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Congratulations to Senior Endurance athlete Jonathan Moore who this morning won the Cumbernauld 10k, for the second year running. 🥇

In an amazing 33 minutes 13 seconds ( 33:12 chip) Jonathan crossed the line over 30 seconds in front of the next runner.

Hot and humid conditions made it a tough morning for all 520 runners, but it wasn’t enough to stop Jonathan taking the trophy for the second year in a row

4 members of MAC in total competed this morning so congratulations goes to all of them. Firstly well done to Paul Burns who came 7th overall and 1st in the M40 category in 36:28. Next for MAC was Mick Cushley, running for the second time in a MAC vest finishing in 40:28 and 10th in his V40 category. Well done Mick!!! And finally well done to Nicole Gierlowski finishing in 45:39 and 8th in the Senior Women category!!!

WELL DONE TEAM!!! ♥️💛🥇🏅🏅🏅

Championship and league standings have been updated following the Queen’s parkrun round of the Road Running Championship.

Note, bonus points have also been added for those who have participated in a relay event to date.

Road Running Championship

With the eight races now done and dusted – and limited opportunities to earn relay points – the focus is now on those taking part in autumn marathons or HMs. The season runs until October 16th, so plenty of time to place on the hypothetical leaderboards.

In the male championship, it’s hard to see beyond Jonathan Moore given his healthy lead and fastest marathon time. In the female championship, Maryann Milne has the lead currently, but Nicole Gierlowski has the fastest marathon and half marathon times.

Twelve MAC athletes tackled the hills at Queen’s parkrun today for the final round of the 2023 Road Running Championship. For the majority, it was a first visit.

The results are as follows…

1st David Gardiner 17:37
7th Evan Crane 20:25
20th Alan Main 22:00
26th Ewen Cameron 22:53
42nd David Hoolaghan 23:58
45th Nicole Gierlowski 24:09
52nd Gillian McCaffer 24:32
65th Lilly Jeffery 25:10
69th Julie McKean 25:18
77th Fiona Greaney 26:06
129th Jac Molloy 29:48
185th Gary Wood 35:15

Congratulations to Davie for being first finisher 😁

Championship and league tables will be updated later…

Motherwell AC will likely have one club place for next year’s London Marathon. Club members who were unsuccessful in the main public ballot may enter the club ballot (subject to requirements) for a second chance to gain a place.

Road Running Championship 2023 Race 7 – Moffat 15k ✅

Well done to the 3 MAC athletes who took part in the Moffat Gala Festival of Running 15k race last night (Tuesday 11th July). An undulating route with a steep mid section, the course features a fast 4.6 mile downhill finish.

Times were as follows…
Jonathan Moore 52:45
Robert Pattinson 01:12:24
Ross McLean 01:23:50

Congratulations to Jonathan who placed 2nd overall after a very close sprint finish!! 🥈

Brilliant running guys!! Well done!!!

Fantastic news just in from today’s Scottish Masters Championships where two Motherwell Athletics Club athletes have won 5 golds in their categories between them.

Amazing results with golds for Jim in his M75 category and Alan in his M45 for both the 100m and 200m. Also gold for Jim in the long jump.

Alan ran Championship best performance in both sprints despite a strong headwind and was first master overall with his brilliant 100m performance.

Report from Coach Bob McCrum was that both had textbook sprint technique.

Massive congratulations to you both from all at Motherwell AC.

Saturday 1st July saw the first race of our 2023 track championships, the 5000m.

A fab 17 athletes took part, with great performances from all.

Results (scratch and age graded) can be found at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fyRtulIYpTcig5xYvfZiGdlWZGs_GhJDNRECXj8bsL8/htmlview#gid=577401649

Thank you to all our helpers and supporters too

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuJ5gR-PaGA/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

News just in…. Motherwell Athletics Club athlete Angus Irvine yesterday competed in the Atlas Running Belfast 100 mile race and finished first place!!

Incorporating the Northern Ireland and Ulster championships, this race is a flat tarmac loop which has to be completed 97 times to make the 100 mile distance. In a chip time of 15hrs, 13 minutes and 37 seconds, Angus was one of only 6 finishers, leading the next runner by nearly 2.5 hours.

Massive congratulations Angus from everyone at MAC!!! What an amazing achievement!!!!

Best of luck to Sofia who is headed Stateside this weekend for a life changing Camp America experience in Maine. After her 8 week stint she has some travel time and then back (in time for cross country season!) Have an amazing time Sofia and best wishes from all your Motherwell AC friends. 👋🏻✈️🇺🇸

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

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!!!

Please click on the link below to view May’s Senior Endurance Newsletter

MAC SE Newsletter 05 – May 2023

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!!

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.

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

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!!!

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

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

Track & Field athletes had many successes over the summer.

Jim Smith won golds in the 100m and 200m, M75 category, at the Northern Irish Masters Championships in Belfast.

Jim also won golds in the same events at the Scottish Masters Championships in Dundee where Alan Robertson also won golds in the M40 100m and 200m.

In the Scottish Athletics Age Group Championships Andrew Clinging won the U13 100m and 200m titles and two gold medals. An outstanding achievement. In the same U13 competition Shay Martin (long jump) and Viktoria Tennant (long jump and 800m) performed really well. In the U15 competition Ella Russell ran a personal best in the 100m semi final and Cameron McCready was just short of a PB in his 200m.

