Christmas RR Results

The Christmas Road Race proved to be very popular this year with 64 athletes taking part in person and another 6 virtually due to the restrictions on travel.

Zac Smith was the winner of the junior race and Douglas Bain won the senior event.  As usual, the race was handicapped and this allowed for a very close finish in Danes Drive.

Special thanks to the 16 marshals who made the route as safe as possible and the 8 officials who organised the start, finish and time-keeping.

The full results are below with the respective handicap time in the margin.

Pictures from the event can be found on our Facebook Group at this link:

Christmas Road Race

Our Christmas Road Race will be held at 11am on Sunday the 20th of December.  Anyone who would like to take part should arrive at Scotstoun Stadium by 10.30am.  You don’t need to notify anyone in advance of your intention to take part.  Hopefully this will be our one and only mid pandemic Road Race.

Ample parking will be available within the stadium car park on Sunday morning.  Everyone who’s taking part including parents should enter the stadium via the main gate and make your way to the registration points (attached image) where you’ll be given a number, preferably to wear or to verbally identify yourself.  If you’d prefer, you can bring a piece of card and marker pen to make your own number.

Please maintain at least a 2m distance from everyone within the stadium.  The numbers taking part are expected to be low and we'll all be out in the fresh air.

Senior athletes should go to area B within the main stand.  You will register with Hugh Stevenson.  Junior female athletes should go to area C within the main stand to register with Linda Innes.  Junior male athletes should go to area D within the main stand to register with Hannah Hogben.  You can leave any kit clothing in that area as we’ll have at least one volunteer in situ throughout the race.

Anyone who’s able to assist with marshalling the course should report to Gordon Innes in area F within the main stand.  You’ll be given a briefing, a map and a hi vis vest before going to your point.  We do need parents to come forward on the day to make the event as safe as possible.

Once you’ve registered for the race, you’re welcome to use the infield or the track to warm up.  You’ll be called forward prior to your race and be escorted to the start within your competition bubble.

Athletes who are in the U11, U13, U15 and U17 age groups will compete over the 2 mile course (attached image).  This race will be run on the footpath and athletes will give way to pedestrians throughout the route.  There will be a marshal wearing a hi vis vest at every corner and road crossing along the route.  Athletes should only cross roads when encouraged to do so by the marshal.  Anyone who ignores the advice of a marshal will be disqualified.  Members of any age who’re not familiar with distance running can also complete the two mile course for fun, and a medal of course.

Parents are welcome to jog round in support of any young children.

Senior athletes will compete over the three and a quarter mile MacAndrew course (attached image).  Athletes are encouraged to run on the footpaths.  The senior route will not be marshalled.  Please take care when crossing roads and give way to pedestrians while on the footpath.

Unlike major road races where the organisers have the ability to close roads for the safety of athletes, we must rely on athletes using their common sense and in junior athletes being guided by our marshals.  Please treat the race the same way you would treat a training run, safety comes before your personal success.

On completion of the race, please return to the stadium where you can warm down and collect your kit/clothing.  You’ll receive a medal from Linda Innes which has been pre packed in a paper envelope.

Unlike previous years, there’s no hospitality within the Club Deck and no secret Santa but everyone is encouraged to make it as much fun as possible. 

We hope you can attend and join in the fun.

New Life Member

Last week we learned that one of our longest serving and most successful coaches, Sheila Atkinson had decided to step down from her coaching duties after 36 years.  We probably shouldn’t have been surprised as Sheila is now 77 years of age and has spent most of her adult life volunteering in one capacity or another.

The current restrictions on track access in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ever changing risk assessments were the final straw for Sheila.

Plans to award Sheila with Life Membership of the club were brought forward and while we can’t make a formal presentation until October next year, we felt she should be aware of how highly she’s been regarded by the Committee, fellow coaches and our membership.

Sheila has been involved in athletics since the age of 12 when she joined the North Shields Polytechnic Club in Tyne and Wear.  Her preferred events were the sprints, long jump and shot put.  She must have had talent because she represented Northumberland in the 80yard hurdles and the long jump at the National Schools Championships.

Sheila worked at the Trustee Savings Bank in Glasgow before she and her husband Brian settled in Torrance to raise their three sons.  She returned to work after the children had grown up and worked as a teaching auxiliary at Campsie View School.

Like many of our coaches, Sheila followed her three sons to Scotstoun when they joined Victoria Park.  All three were talented athletes with Mark achieving success in the 400m flat, Stephen in Long Jump, and his twin Graeme in 400m Hurdles.

Fortunately for the club, Sheila wasn’t going to stand at the trackside and was recruited by the then Secretary Wallace Crawford to join the coaching team.

