Helensburgh 10K

The senior men were out in force for the Helensburgh 10K on Thursday 25th May.  The annual race which is hosted by Helensburgh AC started at Hermitage Academy.

Martin Hayes was the first Victoria Park man home in 32nd place (3rd junior) in a time of 36:04.

Ken Mitchell was 38th (11th Vet) in a time of 36:39.

Duncan Thomson was 58th in a time of 37:27.

Allan Hamilton was 61st in a time of 37:34 (PB)

Mark Ashby was 82nd (27th Vet) in a time of 38:38.

Kenny McVey was 107th  (8th Vet 50) in a time of 39.41.

Jim O'Hara was 524th in a time of 50:33.

Young Athletes League - Wishaw

Victoria Park athletes were competing in the Young Athletes League at Wishaw Stadium on Sunday 28th May.

The Boys kept up their momentum by finishing in second place with 362 points behind Shettleston Harriers who finished with 418 points.

The Girls finished in fourth place on a creditable 235 points, only 80 points behind the winners, Edinburgh Southern.

The best performance of the day came from Sarah Gray who won both the girls U13 Long Jump and High Jump and was also the recipient of the Athlete of the Match award.

Other notable performances included Grant McConachie who posted the fastest time of the day for the U13 boys 100m with 15.0s, John Craig who won the U15 boys 100m in a time of 12.2s and the 200m in a time of 24.9s, Calum Innes who won the U17 mens 100m and the 100m hurdles, Lorn Menzies who won the U17 200m in a time of 25.1s, Gregor Innes who won the U17 Triple Jump and the 400m and Liam Hill who won the U17 High Jump with a height of 1.85m.

A special mention also for Niall Murray who picked up valuable points in the 1500m Steeplechase, the triple jump and the 100m.

The match finished with an exciting win for Victoria Park's U17 men in the 4x400m.  The team of Sean Fontana, Calum Innes, Lorn Menzies and Gregor Innes claimed an important scalp ahead of the Junior Relays at Scotstoun on the 18th of June.

If the results look a little lopsided, it's because we were still waiting for the girls performance results when I went off to bed.

Special thanks to Paul Watson for the above photographs.

The full results will eventually appear at this link.

Masters Championships - 21st May

The Scottish Masters Championships were held at Scotstoun on Sunday 21st May.  Victoria Park were well represented with athletes up to the age of 75 competing.

Derek Watson Snr was 1st in the M40 800m in a time of 2:06.19

Charlie Murray was 1st in the M40 Long Jump with a distance of 5.35m, 3rd in the M40 High Jump with a height of 1.45m and 4th in the M40 800m in a time of 2:11.06.

Gerry Farrell was 1st in the M40 Hammer with a throw of 28.12m, 1st in the M40 Discus with a throw of 35.94m,  2nd in the M40 Javelin with a throw of 27.10m and 2nd in the M40 Shot Put with a throw of 9.79m.

James Christie was 3rd in the M70 Shot Put with a throw of 5.10m

Well done to all the Masters who took part in the Championships.

Loughborough International - 21st May

Victoria Parks Joanna Ross set a new PB and broke the club record for the 800m at the Loughborough International match while representing Scotland.

Joanna finished in second place while recording a time of 2:02.92, narrowly missing the Gothenburg Development Standard of 2:02.50.

Lisa Doyle also broke the club record for the 400m hurdles by finishing in a time of 58.74 which now places her in eighth place on the all time list.

Sarah Whigham was 7th in the 100m with a time of 12.22s.

David Martin marked his first outing in a Senior Scottish vest by recording 54.91 in the 400m hurdles.

Colin Severin finished 6th in the 100m in a time of 11.10s.

Special congratulations go to the ladies for their new records.

Sports Council for Glasgow

The above body, in conjunction with Glasgow City Council have organised the following 'Running Sport' training courses for 2006/07.

The aim of these courses is to assist clubs with the management and development of their clubs. These courses normally cost £20.00 per course but clubs affiliated to the Sports Council for Glasgow only pay £15.00 per course.

Book your place now and take advantage of these discounted rates by phoning Glasgow City Council, Club and Volunteer Development on 0141 287 8908.

