 19:28.

Next outing is Liverpool on the 24th November!!

Lasswade AC - Cross Country

VP-Glasgow had two winners at the 26th annual Lasswade Cross Country race at Gore Glen, Gorebridge, Midlothian on Sunday 4th of November.

Max Aitchison was 1st among the U13 boys with a time of 12:21 for the 2 mile course.

Rhian Dawes was also a winner, coming 1st in the U17 ladies race with a time of 19:38 for the 3 mile course.

Well done to both Max and Rhian.

Because of the closure of the Kelvin Hall, the U11's, U13's, U15's and U17's training has been moved to Scotstoun Stadium (Pavilion) until further notice.  Please make sure that you or your children come suitably dressed for inclement weather.

The Kelvin Hall will be closed on the following dates:

2nd November, 3rd November, 4th November, 5th November, 6th November, 7th November, 8th November, 9th November, 10th November, 11th November and 12th November.

It will then be closed on the 13th November from 9am till 6pm and on the 14th November from 6pm till 10pm.

It will then be open for 5 days before closing on 19th November, 20th November, 21st November, 22nd November, 23rd November, 24th November, 25th November and the 26th of November.

We will update you with the December closures as soon as we have them.

A letter of complaint has been sent to Bridget McConnell at Culture and Sport, Glasgow in relation to these closures.

VP-Glasgow have been invited to take part in a Bag Packing afternoon at Sainsbury's store at Braehead on Saturday the 24th of November.

The purpose of this fundraising is to purchase a stock of a new style tracksuit and training tops which we can sell to our members, hopefully at a generous discount.

We are looking for as many volunteers as possible. The bag packers must be at least 11 years of age on that date. We also need some parents/coaches to come along and help with the supervision (no age restriction).

We will be allowed into the store from 1200 hrs till 1800 hrs. Our packers must wear their Club colours, which would be either an old Club tracksuit top or the Club running vest over a T shirt.

We would ask any of our older members who have grown out of their old tracksuit top and are finished with it, to return it to me and we can arrange for someone to wear it on the day.

We would like as many of the U20, U17 and U15 athletes as possible to make themselves available for the full 6 hours if possible (with breaks).

We would like to break the participation of the U13 athletes down to a maximum of 3 hours starting at either 1200 hrs or 1500 hrs.

We expect the afternoon concerned to be hard work but also very enjoyable, if you are available, please give your name to Gordon. The more bag packers we have in the store, the more money the Club will make.

Two years ago we raised £1400 and this year we would like to exceed that total. A minibus has been booked and we will be able to transport our bag packers between Scotstoun and Braehead.

Gordon Innes

Emtelle Jedburgh Half Marathon

Jill Knowles was 2nd in the Jedburgh Half Marathon on Sunday the 28th of October.  Her finishing time was 1:22:34.

Of more importance though, she won the Scottish Road Race Grand Prix and the £1000 first prize.

With 40 points on offer for the first placed scottishathletics member - and with the best of six races to count - Jill scorched through the top three into pole position to steal victory.

Congratulations Jill.

National Cross Country Relays

The Relays were once again held on Saturday 27th of October at Cumbernauld High School.  VP-Glasgow narrowly missed out on the medals with the Junior Girls finishing in 4th place out of 54 teams and the Junior Boys finishing in 7th place out of 66 teams.

The Junior Girls Team of Iona Wilson (12:11), Hollie Young (9:57) and Beth Potter (9:23) finished in a combined time of 31:31.

The Junior Boys Team of Max Aitchison (9:34), Hugh Mackenzie (10:00) and Max Ralston (8:50) finished in a combined time of 28:24.

The Junior Boys B Team of Findlay Parker (10:45), Paul MacFarlane (10:31) and Stuart Ross (9:58) finished in 38th place with a combined time of 31:14.

The Junior Boys C Team of Fraser Barbour (10:38), Lewis Wilson (10:48) and Michael Gray (10:03) finished in 43rd place with a time of 31:29.

