The Final Piece

The Finale

A winter punctuated by South By Five. Events coming along staccato and before you know Christmas and New Year have come and gone and we’re at the final race in the series! Amazing how quickly it comes around.

Last year’s wonderful route twisting and turning through the Queens Park wooded areas was this year unavailable. Storm damage had uprooted a couple of large trees and blocked the route. The addition of some quaint “shelters” also adding to the reroute!

With lurgy and ailments laying us both out the game, a new route wasn’t devised and recced until Thursday before the race! Michelle still hasn’t had opportunity to see the route!

Finally with a route, I can consider where marshals are required, how many heroes we need and put out requests for volunteers. Draft plans made and revised plans made!

Plenty still to be done back at HQ, sorting the numbers, dots and counting the votes, entry lists, merch lists, running order, sorting out all the myriad of wildcard prizes to present.

Fingers Crossed

But with both the overall prizes and the merch (from different suppliers) lost in transit we were at the mercy of Royal Mail to find them. The app showing an expected delivery date of Monday 19th, making them almost a week later than the scheduled delivery date, and more importantly arriving after the event! 🤞🤞

Saturday’s recce with Alan (videographer) was combined with the litter pick – cheers Alan. Meanwhile Michelle teamed up with Angus to clear back some vegetation from an over grown path, now newly christened Angus’ Path. You can therefore blame him for the mud and fallen trees between the allotments and the council yard! 😜😜

More changes

Cancellations from folk now unable to help out due to life throwing curveballs – it happens. New draft plan. And then that’s all thrown up in the air on race day by last second no shows meaning the plan was again amended on the hoof whilst course marking! Trying to mark the course while creating a new marshal plan isn’t my idea of fun, and Michelle certainly heard my frustrations – when her walkie talkie was actually working! Arghhh! 🥴

She’s the personification of calm (outwardly – her current head state means it’s actually mostly a façade – “fake it until you make it” has been her mantra since Kings Park!)

Unfazed by my delays to the course marking and marshal deployment, she organised an impromptu ceilidh/warm up! Mark piped on and folk danced. Beautiful 😍

Queens Park was an awesome finish to the amazing South By Five race series…

Queens Park – the race

We had some mud! Some new bits, some down bits, a big up bit, a tarmac bits, and a steppy bit – oh and another hill! Our amazing paparazzi caught you all on photo and film having the time of your lives!

Still a race in it’s own right, Qx5 had awesome podium stars!

🥇 Callum Wallace (Bellahouston Harriers) & Kristina Glynn (Bellahouston Harriers )

🥈Ethan Tyler (Garscube Harriers) & Karen McQuarrie (Bellahouston Harriers )

🥉Ethan Graham (Bellahouston Road Runners) & Laura Lennon (Victoria Park-City of Glasgow AC)

Fabulous running! Well done.

Full race results and series results are available at:

www.southbyfive.run

Thanks

Our amazing race hi-viz heroes:

Anna Deboub, Lynn Connor, Cha Harris, Dorothy Buchanan, KMAC & Sophie, Tina Kinsey, Dad, Karis McDermott &Skye, Steven Prentice, Steven Gilligan, Stephen O’Neill, Sam Ham, Claire Taylor, Paul Fletcher, Laura Wallace, Zuzana Rencova and Jan, Ray Loughran, Michael Devlin, Seoras Buchanan, Calum Roach, Kathleen McGee, Lukasz Pudlo, Charlie Gorrie, Garry Smith, Nick Dowley, Colin Gray, Kay Cee, Kirsty Milton-Moir, David Genmell, Mark Sutherland

Wellcroft Bowling Club.

Paparazzi

George Wilson, Ian Cochrane, Blythe Lindsay, Kev Queenan.

The Series

As the finale to the series, everyone headed back to the bowling club afterwards for some warming home made soup, drinks and refreshments and the prize-giving ceremony. South By Five is getting a bit of a name for itself for many reasons…another one of those is the excellent array of prizes

Klinsman Cup – Derek the First, Hazel Gulliver, Jacqueline Anderson and Ruairidh Currie

Best Course – Linn Park

Best Dressed – Jane Hodgson

Best Dressed Marshal – Colin The…Clown, Cone, Kilt, Mrs Claus Spongebob, Suited and Booted Gray!

Wild Cards

Spectating skills! – Steve, Isla and Mirren

60 races in his 60th Year – Aidrian Mayne

Everyones fave reindeer – Claire Whyte

Best Newcomer – Lisa Swallow

Best Chauffeur – Ruth Harrison

Best Cuddle – Wee Sophs

Biggest Smile – Kathleen McGhee

Third times a charm..overcoming adversity – Graham Cowan

Showing great grit and determination – Ross Scrimegour

Bringer of the best sticks – Jim the Dog😍

Non runner to trail runner – Elizabeth Brennan

Another massive smile! – Magdalena Blazejcyzk

Acorn Rookie – Ethan Graham

Dodging the whole course! – Laura Wallace

Legend of smiling enthusiasm, never seen without a smile and never beaten to registration! – Derek the 1st

Always smiling – Izzy Macfarlane

Anyone who encouraged us through the mudfest that was Pollok park and then saved our lives with mulled wine!

Best couple running together – Jan and Rod

The photographers – Quality and free pics!

Great bants and chat and not shouting for a change! – John H Roach

Best smile in running photos – Gillian Gallagher

Raising the baking bar – Karen McQuarrie

Safe hands – Steven Gilligan

Acorn team nominated prizes

Party time and epic registration and running combos! Cha Harris, Lynn Connor and Anna Deboub

Furthest Travelled – Magic Margo

Muddiest race bib – Martin Munro, Claire Reindeer Whyte and Gillian Phillips

Best Dancer – Sheila Murray

Dedication to the results – Lucasz Pudlow

Chief negotiator – Catherine Malarnay

Only improvement in time made from KP to LP – David Kelly

Race to Registration – Derek the 1st

Unofficial race between the greens and the blues!.. The Greens! Anna Conlan, Richard Stark and Alan Brown

Star Baker – Karen McQuarrie

Spot Prizes

From baby to South By Five! – Anne Marie Pickersgill/Weir

Positively positive and always grateful – Gordon Gallacher

Migo Sports Prizes (£50 voucher each)

Marshal of the Series – Calum Roach

Runner of the series – Richard Cooper

Bellahouston Harriers Prizes

1 year membership (first non affiliated Male and Female finisher)

Michael Norton
Magdalena Blazejcyk

Spirit of South By Five 

Lisa Swallow

Charity

South By Five, with your help, managed once again to donate £500 to Give A Dog A Bone…and An Animal A Home.

Bellahouston event saw us also donate over £100 to the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice .

We’ve also raised funds to plant another load of trees in the Scottish rewilding project.

And not to mention the THREE MONTHS worth of food we raised for the foodbanks…. East Ren Larder, Pollok Pantry and Glasgow SE Foodbank.

Thanks for another great season. We look forward to welcoming you to our other events throughout the year, and obviously back to South By Five in the autumn.