Full details including the time and dates of the courses can be found on the Sports Council for Glasgow web site.

Young Athletes League - 28th May

Two 15 seat mini-buses have been booked for the YAL meeting at Wishaw on Sunday 28th May.  The buses will leave from the car park at Scotstoun at 10am and will return at about 5pm.

If you would like to travel on the buses, please give your name to Gordon or Linda.  Everyone is welcome, though priority will be given to those without transport.

The boys team is still evolving, Kenny is still looking for volunteers for some events.

The team is listed here.

West District Championships - 14th May

Another successful day for Victoria Park athletes at Meadowbank.  The rain stayed away and the wind dropped to allow good times in the 200m sprints.

Rebecca Riches was 2nd in the U17 200m final in a time of 26.61s while her team mate Gillian Galloway finished 4th in a time of 27.53s.

Courtney MacGuire (pictured right) finished 1st in the U17 ladies Pole Vault with a height of 3.20m and 3rd in the 300m hurdles with a time of 48.09s.

Abbey McGhee was 3rd in the final of the U17 ladies 800m in a time of 2:14.48.

Sarah Gray (pictured left) was 1st among a large field in the U13 girls Long Jump with a distance of 4.30m.

Rebecca Kay was 1st in the U17 ladies Shot Put with a distance of 8.01m.

Katie Riches was 2nd in the U17 ladies Triple Jump with a distance of 9.73m.

Gregor Innes (pictured right) was 1st in the U17 400m hurdles in a time of 60.16.

Katie Athorne took part in her first championships and finished her U13 100m in a time of 17.16s and her 800m heat in a time of 3:7.89.

David Martin fell at the last hurdle while challenging for 2nd place in the Senior mens 400m hurdles.  David later withdrew from the 200m event, hopefully he'll be fit for the Loughborough International on the 21st of this month.

Catriona Donald narrowly missed out on a medal while finishing 4th in the senior ladies javelin with a throw of 31.10m.

Well done to everyone who took part and represented Victoria Park.

Full results for the second day of the Junior Championships can be found at this link.

Full results for the second day of the Senior Championships can be found at this link.

West District Championships - 13th May

The first day of the Championships went well for Victoria Park athletes with a good haul of medals returning to Glasgow.  Excellent weather helped everyone bar the sprinters and many new PB's were set.

Calum Innes was 1st in the U17 100m hurdles with a time of 15.13s and 1st in the Long Jump with a distance of 6.13m.

Jamie Sinclair (pictured right) was 2nd in the U17 Pole Vault with a height of 3.20m.

John Craig was 1st in the U15 100m final with a time of 12.07s into a headwind of -3.0.

Gregor Innes was 1st in the U17 400m in a time of 52.84s.

Rebecca Riches was 2nd in the U17 100m final in a time of 13.31s.

Max Aitchison was 2nd in the U13 800m in a time of 2:26.21 and Paul MacFarlane was 6th in a time of 2:31.89.

Liam Hill (pictured left) was 1st in the U17 High Jump with a height of 1.90m.

Jax Thoirs was 3rd in the U15 80m hurdles in a time of 14.66s and 4th in the Long Jump.

Chris Bennett was 1st in the U17 Hammer with a throw of 55.95m.

Aisling McGhee (pictured right) was 1st in the U17 300m in a time of 42.23s.

Derek Watson Jnr was 2nd in the Senior Mens 1500m with a time of 3:56.40.

Joanna Ross was 1st in the Senior Womens 1500m with a time of 4:20.09.

An excellent start to the Championships for Victoria Park which will hopefully continue into the second day. 

The weather should be quite good till about 1pm when light rain is expected to arrive.

Full results for the Juniors are at this link and full results for the Seniors can be found at this link.

Team Selection - Upcoming Fixtures

Kenny has started to select the team for the next two league matches.  The Scottish Young Athletes League at Wishaw on Sunday 28th May (U13's to U17's) and the CSSAL at Wishaw on Sunday 4th June (U11's to Masters).

There are still positions to be filled, the under 17's should contact Kenny and the senior men should contact Hugh Stevenson or Jim Harvie.

The provisional team is listed at this link.  If you are unavailable for these dates, you should contact one of the above as soon as possible.