Eight of our junior athletes competed for the North Lanarkshire Team in the Youth Development League competition – Ailsa Queen, Viktoria Tennant, Ella Russell, Andrew Clinging, Joseph Ryan, Max Allison, Daniel Dwyer and Shay Martin.

Well done to all our athletes.

• MAC Team Relays 2022 – The Results

Continue reading “MAC Team Relays – The Results”

We had 25 athletes participating in this month’s VTT; 18 men and 7 women. We had some excellent times, and the first 4 four females across the line were separated by just 13 seconds. Thankfully, the weather gods were a bit more kind to us this month.

First female across the line was Gillian McCaffer in 29:35, and first male was Evan Crane in 24:20. This month the wooden spoon goes to Alan Strang who was about 6 minutes off his regular pace as he returns from injury. Well done to everybody for giving the March VTT a go.

The results and tables can be accessed from the following link.

Time Trial Championship 2021

THE VIRTUAL MARCH TIME TRIAL IS ON FROM FRIDAY 5 – TUESDAY 9 MARCH

There are three options for submitting your time (Garmin or Strava are preferred but a note of your time is also acceptable).

1. Post it in MAC Members preferably with a photo so we can remember what you look like.
2. Send a messenger message to Joe Hoolaghan
3. Email Joe Hoolaghan at joehoolaghan@motherwellac.com

Joe will publish the results on Wednesday 10 March on the website and Facebook.

Eligibility: Only the times of current members of Motherwell AC [on LoveAdmin.com] will count towards the Time Trial Championship.

The rules for the championship have been updated to take into account the changes and flexibility required this year. These are available on the website along with the handicaps [Time Trial Championship 2021] and all members are encouraged to read them.

PLEASE NOTE the following Scottish Athletics Safety Advice:

• Plan your route in advance
• Let someone know when you expect to be back – contact them to check in when you return
• All participants should carry an ICE (In Case of Emergency) card with your name, address,

any medical information and an emergency contact number.

• As per UKA Road Running Rules athletes must NOT run with Headphones

THE VIRTUAL FEBRUARY TIME TRIAL IS ON FROM SATURDAY 6 – TUESDAY 9 FEBRUARY

There are three options for submitting your time (Garmin or Strava is preferred but a note of your time is also acceptable).

• Post it in MAC Members preferably with a photo so we can remember what you look like.
• Send a messenger message to Joe Hoolaghan
• Email Joe Hoolaghan at joehoolaghan@motherwellac.com

Joe will publish the results on Wednesday 10 February on the website and Facebook.

The Virtual Time Trials were quite successful during the first lockdown with an average of 24 participants over the 5 races. So give it a go and set yourself a target for March.

The rules for the championship have been updated to take into account the changes and flexibility required this year. These are available on the website along with the handicaps (https://motherwellac.com/cha…/time-trial-championship-2020) and all members are encouraged to read them.

PLEASE NOTE the following Scottish Athletics Safety Advice:

• Plan your route in advance
• Let someone know when you expect to be back – contact them to check in when you return
• All participants should carry an ICE (In Case of Emergency) card with your name, address, any medical information and an emergency contact number.
• As per UKA Road Running Rules athletes must NOT run with Headphones

Scottish Athletics have issued guidance that all restrictions previously issued now remain in place until further notice.  The club committee confirms that all formal club activity also remains suspended until further notice.

The full Scottish Athletics statement is available in the attached link.

Scottish Athletics Covid-19 Guidance 19 January 2021

Overview:

The first ever Virtual MAC Team Relays for Senior Endurance take place later this month. What is it all about? Simply, participating athletes will be formed into teams, and each team member has to run the event distance of 3k. The times for all team members are combined, and the team with the quickest overall time wins.

Eligibility:

Only current members of Motherwell AC [on LoveAdmin] can participate.

Entries:

Anyone wishing to participate should indicate in the MAC Members Facebook group or send an email to alanstrang@motherwellac.com. The closing date for entries will be midnight on Monday 18th January.

Teams:

Participating athletes will then be formed into teams with the intention to make all teams as similar in overall ability as possible. Teams will be announced on Wednesday 20th January, prior to the run window opening. Team size will be 3 or 4, depending on the overall number of participants. Late entries may be invited to help make up full teams.

Run Window:

The run window for this will be Thursday 21st January at 00:00 until Sunday 24th January at 17:00.

Routes:

Any location can be chosen for the run as long as there is no net downhill elevation to the route. The start and finish points should be close together. Loops can be used, but loops must be at least 1km in length. Out and back routes are also acceptable.

Submitting Times:

Times for the 3k run (preferably with a GPS activity from Strava/Garmin/etc) should be posted in MAC Members Facebook group or sent to alanstrang@motherwellac.com. The deadline for submitting times will be 18:00 on Sunday 24th January.

Results:

Results will be collated and posted as soon as possible after the submission deadline on the Sunday evening.

Prizes:

There are no prizes, just the respect and admiration of your teammates. It’s just a bit of fun to help us get through January.

Club training sessions may be suspended for now, but that is no reason to stop running.

Not sure what to train for?  Take a look at the following virtual events coming up in the next few weeks:

Friday 8th – Monday 11th January

Thursday 21st – Sunday 24th January

Friday 29th January – Monday 1st February

Saturday 6th – Tuesday 9th February

Friday 12th – Monday 15th February