Glasgow Parks Championships 20147 December
There were great results for ESOC at the 16th Glasgow Parks Championships, despite the onset of wintry weather.
The Glasgow Parks Championships is an annual competition, featuring three separate events in one day. The location of the first park is publicised just before the event, the second park is announced at the end of the first race, and the third park is only revealed at the end of the second race. The first two races have allocated start times, with a chasing start for the final race.
The weather forecast was for heavy rain, but in the end we were lucky, and although it was cold, there were just a few sharp showers, with sunshine and rainbows in between. It was very wet underfoot though.
The first race was at Springburn Park, NE of the city centre, a fairly small park with a variety of terrain, including some ponds and a rockery with a very slippery bridge. This is the highest park in Glasgow, and it was actually snowing when we arrived.
The second race was at Glasgow Green, by the River Clyde south of the city centre. The terrain here is mostly flat, open parkland, giving easy navigation. Longer courses crossed the river into Richmond Park. The Winter Gardens of the People’s Palace provided very welcome indoor facilities, including a café and toilets.
The third race was on the outskirts of the city, at Cathkin Braes Country Park, a much wilder area, mostly deciduous woods, with some steep slopes and good views over the city. This was the venue for the mountain biking during the Commonwealth Games in the summer, and there were many new mountain bike tracks.
ESOC members in the top half of the overall results were:
Open Men (23 competitors) – Andrew Lindsay 7th, Craig Nolan 8th, Andrew Dalgleish 12th
Veteran Men (17) – Keith Brown 4th
Super Veteran Men (11) – Crawford Lindsay 2nd
Ultra Veteran Men (7) – Alastair Lessells 1st, Bill Stevenson 2nd, Ian Pyrah 4th
Open Women (19) – Helen Bridle 3rd
Veteran Women (9) – Alison Cunningham 2nd, Helena Nolan 3rd
Super Veteran Women (8) – Margaret Dalgleish 2nd, Sally Lindsay 3rd
Ultra Veteran Women (5) – Anne Stevenson 2nd, Eleanor Pyrah 3rd
Juniors (6) – Rachel Brown 1st
Full results and Routegadget are available on the 16th Glasgow Parks Championships news item on the STAG website.
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