National Youth Development League 4.6.23

A tremendous day of competition at the National Youth Development League at a very sunny Ayrshire Athletics Arena today. We had 5 young athletes in Team North Lanarkshire, all of whom performed superbly, with a few PBs (subject to confirmed results) being achieved.

 

Well done to the whole team and to Ana, Andy, Euan, Luke and Luke for representing MAC so well.

 

Thanks to the family and friends who came to support.

 

Ewen Cameron, Team Manager

Road Running Championship 2023 – Race 5 – Strathclyde Parkrun – 3.6.23 – Results and report

Today an amazing 29 Motherwell AC athletes and trialists ran the 5th race of this year’s Road Running Championship, the 5k Strathclyde parkrun.

In complete contrast to the last time the club ran this Parkrun, which was our mob match in January versus Hamilton, today was an extremely warm and sunny morning. It was great to see so many MAC vests as everyone took to the start line. On the course the shade in the small wooded area at the top of loch was a welcome relief both on the out and back. But the heat did not stop our athletes running great times.

The results were as follows…

Jonathan Moore 15:26
Evan Crane 18:27
Alan Main 18:40
Iain Campbell 18:53
Alan Tait 19:18
Aaron Campbell 19:40
Emma Morris 19:52
Kirsty Young 19:54
Ewen Cameron 20:19
Mark Ellis 20:20
Graeme Kennedy 20:46
Robbie Pattinson 20:53
Neil Hendy 21:54
Nicole Gierlowski 22:48
Gillian McCaffer 22:50
Lucy Saez 23:20
David Hoolaghan 23:52
Douglas Samson 23:53
Fiona Greaney 24:05
Julie McKean 24:20
Charla Hands 25:06
Marcus Whyte 25:08
Phyllis Hands 26:24
Gary Arthur 26:28
Emma Main 29:48
Jac Molloy 29:54
Alastair Loudon 30:56
Patricia Allan 31:50
Gary Wood 34:50

These results include our current trialists and also those not competing in the championship, some of which are returning from injury.

Special notes go to…

Jonathan Moore – first place overall and a PB
Alan Main, Aaron Campbell, Emma Morris, Neil Hendy, Lucy Saez and Charla Hands who all got PBs either for the 5k or parkrun.
Jac Molloy and Alastair Loudon who both made their pacing debut and helped many to make a PB.

Well done to all our runners!!!

Also huge thanks to all the volunteers, because without volunteers, there would be no Parkrun!!!

Emily Awarded for Excellence

Junior track athlete Emily, was yesterday (31.5.23) presented with an award for excellence in Sports and Athletics

 

A Celebrating Success prize giving ceremony was held by South Lanarkshire Council Education in the Townhouse in Hamilton, and Emily was surprised to find out she was up for an award.

 

A photograph is attached of a very happy Emily with her certificate!!

 

 

Congratulations Emily from all your coaches and team mates at Motherwell Athletics Club. We’re all so very proud!! Your award is very well deserved!!!

Edinburgh Marathon Festival & Dunblane 12k

It’s was a very hot Bank Holiday weekend as thousands of runners took to the streets for the events of the Edinburgh Marathon Festival. Set over 2 days, it sees many races of different distances. The Sunday saw some of our MAC athletes take on both the half and full marathon distance in sweltering heat.


Huge congratulations to…

 

Nicole Gierlowski.

On her first ever marathon she achieved her goal with a fabulous 3:44:17. She said the route was great and the atmosphere fab!! Well done Nicole!!!


Russell Beswick.

Russell completed Marathon number 75 on Sunday at the EMF in a time of 3:26:40. Yip you read that correct!! 75!! With number 74 being just last week around Lake Windermere. Pic attached from Windermere. What an amazing achievement Russell!!!

 

Ross McCaig

Ross ran the marathon superbly in a brilliant 3:46 despite the scorching heat. Well done Ross!!!

 

Fiona Greaney

Fiona smashed the half marathon distance with a new pb of 1:49:06, wiping over 4 minutes off of last year’s time!! Amazing Fiona!!!!

