Sunday morning, beginning of February… must be Battery Park for the Renfrewshire Road Race Championships. And guess what, it was wild, wet and windy! The conditions for the Seniors were probably the worst with the wind stronger and the rain heavier.
Nevertheless, our Senior Women with Allie Chong, Hilary Carswell and Anji Carson survived all that Greenock could throw at them & with Bronze made the Podium – actually Hilary wasn’t physically on the steps there as she had to dash but you know what we mean. 
The Senior men were well represented with Connor Drummond leading them home, into the wind, in a strong 8th place – also in a faster time than last year. Nick Boyle, Lewis McGuire (before setting off for some warm weather training in Canberra for a semester) Andy Campbell, Kenneth Macleod, Garry Sturgeon and Andrew Mostyn completed the Giffnock team. A mention of our Club coach Tony Connolly who came in 4th for Bella Road Runners.
Then U11 Boys were on the start line. Kyle Hartley took Silver in the Renfrewshire race (3rd overall) and the U11 Boys Team took the Gold with Murray McKerracher and Carter McLaws. The rest of the U11 Boys were packing!! A great show! Nihal Lindsay, Leo Mcfetridge, Adam Rai, Lachlan Greenhalgh, Josh Reid, Finlay Moir and Finlay Rae, Riley Rhicard & Luke Hamilton
It was not the best year for U11 Girls as some were racing indoors in the Relay Teams at the Emirates. Moreover, a few were competing in their first race but despite the cold and wet they embraced the experience. That’s what we like to see, and they will be back for more! Alex Rough, Amy Heffron & Ava Campbell nearly made it to the podium . Well done to them and all the other U11 Girls – some competing for the first time- Ana Mcfetridge, Wren Joshi, Kate Cameron, Vidhi Rai ,Skye Thomson & Noelle Macdonald.
Next up were the under 13 squad with boys and girls running together. Great to see so many GN shirts on that start line and the results made us all proud. Individual medals galore with Gold for Anna and Finlay, Silver for Ella and Christopher and Bronze for Lotty and Ben. Team golds for boys and girls with all the individual medallists on the podium again. Great runs from the rest of the squad on a cold blustery day. We’re proud of you all and looking forward to your next outing at Falkirk. Thank you to parents and coaches for your support to this fantastic group of athletes.
By the time the U15s set off, the weather was starting to ease off (Sorry Allie, Anji and Seniors!), though still a healthy Greenock wind with drizzle to contend with. A fantastic 10 Giffnock girls helping to make up a good field of 29 athletes. Grace Barry from Inverclyde set off fast and was being tracked by our own pack of Giffnock grafters. The girls closed the gap, and in an incredible last lap April MacAulay sped past Grace to take gold. Eve Cameron just behind for bronze. Isabella Wilson was 4th to complete the Team Race counters and another great collective gold. Fantastic runs also from Nicole Yates, Eve Wilkinson, Eleanor Osborne, Megan Jackson, Anna Hill, Ava Taylor and Rebecca Martin. Some invaluable race experience gained.
The U15 Giffnock boys squad of 7 gave a brilliant account of themselves, taking a podium 1,2,3. First in was Donald McInnes in 10mins dead – he was closing on (non-Renfrewshire) athlete Finn Smith of Springburn, but just ran out of tarmac! Connor McCallum and Finn MacDonald took silver and bronze respectively to fill that podium with yellow and blue, as well as picking up the obvious team prize. Terrific runs also by Adam Tortolano, Patrick McGovern, Max McFetridge and Ruaridh Mostyn. Well done boys!
The U17 Women’s race saw 4 Giffnock athletes take part, and coming in 1,2,3,4. Isla Munro and Lucy McGhie ran the first 3 laps side by side, then Isla pulled away on the 4th and final lap to take the win, with Lucy just 9 seconds behind for silver. Emily Langdon completed the medal haul (bronze) and ensured the team prize, followed by Rachael Hill in 4th.
Giffnock had one valiant solo runner in the U17 Men’s race – Matthew Hill. There was a big pack of Kilbarchan athletes who all set off fast. Matthew bided his time, picking most of them off, to finish a very respectable 3rd and get on that podium, grabbing some bling to back to the southside!
A good day at the office!
Report collated by Ian Mcfarlane from all the coaches at the Battery Park on the Day. More photos on our Facebook page.
Thanks Ian
Results
https://protay.co.uk/raaa2025/results.php
https://protay.co.uk/raaa2025/results.php