Meadowbank Stadium

The West District Championships are being held over the weekend 13th and 14th of May at Meadowbank Stadium.  If you are unsure how to find your way there, the maps on this linked web page may be of some help.

Good luck to everyone taking part.

Contact From An Old Member

Bob Izzatt called in on the Club Secretary to drop off some old photographs and to ask after some of his old training partners.

Bob joined Victoria Park in 1937 as a 16 year old and competed for the club into the mid 1950's.  His specialist event was the half mile but he took part in road races and cross country whenever he could.

Although out of the nine scoring places, he was part of the twelve man team that won the National Cross Country Union Championships at Hamilton Racecourse on the 1st of March 1952.

The picture right, shows what we believe to be the winning team with the trophy at Hamilton.  Back row from left, Not Known, R Gibson, Ian Walls, Duncan McFarlane, John Stirling, Robert Izzatt and Murdo MacDonald.  Front row from left, Jimmy Simpson, Ronnie Kane, Chick Forbes, Andy Forbes, Jimmy Ellis, Jimmy McClure and Dougie Shuttleworth.

In his time at the club he trained at least twice a week at Scotstoun and once a week at Mountblow.  The cross country training runs at Milngavie were similar to the current route although the athletes would get stripped in the laundry at the foot of Clober Road.

Bob was a plant engineer for most of his working life, having served his time with Barr and Stroud at Anniesland.

Although now 85, he is still very active and plays golf twice a week at Bishopbriggs Golf Club and he also turns out regularly to support his favourite Rugby Club, the Glasgow Hawks.

Troon Tortoises - 10K

The Troon Tortoises hosted their annual 10k on Saturday the 6th of May.

Victoria Park were represented by Gerry Craig who finished the race in 32nd position with a time of 35:56 and Phil Carter (pictured right) who finished in 48th position with a time of 37:19.

A total of 954 athletes took part in the event.

The Troon Tortoises web site is at this link.

Douglas Academy PTA Fun Run results

The full results of the Douglas Academy Fun Run from the 7th of May can be found at this link.

Well done to everyone who took part.

BUSA - May 2006

The British University Sports Association held their annual championships from Saturday 29th April to Monday 1st May.

Victoria Park was represented by Alison Rodger who won the gold medal for discus with a throw of 43.53m and the silver medal for the shot put with a throw of 14.15m.

Young Athletes League - 7th May

Victoria Park athletes were in action at Grangemouth Stadium on Sunday 7th May.  The stars on the day were John Craig and Liam Hill who both won the athlete of the match award for the track and field respectively.

John won the award by winning the U15 100m in a time of 11.8s, the 200m B race in a time of 24.7s and the 4x100m relay in a time of 51.4s.

Liam won the field award with a winning U17 high jump of 1.95m. (one centimetre outside of the league record)  He then followed that up by winning maximum points in the 800m B race with a time of 2.37.2s and the U17 shot put with a distance of 8.94m.

Other winners on the day was Gregor Innes in the U17 400m hurdles, the 400m and the 4x100m.  Calum Innes won the U17 100m hurdles, the long jump and the 4x100m hurdles.  Max Aitchison won the U13 1500m in a time of 5:05.1.  Jamie Sinclair won the U17 discus with a throw of 19.22m and was part of the winning 4x100m relay team.

Well done to all of the boys who took part.  Below is our current League standing after one event.

Follow this link for the full results of match one for the boys and for the girls.

The best performances from the girls came from Rebecca Riches who won the U17 100m in a time of 13.2s despite nursing a severe cold and Gillian Galloway who was second in the U17 200m in a time of 28.3s and second in the 300m in a time of 45.1s.

Unusually we had three 4x100m relay teams competing for the girls with the U13's finishing in 6th place in a time of 64.3s, the U15's finishing in 3rd place in a time of 54.6 and the U17 girls finishing in 7th place in a time of 59.2s.

A good effort by all of our girls in difficult conditions.  Next stop Wishaw.

Friday 5th and Friday 19th May - Help Wanted

On Friday 5th and 19th May, Glasgow Athletics are holding two big events at Kelvin Hall ISA and Scotstoun Stadium, from 9:00am - 2.30pm.  I am looking for some athletes aged over 16 years to assist in the officiating of the Events.