 

Evan Crane

Edinburgh wasn’t the only event of the weekend with Evan running the Dunblane 12k Road Race. He paced and supported his brother on his comeback race to a brilliant 53:50. Fab work Evan!!

 

Well done to all who took part in events!!

 

MAC Team Relays 2023 – Report By Alan Strang

For an evening in late May, it was surprisingly chilly at Strathclyde Park for the 2023 edition of the MAC Team Relays.  But that didn’t prevent the squad from showing up en masse.  With thirty-five runners and six helpers/supporters, the club had a sizable presence at the top end of the loch! (For reference, the 2022 event had twenty runners.)

 

It was a tricky exercise trying to form the nine teams whilst also walking lochside to the start point.  This is likely to be the first and last time taking that approach!  However, we got there in the end, and once all the teams were announced, the discussions about who would run each leg quickly took over. As did the banter between teams, all done in the usual good spirits.

 

The team results were:

 

1st – Team A – 53:56 (Jonathan Moore, Pat Allen, John Hughes, Jonathan Moore)
2nd – Team G – 54:05 (Craig Mackenzie, Russell Beswick, Thomas Sneddon, David McLeary)
3rd – Team D – 54:51 (Aaron Campbell, Ross McLean, Alan Main, Gary Arthur)
4th – Team H – 55:12 (Charla Hands, Kirsty Young, Lucy Saez, Robbie Pattinson)
5th – Team F – 55:19 (Alastair Loudon, Kirsty Oliver, Lilly Jeffrey, Douglas Samson)
6th – Team I – 56:07 (Neil Hendy, Nicole Gierlowski, Gillian McCaffer, Brian McLinden)
7th – Team C – 56:55 (Colin Gardner, Iain Campbell, Dougie O’Hare, Graeme Kennedy)
8th – Team E – 57:35 (David Hoolaghan, Angela Downie, Peter Gallagher, Jim White)
9th – Team B – 61:31 (Scott Dickson, Emma Main, David Gardiner, Anne Hughes)

 

In previous reports, a commentary has been provided about who was in the lead, which runners gained positions, etc.  With nine teams taking part, there are not enough hours in the day to write such a thing.  What has been prepared, however, is a graph showing how the position of each team changed after each leg.  Hopefully this proves a worthy substitute.

 

Congratulations to Team A for a fine win, and commiserations to Team G who were oh so close to winning.  Indeed, if Jonathan had run his magnificent second leg in the same time as his first, it would be Team G who were victorious.  But fair play to Jonathan, who started the final leg in 8th position and still managed to finish first!

 

Thanks to everyone who came down to the park to take part in this event.  To see such numbers running or helping is a fantastic reflection on the club.  Hopefully everyone had fun, and that’s what it’s all about.

 

MAC Open 5k Social Run for National Running Week Scotland 

Motherwell Athletics Club are proud to be involved in the first ever Scottish National Running Week. Taking place from Monday 5th to Sunday 11th June, the week brings a chance to celebrate the positive effect running and athletics have on our lives, and help those that currently cannot participate. By raising funds for Athletics Trust Scotland, we’re helping to support disadvantaged communities across Scotland.

 

From the Athletics Trust Scotland website…

 

“ National Running Week will focus on raising much needed funds for the Transforming Lives Project, which will give the most disadvantaged people in Scotland the opportunity to improve their social, physical and mental wellbeing by deploying community leaders in the most underrepresented areas in athletics and also distributing a grant fund to these communities.

Research shows that people who live in poverty, have a disability or are in ethnically and culturally diverse communities, are significantly underrepresented in running and athletics. As part of National Running Week, we want the athletics and running community to come together and support our mission to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged. “

 

As part of National Running Week, Motherwell Athletics Club are hosting a 5k on Thursday 8th June which is open to all, not just members. We’d love to welcome runners and joggers of all abilities to join us for a social 5k. It has been suggested by Athletics Trust Scotland that to take part a voluntary £5 donation can be made by hitting the ‘register’ button on the Athletics Trust Scotland website linked below. Although this is not mandatory and all are more than welcome at attend our session regardless of donation. 

https://athleticstrustscotland.org.uk/nationalrunningweek/

 

We really look forward to welcoming as many people as possible to join us for an evening celebrating the sport we love. 