VP-Glasgow's Senior Ladies Team of Kirsty Baird (18:38), Lindsay MacNeill (16:01) and Donna Findlayson (18:34) finished in 14th place with a combined time of 53:33 from a field of 52 teams.  Lindsay MacNeill had the 4th fastest time of the day.

The Senior Mens Team of Derek Watson Snr (15:40), Derek Gibb (15:23), Gerry Craig (15:53) and Kenny McVey finished in 49th place with a combined time of 1:05:18.

The full results are available at this link.

Advanced Core Conditioning

The following core stability class is starting this Sunday 28th Oct. It is open to people of all standards and ages who are involved in athletics and want to improve their core strength and flexibility. It is a great recovery session that fits in well after a hard Saturday or Sunday morning session.

The leader is Sarah Hood, who graduated in Sports Science from Edinburgh University and is also a qualified fitness instructor. She is an 800/1500m runner herself so the session will be athletics based.  Sarah is a member of Edinburgh A.C.

Advanced core conditioning
Every Sunday at 1pm - 2pm

Caledonian Taekwondo Health & Fitness Centre
358 Netherton Road
Anniesland
Glasgow
G13 1AX

Organiser - Sarah Hood
07843447455

£2 for adults
£1 for under 18s

No equipment required. Wear comfortable clothing. Most of the class will take place without shoes and socks.

I have attached a map. There is parking outside and changing facilities at the centre. Please contact me if you have any other questions.

National Cross Country Relays

The Cross Country Relays are taking place at Cumbernauld High School on Saturday 27th of October.

A minibus has been booked and will leave Scotstoun Car Park at 1000 hrs on Saturday morning.

If you would like to travel, you should inform Donald Wilson of your intensions as soon as possible.

Dunbartonshire Cross Country Championships

VP-Glasgow teams did exceptionally well at the County Championships at Garscube Estate on Saturday 20th of October.

Our U11 Girls Team of Erin Crichton (7:31), Caroline MacKinnon (7:33) and Gillian Black (7:34) won the team competition in a combined time of 22:38.

Our U11 Boys Team of Liam Turner (7:47), Ross Black (8:04) and Scott Rankine won the team competition in a combined time of 24:16.

Our U13 Girls Team of Rachel Dick (9:52, Iona Wilson (10:20) and Eilidh McEvilly (12:58) won the team competition in a combined time of 33:10.

For the U13 Boys, Lewis Boyle was 1st with a time of 8:33 and Finlay Parker was 4th with a time of 8:53.

Our U15 Boys were also in the medals, winning the team competition in a combined time of 26:30.  Their individual times were, Hugh MacKenzie (8:37), Paul MacFarlane (8:42) and Lewis Wilson (9:11).

For the U17's, Max Ralston was 2nd with a time of 13:52 and Michael Gray was 4th with a time of 15:12.

Our Senior Men's team of Alistair Douglas (14:50), Martin Hayes (13:58), Gerry Craig (14:23) and Derek Watson Snr (14:19) finished in 4th place in a combined time of 57:30.

Our B team finished in 10th place in a combined time of 1:03:56.  Their individual times were, Joe Doyle (15:16), Charlie Murray (15:13), Alan Hamilton (16:23) and Kenny McVey (17:04).

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

The full results can be viewed at this link.

Run Jump and Throw Competition

VP-Glasgow's U13's have now completed their Run, Jump and Throw competition.

Iona Wilson picked up her 2nd medal of the week.  Following her success in the West District Cross Country Championships,  Iona won the Run, Jump and Throw competition with a total of 127 points.

Her best performance came in the 600m where she finished in a time of 2:09.02.  Hope Kilgour was 2nd with 111 points and Mariana Denton was 3rd with 110 points.

Robbie Pollock won the boys event with a total of 144 points.  His best performance came in the shot put where he achieved a distance of 6.47m.

Jules Desjaques was 2nd with 130 points and Marcus Cooney was 3rd with 116 points.

Well done to everyone who took part, there are some excellent performances recorded on the result sheets.

The full results can be viewed here.

High Jump Squad

It was breezy out on Irvine beach on Sunday so John Melvin took along a few jumpers. 

John organised some hill runs on the sand dunes followed by an ice bath for his squad.