Athletes will be paid £35.00 per day for assisting at the events.

If you know of any athlete who would be able to assist on those days and during these times, please pass their details to me and I will contact them to finalise the arrangements. Preference will be given to athletes who are available both days.

Brian Donaldson
Athletics Coach and Development Officer
Sport and Recreation,
Glasgow City Council,
20 Trongate,
Glasgow.
G1   5ES

e-mail: brian.donaldson@cls.glasgow.gov.uk
Tel:   +44 (0)141 287 4725
Fax:  +44 (0)141 287 3558

Scottish Athletics League - 30th April

Lack of numbers all but ended Victoria Parks hopes of promotion to Division 1 of the Scottish Athletics League.

No sprinters were available for the 100m events or the 110m hurdles.  Derek Watson Snr tried to fill the gaps but it was Derek Watson Jnr and Martin Hayes who had the best performances of the day in winning the 1500m and 3000m Steeplechase respectively.

Ross Gibson took second place in the 400m B race with an excellent time of 52.8s.

 

Event	Athlete	Position	Performance
200m	Derek Watson Snr	6th	25.8
400m	Derek Watson Snr	8th	ntg
400m B	Ross Gibson	2nd	52.8
800m	Derek Watson Snr	5th	2:07.4
1500m	Derek Watson Jnr	1st	4:08.3
1500m B	Martin Hayes	5th	4:31.4
5000m	Ken Mitchell	6th	17:55.3
3000m SC	Martin Hayes	1st	10:29.3
400m H	Charlie Murray	2nd	63.3
High Jump	Charlie Murray	3rd	1.65m
Long Jump	Calum Innes	4th	6.02m
Long Jump B	Charlie Murray	4th	5.16m
Shot Put	Gerry Farrell	5th	8.87m
Hammer	Gerry Farrell	5th	21.56m
Hammer B	Jim Harvie	6th	15.05m
Javelin	Gerry Farrell	5th	34.13m
Javelin B	Stuart Todd	2nd	29.87m

4x100m relay: Derek Watson Snr, Martin Hayes, Derek Watson Jnr and Calum Innes finished 5th in 48.9s.

4x400m relay: Derek Watson Snr, Martin Hayes, Derek Watson Jnr and Calum Innes finished 3rd in 3:38.3s.

The three officials representing Victoria Park were Hugh Stevenson and Hugh and Sheila Baillie.

Final positions at the end of Match 1 are as follows.

Scottish Womens Athletic League - 30th April

Victoria Park ladies were in action in Match 1 of the SWAL for Team West.  The individual results have so far not been released but the majority of the points went to Team West who were the clear winners on the day. 

Victoria Park members who were among the points were Sara Whigham who was first in the 100m with a time of 12.30s, Lisa Doyle who was first in the 400m hurdles with a time of 59.83s and Joanna Ross who was first in the 1500m with a time of 4:27.77.

In the U17's, Aisling McGhee was 2nd in the 300m in a time of 42.46s and Abbey McGhee was 2nd in the 800m in a time of 2.15.81.

In the U13's, Sarah Gray was 2nd in the Long Jump with a distance of 4.25m.

Points total as below:

Team West     	529
Edinburgh       	457
Forth Valley    	420
Lothian           	350.5
Tayside          	339
Pitreavie         	299
Aberdeen       	289.5
Glasgow        	279

National Junior League - 23rd April

Victoria Park athletes were representing Team Glasgow in the 1st match of the National Junior League at Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh on Sunday 23rd of April.

David Martin won the 200m in a time of 22.53 and the 400m in a time of 49.74, Steven Beattie won the 110m hurdles in a time of 16.50 and Thomas Campbell won the High Jump with a height of 1.90m and the Pole Vault with a height of 3.80m.

For the ladies, Abbey McGhee was 2nd in the 800m with a time of 2:17.03, Aisling McGhee was 2nd in the 400m with a time of 59.88 and Courtney MacGuire was 2nd in the Pole Vault with a height of 3.20m.