 

Details

Thursday 8th June at 6:30pm

We meet at The Boathouse rear car park at Strathclyde Park. 

A warm up will be offered along with cool down / stretch followed by refreshments afterwards

CSSAL match Linwood – 20.5.23

Tremendous performances across the board at the CSSAL match at Linwood today. A good number of personal bests, great racing and performances in the field events.

Thanks to all our athletes, young and older, for turning out and representing the club so well. You set a standard of behaviour and effort that makes it a pleasure for our coaches to support your development. Well done all, thanks to the team management and coaches, and to all the family and friends who came along support.

And to coach Charla – the empire biscuits were a joint highlight, thank you!! 🍪😋

Small selection of photos from Linwood

Coach Ewen Cameron

 

Double Gold for Emily 🥇🥇

News just in from today’s South Lanarkshire Schools Track and Field Event. Junior MAC athlete Emily raced exceptionally well today winning both her heat and the final of the P6 600m in a time of 2 minutes 10 seconds. She then also went on to win the P6 girls long jump.

Emily is absolutely delighted and has now qualified for the finals in June!!! Well done Emily from all your coaches and team mates at Motherwell AC!!!

 

3rd place for Robbie!!!

Congratulations to MAC Senior Endurance member Robbie Pattinson who came third in the MV50 category in the Stag to Hind hill race in Moffat this week. A 3.5 mile event run by Hartfell Hill Runners, Robbie finished 12th overall in a time of 31:53. He said it was a great event, especially with the free chippy at the end!!!

Photos attached of Robbie crossing a burn during the run and receiving his prize of a bottle of beer. Well done Robbie!!!

MAC Team Relays 2023

MAC Team Relays 2023

Tuesday 23rd May 2023

OVERVIEW:

The MAC Team Relays for Senior Endurance return for 2023! This will be the same as previous events: participating athletes will be formed into teams, and each team member has to run one leg of two miles. First team home wins.

ENTRIES:

Unlike previous MAC Team Relays, members and trialists do not need to indicate their participation in advance. Instead, all who turn up on the night will be included in the event.

TEAMS:

Participating athletes will be formed into teams of (ideally) four on the night. So please, please, please arrive on time to ensure teams can be formed without delay. Current time trial handicaps will be used in the allocation process.

RUNNING ORDER:

It is up to each team to decide on its running order. The only requirements are that each team member runs at least one leg, and each team must run four legs. For any incomplete teams, team members may run additional legs in order to complete the relay.

ON THE DAY:

This event will be the club training session for Tuesday 23rd May. Please meet at the Strathclyde Park Watersports Centre by 6.30pm to ensure inclusion in the event. Late arrivals risk missing out. The relay action will commence at the top of the loch at 7pm.

Please make every effort to wear your MAC vest or tee. If you do not have one, please make this known in advance so something can be sorted out.

If you can also bring some safety pins for the home-made race numbers, that would be appreciated. Some will be made available, but possibly not sufficient for all.

ROUTE:

The route will be a mini version of the old Strathclyde parkrun (turning loop at the playpark and return on lochside path) and can be viewed here: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1537352

Report from West District Champs

Congratulations to our young athletes who performed so well at the West District Champs at Kilmarnock this weekend. Great performances and effort as always.

 

Official results:

Saturday

U13

100m – Emma Irvine – 15.58

800m – Ana Muldoon – 2.43.27

800m – Eoghan Connelly – 2.54.12

U15

100m – Andy Clinging – 12.42 1st place

Sunday

U13

200m – Eoghan Connelly – 31.72 4th place

200m – Emma Irvine – 32:17

U15

High Jump – Ella Russell 1.36m 4th place

 

Official results here – https://results.scottishathletics.org.uk/West/

 

Special mention to Andy for his gold medal in the 100m!!! Well done!!!

 Thanks to everyone who supported and competed,  and to our coaches for being there for the athletes. Photos courtesy of Ewen Cameron, Jac Molloy, Simon Gold and Bobby Gavin via Scottish Athletics.

