Glasgow Parks Championships 2023Sunday 3 December
ESOC members enjoyed the 24th Glasgow Parks Championships, although the weather was cold.
The Glasgow Parks Championships is an annual competition, with three separate short events in one day. It’s a good social event, with lots of long-term attendees. The 2023 venues were all east of the city centre and start times were allocated in advance for the first two races, with a chasing start for the third one. There was snow on the ground at all three venues. The weather was cloudy but bright, and it was cold.
The first race was at Springburn Park, the highest park in Glasgow. It’s a fairly small park with a variety of terrain, including some ponds and a rockery, with mature trees, and paths throughout. The Start was in the NE corner of the park, and the courses zig-zagged around, covering most of the area.
The second race was to the south, at Alexandra Park, beside the M8. Parking was north of the motorway, crossing by a footbridge. The park is on a hill and includes a disused golf course. The Start and Finish were on the north side of the hill, near the bowling green.
The third race took place south of the River Clyde, at the Commonwealth Village and Cuningar Woodland Park. The park lies in a loop of the River Clyde, with some interesting features such as a bouldering area and various sculptures, as well as new woodland. The Junior course stayed in the park, and Senior courses visited the residential area in the former Athletes’ Village, crossing the river on a footbridge. The prizegiving was in The Bothy, at the south end of the park, with very welcome indoor facilities.
ESOC members in the top half of the overall results were:
Open Women (9 competitors) - Megan Brown
Veteran Women (7) - Hanne Robertson 4th
Supervet Men (11) - Terry Johnstone 4th, Keith Brown 6th
Supervet Women (7) - Helena Nolan 2nd
Ultra Veteran Men (11) - Crawford Lindsay 3rd
Ultra Veteran Women (5) - Janice Nisbet 1st
Full results are available from the 24th Glasgow Parks page on the STAG website.
Further details about the event are also on the STAG website:
Race 1 – Springburn Park
Race 2 – Alexandra Park
Race 3 – Commonwealth Village & Cuningar Woodland Park
Other entries categorised under: Event Reports