The group left the comfort of the Kelvin Hall behind and headed down to the Ayrshire Coast for a change of scenery.

The heavy session was designed to blow away the cobwebs before the indoor season begins.

According to John, one of the benefits from a session like this is that it highlights the girls inability to speak when exhausted.

Club Records

The old Victoria Park A.A.C. and the City Of Glasgow A.C. club records have been compiled by Hugh Stevenson and they are available at this link.

All of the performances listed were made by Scottish qualification members while representing the Club, District, National Team or Team West. 

This list is still under revue.  Please bring any errors to the attention of Gordon Innes or Hugh Stevenson.

West District Cross Country Championships

VP-Glasgow had an excellent day at the Cross Country Championships at Irvine on Saturday the 13th of October.

Our Young Athletes Female team of Iona Wilson, Hollie Young and Beth Potter were the winners over the 3 x 2,500m course in a time of 29:43m.

The three best individual performances of the day over the course were all VP-Glasgow Athletes, with Beth Potter finishing in a time of 08:47, Josephine Moultrie in a time of 09:20 and Hollie Young in a time of 09:29.

On another positive note, Jennifer and Deborah Hannah made their first appearance for the Club and completed the course  in respective times of 09:48 and 10:05.

VP-Glasgow Girls teams finished in 1st, 5th, 9th and 30th places out of 38 competing teams.

Our Young Athletes Male teams finished in 9th, 21st and 24th places out of 42 competing teams. 

Our best individual performances came from Max Ralston who finished 8th overall in a time of 08:32, Stuart Ross who finished 28th in a time of 08:57 and Max Aitchison who finished 35th in a time of 09:02.

Our Senior Ladies Team of Rebecca Finch, Claire McCracken and Susan Finch finished in 3rd place with a time of 44:53 for the 3 x 4,000m course.  The best performance of the day however went to Nicola Hood who finished the course in a time of 14:13.

Our Senior Mens Team of Derek Watson Snr, Derek Gibb, Martin Hayes and Gerry Craig completed the 4 x 4,000m course in a time of 54:08 and finished in 13th place.  Martin Hayes had the best individual time of 13:11 with Derek Gibb just behind with a time of 13:19.

Congratulations to our medallists.  The full results can be viewed here.

Run Jump and Throw Competition

VP-Glasgow's U11's have now completed their Run, Jump and Throw competition.

Lea Desjaques was the winner of the Girls competition with 162 pts, Emma Ferrie had 146 pts and Erin Crichton had 140 pts.  Both Lea and Emma tied on 9.9s for the 60m.

For the Boys, Aidan Cooney won with 159 pts, just ahead of Kyle Wilson who has 149 pts and Scott Rankine who had 106 pts.  Aidan picked up 59 pts for his long jump of 3.61m.

We are still awaiting the final results for the U13's.  The current positions can be viewed here.

Well done to everyone who took part and congratulations to our medallists.  The full results can be viewed here for the U11's and U13's.

West District Cross Country Relays

The Cross Country Relays are taking place at the Magnum Centre, Irvine on Saturday 13th of October.

A minibus has been booked and will leave Scotstoun Car Park at 1030 hrs on Saturday morning.

If you would like to travel, you should inform Gordon of your intensions as soon as possible.

Three members of VP-Glasgow took part in the Loch Ness Marathon in beautiful weather conditions on Sunday the 7th of October.

Gerry Craig was 18th in a time of 2hrs 53m 25s, ahead of Allan Hamilton who was 187th in a time of 3hrs 24m 9s, Christine Catterson who was 451st in a time of 3hrs 46m 48s and Chris Sheridan who was 470th in a time of 3hrs 47m 27s.

1,445 athletes completed the race.

Run Jump and Throw Competition

VP-Glasgow's U11's and U13's are still competing in the current Run, Jump and Throw competition at the Kelvin Hall.

The standard is really good this year with some excellent performances.  The U13's are currently being led by Robbie Pollok, Steven Thistleton and Liam Turner.

The  best performances so far for the U11's have come from Lea Desjaques, Aidan Cooney and Kyle Wilson.  Lea's long jump was recorded as 3.24m.

