Godwin Imante moved top of the Scottish U/20 60m and into the top 10 UK rankings with a fantastic run in Aberdeen over the weekend .His time of 6.89 also moved him into 2nd all time Shettleston Harriers rankings behind former European Champion, Cameron Sharp .The club record has stood since 1985 when Cameron clocked 6.66 in Paris ,France. The event in Aberdeen was the final qualifying event for the 4J Indoor National Championships due to take place at Grangemouth over the weekend of the 16/17 February. A special mention of Arif Chapiti (60m 7.80) who after finishing his shift at A& E at 2am in Glasgow before making the trip to Aberdeen, other members who made the long trip to Aberdeen where Amit Kumar (HJ 1.90 &TJ 13.05 ) ,Murray Graham (60mH 11.84 & LJ 3.72) and Carson Graham (LJ 4.74). A number of club athletes have qualified for the final
Check out the interview with Godwin on the Scottish athletics site
Friday night was the launch of the medals to be presented at the World Indoor Championships and a number of the clubs young athletes were invited along to be part of this event. The rubbed shoulders with former Olympic 100m champion Allan Wells, Tom McKean (800m) and multiple medal winner indoor/out doors Yvonne Murray (3000m) .Thank you to Glasgow life for giving these Young athletes a night to remember.
One of the major hill running events took place in the Kingdom of Fife on Saturday .The 31km course takes the runners over the Falkland Hills overs 4 legs with two of the legs requiring a pairing. A record 5 teams were entered from the club which allowed less experienced Hill runners take in leg 1 before handing on to the more experience runners-These runners may need to have navigation skills to take in leg 2-4.Early reports indicated the men and ladies teams both finished 3rd .Full results will be published as soon as they become available.
The next few weeks sees the club entering one of its busiest times .On Thursday a number of athletes travel to Armagh to compete in the fastest 5km course in the UK. Next weekend we have the final West League event at Erskine on Saturday (Please let John Mackay (Men ) ,Avril Mason (Ladies) and Elaine Mackay (Young athletes) if you want to compete. Also on Saturday Godwin Imante travels to Sheffield to compete in the U/20 English Championships over 60m. Moving to Sunday our masters athletes move to the other end of the country to compete in Scottish Masters Cross Country Championships in Forres. Thank you to all the coaches ,parents and club officials who make this possible.
The entries close this week for the National Cross Country Championships and we already have 70 athletes entered over the age groups .This is the event you want to experience ,so if you are not entered please let John, Avril or Elaine know before Thursday. The club pays for all the above events
Moving on, the ladies are competing in the European Clubs Cross Country Championships in Portugal on the 25th February. Careful planning has taken place to whisk the ladies to Glasgow Airport as soon as they finish the national on the 24th ! The club is grateful for the support given by a variety organisations and full details will be given as we build up to the championships in Portugal..
The 2nd March sees us host the biggest club road relay event in Scotland (Allan Scally Road Relay) and one of the biggest in the UK. Thank you to the club members and club friends who have already put their names forward to help. Not running in the event – please help, email John Mackay secretary@shettlestonharriers.org.uk