 

Position	Club Name	Points
1st	Team Edinburgh	606
2nd	Team Glasgow	445
3rd	Team Forth Valley	414
4th	Tees Valley Tigers	408
5th	Border Harriers	371
6th	Team Tyne & Wear	308

Team Glasgow was made up of athletes from Victoria Park, Inverclyde AC, City of Glasgow, Giffnock North and Shettleston Harriers.

CSSAL - Result - 23rd April

Victoria Park athletes took part in the 1st match of the CSSAL at Dam Stadium, Ayr on Sunday 23rd April.  Juniors and Seniors were competing side by side as the club attempts to gain promotion in the League.

The as yet unscrutinised results have VPAAC placed 2nd overall and still in with a good chance of promotion.  (two teams will be promoted)

The league positions are as follows:

 

Position	Club Name	Points
1st	Dunfermline and West Fife AC	578
2nd	Victoria Park AAC	518
3rd	Nithsdale AC	499
4th	Corstorphine AAC	433
5th	Perth and Strathtay Harriers	361
6th	Dunbar Running Club	329
7th	Helensburgh AC	147
8th	Stewartry AC	114

There were many fine performances by Victoria Park Athletes throughout the day but the team managers, Kenny and Linda picked the following out for "Athlete of the Match" awards.  Fraser Barbour won from the U11 boys, Adam Mills won for the U13 boys, Michael Gray won for the U15 boys, Gregor Innes won for the U17 men,  Gerry Farrell won for the Senior men and Charlie Murray won for the Masters.

For the girls, the U11 award was shared between Sara MacDonald, Rosie Thoirs, Ruby Gray and Eve McAlpine.  The U13 girls also shared the award between Jennifer Callaghan, Caitlin Welsh and Sarah Gray.  Alison Innes won the award for the U15 girls and Errin Crossan won the award for the U17 ladies.

The remaining two matches in this league will be at Wishaw on the 4th of June and at Linwood on the 6th of August.  These fixtures are very important to some of our athletes who cannot succeed as individuals at National Championships.  This is their only opportunity to succeed, please turn out and support them.

Chris Bennett

Chris was taking part in the Reivers Development Competition in Tweedbank in the Borders on Saturday 22nd April.  He threw the 5kg hammer 58m 76cms which is a new personal best.

Chris followed this up on Sunday in the Hammer Grand Prix at Pitreavie where he threw 63.30m with the 4K hammer and 56.01m with the 5K.

His 5K effort was the second longest throw of the day with the 5K hammer.  Only one Senior athlete threw further.

Well done Chris.

London Marathon - 23rd April 2006

Two Victoria Park men completed the London Marathon on Sunday. 

Gerry Craig finished in a personal best time of 2:51:04 in 589th position and Mark Ashby finished in a time of 2:57:56 in 1005th position.

Martin Hayes represented Scotland in the Junior mini marathon and I'll post his result when I've got it.

Chris Baillie - Presentation

Victoria Park's Commonwealth Games Silver Medallist Chris Baillie returned to Scotstoun Stadium on Tuesday evening to meet with his team mates in the Pavilion. 

Loud applause was ringing around the old Stadium when Chris was presented with a new Club Tracksuit by our President, Graham Smith to mark his achievement in Melbourne.

Over 80 members of Victoria Park were waiting to welcome home the rising star of Scottish Athletics and his coach, Bob Sommerville.  Chris proudly displayed his Silver Medal to his team mates who ranged in age from 9 to 55 years.

Chris spent a lengthy period of time in a question and answer session with many of our younger members and budding journalists who wanted to know everything about his preparation for the Commonwealth Games.

Bob Sommerville explained how they had prepared for the games in Australia before joining Chris and some of our up and coming sprint hurdlers in a special training session on the track at Scotstoun.

The picture above shows Chris with his new posse and right, with his new track suit and Silver Medal.  Click on the images to see the bigger picture.

Chris informed his young audience that his journey to the top began when he joined Victoria Park when he was 10 years of age.

His next target will be the European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg in August.

Chris Baillie - Video

For those of you who were unable to see the race in Melbourne, I've uploaded a wmv file which you can save to your disk and play it in your Windows Media Player.  It is 1.7mb in size.

110m Hurdles Final, Melbourne, Australia - 2006.

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.