Road Running Championship Race 4 Report

Our Road Running Championship continued today (Sunday 14th May) with race number four, the Babcock Shettleston 10k, which also hosted the Scottish National 10k Championships for the first time. There was some phenomenal times at the front of the field.

 

 

A relatively flat Glasgow Green course meant there was always going to be some fast times achieved, and indeed 2 of our MAC athletes, Jonathan Moore and Lilly Jeffrey managed PBs over the 10k.

 

 

Provisional results were

Jonathan Moore 32:19 PB

Evan Crane 38:22

Iain Campbell 39:35

Jim White 40:03

Lewis McLuskey 41:00

Graeme Kennedy 43:50

David Hoolaghan 43:57

Maryann Milne 47:17

Lilly Jeffrey 48:58 PB

Fiona Greaney 50:05

Peter Gallagher 50:37

 

Well done Team!!!!

MAC 7 represent Team North Lanarkshire in National Youth Development League

A report follows from Coach Ewen Cameron.

Congratulations to the seven young MAC athletes selected to represent Team North Lanarkshire in the National Youth Development League at Grangemouth today. All performed superbly and represented the club impeccably. Definitely a few PBs today, subject to the results being verified! 👏🏻👏🏻

Well done Andy, Ana, Ella, Euan, Luke, Luke and Viktoria!

 

A couple of photos were all I had time to take. Thanks to the families who came along to support.

Proud Team Manager,
Ewen

SRI Chinmoy 5k National Championship

A fantastic turnout of 12 MAC athletes ran the SRI Chinmoy 5k National Championship race at Silverknowes on the evening of Friday 5th May.

 

 

An out and back with a twist, perfectly flat course and extremely fast field has the potential for some great times, and that was definitely the case for our club. Despite a freezing breath-taking headwind in parts, not only for the first mile, but also the last half mile too, 7 of the 12 ran new personal bests!

 

Huge congratulations goes out to Patricia Allen who retains her W70 National title!

 

Provisional results are

Jonathan Moore 15:29 (PB)

Evan Crane 17:58 (PB)

Iain Campbell 18:49

David Hoolaghan 20:54 (PB)

Nicole Gierlowski 21:03 (PB)

Maryann Milne 21:38 (PB)

Lilly Jeffrey 23:03 (PB)

Charla Hands 24:04 (PB)

Emma Knox 24:44

Jac Molloy 24:54

Phyllis Hands 25:04

Patricia Allen 33:02

 

Well done team!!!

 

The club Road Running Championship tables update will follow

Motherwell AC enjoy weekend at Glenmore Lodge


An amazing time was had by all who attended the return of MAC’s residential training weekend trip to Glenmore Lodge near Aviemore. Twenty seven athletes and friends made the trip north for a weekend filled with all things running and more. Friday saw a social easy run around the stunning Loch Morlich followed by an informative and interesting talk by Coach Joe Hoolaghan and then a fun filled quiz with Joe and his wife Mags.

Saturday morning the group, including 18 club members were warmly welcomed by the team at Aviemore Parkrun. A scenic undulating route, Jonathan Moore took first place overall with a new Parkrun 5k pb of 16:01. Well done Jonathan!!!

After a cuppa and cake (it was parkrun after all!!) it was time for Pilates with Coach Mae McIssac. Free time followed with many going off to enjoy the surrounding area. Some headed back to Loch Morlich for some watersports fun. Jac Molloy and Marcus Whyte who also enjoy Stand Up Paddle Boarding in their spare time, had brought their equipment with them and some of the group decided to join them and try it out. They all took to it like ducks to water, having much fun and laughs.

Saturday night was a very helpful talk by Jonathan Moore on Injury Prevention for Runners followed by another fun quiz, this time hosted by Tommy Sneddon and Elaine Jamieson. Waking on the final morning a yoga session with Marcus stretched tired bodies before a last run or hike up the hill to the nearby beautiful Green Loch and beyond.

Overall a fantastic weekend was enjoyed by everyone who attended. Time well spent with people who all share a love for our sport. As actor Richard O’Brien once said “running is not, as it so often seems, only about what you did in your last race or how many miles you ran last week. It is, in a much more important way, about community. “

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