Linn Park Trail Race report and results 2024

Pigs in sh*t

Everyone thought our trail race in Pollok Park last month was a bit muddy. Linn Park got wind of this and said “hold my beer….”! The Linn Park Trail Race 2024 edition had enough mud to keep a team of pigs happy! By the time the runners crossed the finish line some of them resembled the proverbial pig! Smiles all round.

Recent levels of rainfall meant even the dry bits of the park were wet underfoot. They were now just the driest bits instead of the dry bits.

Kathryn vs Kathleen

To add to the wet and mud, the wind was howling in strong random gusts, as Storm Kathleen slowly maneuvered past Scotland’s west coast. Wind would reek havoc several times on the event. Race numbers blew away before registration even opened! A mad dash back to Acorn Towers by Michelle’s mum, Kathryn, saved the day, with the race starting just 18 minutes later than advertised.

Despite Kathryn’s heroics, Kathleen was not yet finished interfering with the race. Race signage struggled to stay attached to allocated spots, with two arrows only found on Tuesday night, not even close to where they should have been!

Gaz, our trusty gazebo, was also a victim of Kathleen’s rages. A heap of twisted and broken metal all that was left after a particularly strong gust mangled him. He did us proud! And a not insignificant financial implication from the event!

The Race

Down to the actual running! A nice uphill start, stretching the field nicely on approach to the first photographer. An undulating route that left some runners baffled, wondering where the amount of downhill was to combat the incessant climbs.

A mostly one loop route with a wee section at the end to round off onto a great downhill stampede to the finish line. Even the finish line was testing, with more than one runner not on their feet as they stopped the clock! (They’re all okay  😀)

Lost.

Shoes were lost in the mud, arrows were lost in the wind, sections lost to the mud and runners were lost in the top wood. David Gemmell amongst a gaggle to exit the Top Wood first, leading his marshal pal, Liz, to exclaim, “there’s no way David is in second spot”. The runners were quickly put back on track by the fortuitously positioned race director!

Craig Brown, “in twenty years of running I’ve never lost a shoe”. On this occasion it took two hands a lot of heaving to retrieve it. Hi Viz Hero, Sheila Murray, promptly highlighted the sinkhole to avoid injury or further missing shoes!

We chopped a wee section from the route as it was too muddy!! The total distance coming in at 9.6km with 260m of ascent.

West is Best

Robert Hamlin leading home a gaggle of Westies in 42.51. Fellow Westie, Chris Butler 2nd in 42.57, had worked hard to overtake Glenpark Harrier, John Logan who crossed the line in 43.27.

Westerlands CCC claimed 5 of the top ten overall spots, and also third female.

The female podium was a close battle, with Harriet Gribbin (unattached) taking the top step in 52.47, Rebecca Price chasing her down the hill to take 2nd in 53.23 and Westie, Jenny Pebbles taking her second successive Acorn Trails podium in 3rd with 53.38.

1st M40 Scott Henderson (Westerlands CCC)
1st F40 Kirsteen Bowman (unattached)
1st M50 David Downey (Dunblane Runners)
1st F50 Isobel McFarlane (West End Road Runners)
1st M60 Chris Upson (Cambuslang Harriers)
1st F60 Janet Ross (unattached)

Full results are here….

Thanks

An awesome army of hi viz heroes allowed this event to go ahead, standing out in some pretty poor conditions so you guys could have a wee play in the mud:

Cedric Moreau, Lynn Connor, Ray Loughran, Michael Devlin, Kirsty Milton-Moir, Ruth Harrison, Keith (FoLP), Keira Hill, Kathryn Sinsheimer, Kirsten Macleman and Sophie, Kirsten Reilly and Euan, Jen Conway, Garry Smith, Cameron Winton, Jim Speakman, Charles Gorrie, Melissa McLarnon, Cha Harris, Audrey McIntosh, Alasdair McIntosh, Callum Wallace, Liam McGregor, Steven Prentice, Steven Gilligan, Paul Fletcher, Liz Deans, Myrah MacAdam, Sheila Murray, John Softly, Debbie Wright, Stuart Weatherly, David Downey, Ros Docherty (FoLP), George Docherty (FoLP), Councillor Catherine Vallis.

Photos: Kevin Queenan, George Wilson, Bill Oliver, Ian Cochrane, Robert Hill

Thanks also to Tunnocks for the snacks.

And finally thanks to all the runners for turning up and enjoying themselves.

ReShoes

The shoe donations are much appreciated, and these will be passed onto ShoeShare Malawi.

Donations

We’re over the moon that this event has supported both Daniel Kershaw’s fundraising for Cats Protection (£300) and the Friends of Linn Park (£200).

Daniel Kershaw’s former owner, Meatball

Next up

We hope to have some events over the coming months. Watch this space. The Dunky in October is open for entry. In stark contrast to Linn Park, the Duncan Macfarlane Race offers up our least mud and least hills! A perfect introduction to trail racing. Enter now at www.entrycentral.com/acorntrails