East Kilbride Athletic Club had six full teams competing at last weekend’s Allan Scally Relays.
There were brilliant results and personal bests (PB) from the race.
So many in fact it’s hard to know where to start this report!
Let’s start at the beginning – what even is the Allan Scally Relays?
The Allan Scally relays are a race hosted by Shettleston AC.
The race is hosted in memory of one of their former members.
It has been a 4 person relay team race since 1969.
Originally the race was ran in the Shettleston area until 2009.
The police deemed running on the roads unsafe.
The race moved to Mount Vernon and was ran there until 2017.
When again the police deemed it unsafe.
From 2019 it has been run on a traffic free course in Glasgow Green.
Since 2019 it has existed as a 4 x 5km relay race.
For the race it was teams of four runners. Each runner had to run 5km.
Now you know what it is, onto the important bit – how did East Kilbride AC get on?
The answer is – good!
Team results as follows:
Men’s A Team = 10th
(Daryl Reid 14:47, Grant Baillie 15:19, Jack Kirwan 16:33, Andrew Forteath 16:49)
Men’s B Team = 22nd
(Calum Charters 15:56, Aaron Thomson 16:53, Euan Rose 16:15, Chris Watters 17:26)
Men’s C Team = 36th
(Johnathan Hunter 17:54, Sam Hosie 17:46, Luke Kirwan 16:56, Vincent Hastings 16:43)
Men’s D Team = 79th
(John Edwards 18:18, Andrew Chapman 20:11, Gerry O’Neil 19:48, Keith Charters 19:16)
Men’s E Team = 121st
(Michael Carlin 21:35, John Paul Connor 21:17, Vincent Glennon 21:31, Gordon Colvin 21:27)
Ladies A Team = 24th
(Kelly Ballie 19:23, Erin Chapman 23:59, Vivien Thorpe 21:41, Rachael Williams 23:57)
Ladies B Team = Gemma Kirwan 23:28
The club had 5 complete men’s teams for only the 6th time in the club’s 64-year history.
Also, five complete men’s team for the first time since 1987.
The complete ladies’ team is on the back of having a complete team last year.
This highlights the healthy growth of the club in recent years and hopefully we continue to grow!
The club is always looking for new members – if you are reading this and thinking of joining please do get in touch!
Regarding growth.
The race is open to Under 17s (U17) and above. This gives U17s an ideal intro to the senior running set up and lets them get them involved with the club’s senior team.
Calum Charters, Aaron Thomson, Sam Hosie, Johnathan Hunter and Erin Chapman all made their senior team debuts at the race. Which is great to see and a testament to the junior group coaches for progressing these athletes up the age group ranks.
On the Personal Best (PB) front – there were no fewer than 14 PBs set on the day!
Calum Charter’s 15:56 was a 29 sec PB, Johnathan Hunter’s 17:54 was a 4 sec PB, Erin Chapman’s 23:59 was a 39 sec PB, Vincent Hastings’ 16:43 was a 26 sec PB, Keith Charter’s 19:16 was a 19 sec PB, Andrew Forteath’s 16:49 was a 22 sec PB, Gerry O’Neil’s 19:48 was a 10 sec PB, Gemma Kirwan’s 23:28 was a 5 sec PB, Michael Carlin’s 21:35 was a 2 sec PB, John Edwards’ 18:18 was a 9 sec PB, Chris Watters’ 17:26 was a 12 sec PB, John Paul Connor’s 21:17 was a 45 sec PB, Kelly Baillie’s 19:23 was a 32 sec PB.
This shows the benefits of joining a running club. Anyone looking to beat their own 5k times should seriously think about joining East Kilbride AC.
Other notable performances:
Calum Charters’ 15:56 – was the fastest time by an U17 on the day.
Grant Baillie’s 15:19 – was the fasters time by an athlete over 40 on the day.
Daryl Reid’s 14:47 – was the 7th fastest time of the day overall.
Gordon Colvin’s 21:27 – his fastest 5k in 4 years!
Andrew Chapman’s 20:11 – his fastest 5k since 2018!
Saving one of the best until last – Luke Kirwan 16:56! Luke has suffered 12 years of injury hell – but has never given in. He has come back time and again. This is arguably Luke’s best performance since he was an U13. Well done, Luke!
In terms of East Kilbride AC team performance:
The men’s A Team has only bettered 10th place 7 times prior.
Last Saturdays was the 8th best placing ever.
After the first two legs they were sitting 3rd place overall.
Showing that in the very near future East Kilbride AC will challenge to win the race overall.
Men’s B Team’s placing of 22nd is the best placing ever by the B team!
Men’s C Team’s placing of 36th is the 2nd best placing of all time for the C Team.
Only being bettered by a 30th for the C Team in 1981.
The Ladies A Team was 24th this year and was 20th last year.
To highlight the strength of performance over the 5km, East Kilbride had:
On the men’s front:
1 runner under 15 mins
3 runners under 16 mins
9 runners under 17 mins
12 runners under 18 mins
Lastly, 25 people in total running for the club on Saturday – amazing!
Well done to each and everyone of you for getting out there, toeing the line and getting around it.
Again, if you live in, near or around the area and are keen to join an athletics club – get in touch with East Kilbride.