Sheila introduced hundreds of youngsters to track and field athletics in her dual roles of coach and team manager.  She worked closely with Kate Young and Hugh Baillie in a very successful period for the club.

Her time was well spent and she nurtured the likes of David Martin, Calum Innes and Gregor Innes to success in her specialist events of 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles.

David won the 400m hurdles at the English AAA Championships in Birmingham in 2005 and was part of the gold medal winning 4x400m relay team that represented Great Britain at the European Junior Championships at Hengelo, Netherlands in 2007.  Gregor was 2^nd in the 400m hurdles at the English AAA Championships at Don Valley in 2007 and Calum represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India in 2008.

Her hurdles group was very highly rated and Sheila was mentored by none other than Nick Dakin (head coach, Loughborough) and due to her success, the great David Hemery (Olympic Gold 1968) was encouraged North to work with her group on a number of occasions.

It wasn’t all hard work of course, Sheila enjoyed her annual warm weather training sessions with the group in Portugal, Malta and Tenerife.  Her group was always in the best physical shape so it came as no surprise when out for an evening meal with 10 of her group on Byers Road, she was asked by a waitress to explain her popularity with all these young men.

In 36 years of coaching, Sheila unearthed a few diamonds and shared in their success when collecting silverware around the world but our gratitude is for the hours and hours she spent standing at the trackside, stop watch in hand in all weathers, which made each of her group better athletes and hopefully better well rounded adults.  If they go on to make a fraction of the contribution to our community that Sheila has, we’ll all be in a better place.

Although Sheila is stepping down from coaching, she’ll continue to volunteer as a church elder at Baldernock Parish Church where she’s served since 1968, she’ll continue to serve on the women’s guild committee and volunteer at Riding for the disabled where she has served for the last 20 years.

Congratulations Sheila.

Booking Information

Athletes returning to training at Scotstoun will have to book their sessions via our LoveAdmin system.  The reason for this is to allow the club to create a separate attendance register for each group of athletes.  Athletes will meet and train with a maximum of 10 in their training bubble.  Their coach will be physically distanced throughout the session.

The sessions will be phased in from Monday the 5^th of October.  The last groups to resume will start on Monday the 12^th of October.

The sessions are in a six month block and will repeat on the same day of the week until you notify our admin team of a change to your plans.

Booking Process

To book yourself or your child onto a session, you should login to LoveAdmin using your usual login information.  You should select “Events” on the menu bar at the top of the page. 

You’ll then see a list of all of the sessions that can be booked.  We’ve added additional sessions from Monday till Thursday for U11’s and U13’s from 5.30pm till 6.55pm, Friday evening from 7.05pm till 8.30pm and Saturday morning from 9.30am till 12.30pm.

We’ve also added a Friday session for U15’s and U17’s from 7.05pm till 8.30pm.

You should select the training group you would like to join and click on the booking link.  You should select the number of athletes attending (1) and confirm your booking.  You will receive a confirmation email, if you do not, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you’re unsure of you or your child’s age group, when you login to LoveAdmin, click on the drop down menu next to “Viewing form for: ” and the age group should be visible.

Please check the time of your session when booking, some are from 5.30pm till 6.55pm.

This booking will only ensure that your child is training at a set time on a set day of the week.  The group will be divided into bubbles of 10.  If your child has a regular training partner, you can send a request for them to train together to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. although we may not be able to accommodate everyone.

Maximum Sessions

Spaces are limited due to the physical distancing required between groups and the small number of athletes in each group due to Covid-19.  Please, book a maximum of two sessions per week.  If you book a session but are unable to attend regularly, please cancel your booking by email to allow another member to take your place.

Briefing

Prior to attending your first session at Scotstoun, you’ll receive an email confirming how you’ll enter the stadium.  You’ll be given directions to a rendezvous point within one of the stands where you’ll be joined by your training partners and your coach.  You’ll also receive additional guidance on the temporary changes we’ve made to make your return as safe as possible.

Return Dates

U15/U17 Groups will return from Monday 5^th of October.

Throws Groups of all ages return from Monday the 5^th of October.

Endurance Groups of all ages return from Monday the 5^th of October.

U11/U13 Groups will return from Wednesday the 7^th of October.

The Disability Group will return from Wednesday the 7^th of October.

Event Groups

Athletes who’re part of an event group led by the following coaches should not book into any of these sessions.  You will be manually added to your group’s attendance register and instructions for attending will be sent to you.

The Event Groups are coached by Bill Parker, John Wilson, Moira Jordan, Colin Spiers, Pamela O’Connor and Mick Turner.

The event coaches should send me a list of athletes in their training groups and the dates and times of their sessions.

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