Senior Events Roundup 8th September 2023

Well the last 3 weeks have been nothing short of chaotic, with Harriers competing at events the
length and breadth of the country and there is so much good news to report on – apologies if I’ve
managed to miss anyone (please let me know and I’ll put it right next time – we love to report our
member’s successes!).

We start this report with a visit to Aberdeen on the 19 th and 20 th of August for some of our U20
athletes competing in the National U20 Track and Field championships. Our U20 squad is absolutely
flying at the moment, and so it was to be at Aberdeen where our club were very well represented on
the podium throughout the weekend. On the Saturday Jamie and Jordan Phillips took 1 st and 2 nd in
their 800m heat (2:00:94 and 2:01:15), and Jamie then converted this to a gold medal in the final
later in the day in 1:53:84, Jordan was 5 th in this very competitive final in 1:57:06. In the 200m heats
Ally Mitchell was 2 nd (22.2s) and then 5 th in a very fast final (21.94s). Meanwhile in the field events
Isla Raeburn took the bronze medal in the high jump, clearing 1.42m.

On the Sunday, Ally was in action in the 100m. He made it safely through to the final with a
qualifying run of 11.04s, and finished a credible 7 th in 11.13s. Isla Raeburn and Molly Hunter both
contested the 400m heats. Unfortunately the girls missed out on qualifying for the finals but had
great runs with Isla running 62.56s and Molly running 62.57s. Out on the field, Abbey Kennedy lifted
silver in the hammer (39.3m) and teammate Hannah Henderson took the bronze (37.74m). Isla
Raeburn was 4 th in her shot (9.94m) whilst Logan Mitchell took the gold in his shot (14.53m) and
backed this up with a silver in the hammer (49.21m). Some really exceptional performances from
the club, especially given that some of these athletes still qualify for younger age groups!
Also on the 20 th , Nick Carter and Lauren Little headed east to compete in the Forth Road Bridge 10k.
Nick was 9 th senior man and 34 th overall in 43:02, and Lauren was 22 nd senior lady and 166 th overall in
54:01 – well done guys.

A bit closer to home, 9 Harriers took on the popular Paisley 10k. First back was Paul Lafferty in 90 th
place overall (38:18), followed by Connell Drummond (39:45), Calum Haswell (48:25), Brian McLure
(51:50), Richard Beattie (51:54), Susan Boyd (53:36), Nataliya Petkova (56:51), Hannah Connell
(59:00) and Stuart Nibloe (62:15).

Next in the calendar was the next of our club summer championship races – the Marymass 10k in
Irvine. This one is always popular, and this year was no different with 22 Harriers putting their toe
on the line chasing down points. First home and race winner overall was Craig Ferguson (32:24),
followed by Jonathon Downey in 3 rd overall (33:14) and Owen Walpole in 8 th overall (35:20). New
member Graeme Quinn made up the winning men’s team, finishing 10 th in 35:48. For the ladies,
Amanda Bryden was first home (44:40) followed by Sasha I’Anson (45:04) and Izzy Caufield (47:07).
We also had two further age group prizes with Susan Boyd claiming top spot in the V70 ladies
(53:46) and Mark Alexander firmly on the comeback trail as 3 rd V40 (38:21). Well done to all who
competed and we hope you enjoyed the ice cream afterwards!

Moving to a later date in the calendar, this year’s Monument Mile was held on Saturday the 26 th of
August. We had a good few athletes entered, but illness/injury/other commitments meant that we
only had two Harriers put their toe on the line on the night. However sometimes quality over
quantity is not a bad thing and we had quality in spades on the night! In race 20 Jonathon Downey
took the tape and coveted yellow cap in a fantastic mile PB of 4:28:89 (1500 split 4:11:66) and
Connor Scobie finished an excellent 6 th in the same race in 4:39:40 (1500 split 4:21:02). For anyone
who is not familiar with this event it is well worth looking it up for next year.