The currents standings are recorded here for U11's and U13's.

McAndrew 2007

VP-Glasgow hosted another successful McAndrew Road Relay Race on Saturday 6th of October. 

Victoria Park City Of Glasgow A.C. 'A' won the senior ladies race in a time of 56:59.  The team of Jill Knowles, Susan Finch and Sandra Branney finished 1 minute and 1 second ahead of Giffnock North A.C.C. 'A' and 3 minutes 32 seconds ahead of the third placed VP-Glasgow 'Junior Team' consisting of Jo Moultrie, Rebecca Finch and Nicola Hood.

VP-Glasgow Vets finished in 3rd place in the male Vets race in a time of 1:22:14.  The team of Kenny Mitchell, Charlie Murray, Kenny McVey and Rab Daly finished in a time of 1:22:14.

VP-Glasgow 'A' were represented by Andy Young, Derek Watson Snr, Derek Gibb and Martin Hayes.  They finished in a combined time of 1:13:06.

Thanks to everyone who turned out to help with officiating, making tea, marshalling, scoring and a special thank you to our friends at Achilles Heel who provided the numbers and to Gordon and Julie McGhee for providing the sticky buns and cookies for the canteen.

The full results and report can be viewed at this link.

Run Jump and Throw Competition

The U11's and U13's will be competing in a Run Jump and Throw competition at the Kelvin Hall over the next two weeks.  The best three Boys and Girls in each age group will be awarded medals at the end of the competition.

Because of the ongoing competition over the next two weeks, Kenny has asked me to warn everyone that there may be more downtime than normal as some of the events, like the Long Jump will take a while to complete.

We'll be watching your progress on the web site, good luck to everyone.

Great North Run - Half Marathon

There were two notable performances at the BUPA Great North Run over the 13.1 miles from Newcastle to South Shields on Sunday 30th of September.

Susan Partridge finished in 6th place in the Ladies Race with a personal best time of 1:12:33.  Susan was the 3rd GB athlete to finish.

Martin Hayes, who is still only 18 finished in 173rd place overall with a personal best time of 1:19:41.

Apologies if I missed anyone.  Please keep me posted of any other Road and Cross Country events.

Training Groups

The U15 and U17 groups have moved to the Kelvin Hall Indoor Arena and will train there on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7pm till 8.30pm.

The middle distance group will remain at Scotstoun for the time being.

The U20 Sprint and Hurdles group will remain at Scotstoun until further notice.

Friday Training

Kenny Gray tells me that the first Friday night training session for the U11's and U13's at the Kelvin Hall was a great success.  Kenny and Donald were joined by three Level 1 coaches in the shape of Chris Bennett, Errin Leggate and Stephanie O'Neil.

The 45 athletes who took part in the session appear to have enjoyed working with their new role models.

Thanks to all of the above and hopefully we will see more of our Level 1 Coaches in the following weeks.

A special mention too for John Melvin (Head Coach) who had actively recruited (blackmailed) our Level 1 Coaches.

World Masters Championships

More exciting news from the 17th World Masters Championships at Riccione, Italy.

VP-Glasgow's Sandra Branney won her third Gold medal of the games on Friday the 14th of September.  Her time in the final of the 1500m W50 was 20 seconds faster than in her semi final where she finished in a time of 5:24.82.

CLS     RANK	PET      BIB	NOME E COGNOME   NAME & SURNAME	NAZ      CTRY		T.FINALE    FINAL T.
1.	2043	Sandra BRANNEY	GBR		5:02.47
2.	7327	Inger Lise FAENGSRUD	NOR		5:07.04
3.	6019	Rosita PIRHOFER	ITA		5:08.97

Sandra had already won the 5K on Friday the 7th of September with a time of 18:01.56 and the 10K with a time of 37:31.42 on Wednesday the 12th of September.

She was the fastest qualifier from the Semi Final of the 1500m with a time of 5:24.82 and must have been confident of more success when she lined up at the start of her third final of the Championships.

Congratulations to Sandra, a tremendous achievement.