With the track season behind us, many of our endurance athletes have been busy competing across the country in a number of events. We’ve seen incredible performances, from a new junior parkrun, right on our doorstep, to a 53-mile trail race.
Salomon Skyline Scotland Trail Half
Our athletes took on the unique Salomon Skyline Scotland Trail Half Marathon route in the Ben Nevis area. This race, which includes runnable forestry tracks, paths, and trails, proved to be a fantastic challenge.
Clare Stewart took a break from her medical duties to lead our small group, winning the ladies’ event and finishing an incredible 6th overall in a time of 1:33:32. This was a great achievement on her return from injury.
For Jamie Burns, it was a totally new experience running with a map and full body cover, and he put in a tremendous effort to record a time of 1:21:53. While he took a wrong turn close to the finish, his 4th place doesn’t fully reflect the hard work he put in. The race was won by former Shettleston member Ross Gollan.
Amy MacLellan also made the trip for the event, finishing 44th overall.
The Highland Fling and More
It’s hard to imagine running 85km (53 miles), but that’s exactly what Mike Deason and Richard Millar did on Saturday at the iconic Highland Fling. The route follows the West Highland Way through the stunning Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
- Mike Deason finished an incredible 7th place overall in 8:04:56.
- Richard Millar finished 282nd in 14:21:37.
In other races, Fergus Donnelly finished 6th in the Arrochar 10km, with Joe Haughey finishing 26th (4th MV40) and Stephanie Zihms finishing 135th (19th FV40).
On the East Coast, Robert Simpson, who is more at home on the hills, ran the Men’s 10km in Edinburgh, finishing 5th overall and 1st M40 with a time of 33:32.
Finally, a massive well done to Michael Paxton, who is making a name for himself on the Scottish Duathlon scene, taking 1st place in Peebles on Sunday.
New Junior Parkrun and West District Relays
The first-ever Alexandra Junior Parkrun took place this weekend! The club was heavily involved in the start-up of this legacy event, which was funded by World Athletics after the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow. It was fantastic to see a couple of our young athletes lead the way, with Rio Biddlecombe finishing as the first boy and Rowan Lennox as the first girl.
Looking ahead, we are still looking for athletes to run the West District Cross Country Relays at Kilmarnock on October 11th. We have reached out to men and ladies via email and WhatsApp, but we still need replies! Young athletes will be entered, and this will be discussed with them.
Parkrun Round-Up: Saturday, September 20th, 2025
Well done to all our Parkrun participants this weekend. We had two runners, Steve Winter and John Duffy, finish in the top five at Palacerigg.
- Tollcross: John Craig, 24:13 (15th); Bob Porteous, 27:27 (33rd)
- Pollok: Rowan Lennox, 22:27 (41st)
- Victoria: Denis Williams, 19:17 (14th)
- Elder: Joseph Paterson, 21:45 (33rd); Raymond Loughran, 28:26 (121st)
- Drumpellier Country: Kevin Armstrong, 28:05 (89th)
- Cuningar Loop: Rebecca Ryan, 27:40 (105th)
- Palacerigg Country: Steve Winter, 19:32 (1st); John Duffy, 20:33 (4th)
- Feldyroo Fitness Trail: Lee Mitchell, 21:37 (4th)