Also on the 26 th , we had two of our U20 athletes representing Scotland at the Welsh U20
International match. It is always a huge honour to pull on a Scotland vest, and Jamie Phillips and
Logan Mitchell absolutely did their club and country proud on the day with Jamie finishing 3 rd in the
800m (1:51:86) and Logan finishing 4 th in the shot (14.5m) and 3 rd in the discus (42.24m). It really is
exciting to see our young athletes representing their country, and with Jonathon Downey also
representing this coming weekend the future is exceptionally bright for the club.
Sunday the 27 th saw the Ayrshire Track and Field Championships take place at the Riverside in Ayr.
There really were too many amazing results to list individually, and the podium was dominated by
blue and white vests on the day from U11 up to Masters athletes. Full results can be found here –
huge congratulations to all athletes who became Ayrshire Champions on the day and as always a big
thanks to our graded officials and volunteers – without them we could not have these fantastic
events.

Tuesday the 29 th saw the first of two open graded meets organised by Shettleston Harriers. We had
3 U20 athletes competing on the night, and what a night it was! Ally Mitchell had a great evening,
winning the 200m in 22.06s and the icing on the cake being his first sub 11 100m, winning his race in
a fantastic 10.95s. Congratulations to Ally and his coaches for hitting this exciting milestone! Also in
winning form was Jordan Phillips, taking the win in his 800m in 1:57:08. Logan Mitchell rounded up
these great results with a 2 nd in the shot (13.74m).

The weekend just passed saw a real mix of events and once again a lot of successes. Jacqui Sandler
was competing at the Glen Scotia MOK marathon on Saturday, and despite the challenging weather
conditions she absolutely smashed it on a hilly course, completing in 4:27:25 to finish 2 nd lady overall
and 1 st V50 – huge congratulations Jacqui! Running up an even bigger hill, we had 3 brave Harriers
take on the Ben Nevis race on Saturday. 1 st back in an incredible 2:43:28 (252 nd overall) was Roddy
Pugh, followed by David White in 2:57:46 (317 th ) and David Mitchell in 3:57:37 (427 th ). Great running
from all.

On Sunday the 3 rd we had our annual club championships – the final results have not yet been
calculated but we will report on this in due course. Huge well done to our U20 and senior athletes
who turned out on the day and as always a massive thanks to our officials/volunteers -this is a great
club day out but it takes a lot of work to stage it!

Also on the 3 rd we had 8 Harriers braving the heat and the breeze at the NAAC 10k. First back was
Sam Rice in 4 th overall and 1 st U20 (35:24), followed by Scott Masterton (36:25 and 6 th overall), Paul
Lafferty (37:23 and 8 th overall) then John Tougher who was 2 nd V50 in 43:26. Andy Taylor was next
home in 52:59, then Thomas Samson (55:05), Robin Bourne (56:05) and Brian Darroch (58:49). Well
done all – sounds like it was a tough shift out there.

Tuesday the 5 th saw the second of the Shettleston Open Graded meets. Jordan Phillips took on the
400m and was 4 th in his heat in 51.27s and Jamie Nix ran a 5000m PB for 6 th (17:38:39) – well done
both!

FINALLY we get to the last of the races to report on – Thursday the 7 th saw the Valley Dash take place
at Galston over a slightly different course from usual. Full results and report here: valley dash report
and results but a huge congratulations to our winner Jamie Cooper who only came to the club this
year and is really seeing the benefits of his hard work in training. Well done also to our fastest man
Craig Ferguson and fastest lady Lynsey O’Connor.

As a result of the Marymass and Valley Dash results there have been some changes at the top of the
leagues again! Sasha I’Anson now tops the ladies’ board with 101 points, with Amanda Bryden hot
on her heels with 96. Ellie Anderson now settles into 3 rd spot with 90. In the men’s table Colin
Anderson regains the top spot with 105 points, with Jonathon Downey in 2 nd with 93 and Craig
Ferguson in 3 rd with 89. With club champs results plus best Parkrun, HM and Marathon times to still
be decided there is still plenty to play for! Summer league tables

Looking forward to the winter season, we are holding a trial for XC teams on Tuesday the 26 th of
September at the Kay Park at 6:30pm (speak to your coach for further details). We will be looking
for names for the West Relays very soon (7 th October – clear your diaries!).