After the longest winter in a century – or does it just seem that way? – last Saturday was mild and sunny, attracting 274 park runners to the Glasgow event, a huge increase on the previous week’s tally of 195. The ongoing thaw has not only made it more pleasant to go out running, it is also much safer now that there is no slippery ice. If the weather keeps up it will soon be time to dig out those sunglasses, your fake tan and, heaven forbid, dodgy lycra shorts.

February's Sweatshop monthly prize winner for Glasgow is Ross Goodman.

Ross Goodman has been a regular at Glasgow parkrun since the beginning of the year, including our cross-country events when Ross discovered he could run faster in ankle deep ice water compared to ankle deep snow! He's brought his time down, on the normal course, from 38:00 to 33:49, so we're sure Ross is eyeing up a sub-30 minute run before too long! Ross's previous results, including his snowy debut on 9th Jan (in 42:19) are on his athlete results page.

Ross is building up to run the Edinburgh Marathon in May, during which he hopes to raise money in memory of his daughter Emma, who sadly passed away from Motor Neuron Disease in 2008. Emma loved to visit the childrens hospice, Rachel House, so Ross is hoping to raise money for the Childrens Hospice organisation CHAS. More details on Ross's justgiving page: http://www.justgiving.com/26Miles4CHAS, and you can follow his fundraising efforts on his blog: http://www.rossgoodman.com/category/fundraising/ - Ross is also on Twitter @rossgoodman

We're delighted to recognise Ross's efforts, contribution and support, as well as some excellent running achievements. We'd also like to thank Hugh Brasher of Sweatshop for his generosity. Ross's prize is a new pair of running shoes fitted at Glasgow Sweatshop. Sweatshop are one of the key sponsors that help parkrun continue, so we hope runners bear them in mind when they're next buying running gear.

The winner is chosen by the event directors or members of the committee designated by them. The successful candidates are often chosen for their perseverance, number of PBs in one month, total number of runs and improvement overall. However, we can award the prize for other reasons at our discretion. If you know someone who has overcome adversity, personal illness or is deserving in any other way, please let us know by emailing glasgowoffice@parkrun.com and we promise to consider your nomination.

• The toilet facilities in the park are down by the Old Stable Courtyard (in the alleyway to the side of the horse stables). The Burrell facilities open at 10am. When I run I like to include a visit to the stable courtyard in my warmup routine. Allow about 15-20 minutes.
• Please don't leave with tokens! Two runners headed off with tokens again yesterday, and we're still missing four others. If you do not want a time, please just drop your token in the no barcode tub, or hand them to a volunteer. If you have inadvertently left with one, please hand it in. It's a fiddle to replace them and they're not as good as the originals.
• Remember your athlete/personal barcode doesn't need to be presented until you are back in the Burrell Carpark. 
• We depend on volunteers coming forward every week. Of those volunteers who do, many are regulars, and we'd like to give them a chance to run more often. If you're a regular participant just helping a few times a year is all we ask. Could you really take a parkrun '50 club' t-shirt if you'd not helped out even once?
• If you have helped, please spread the word and encourage others to get involved in helping. We know it can seem a bit intimidating, but all of our tasks are straight forward and we provide all the training you need.

It was a cold, frosty and emotional morning at Pollok Park on Saturday, February 20 as an amazing 257 runners assembled for Glasgow parkrun 61.  Although a number of big guns gave the weekly 5k time trial a miss to participate in the Scottish National Cross Country Championships in the afternoon or the Kirkintilloch 12.5k race on Sunday, the ranks were swelled by an influx of charity runners and walkers raising cash for the children’s Make a Wish Foundation, who raised over £1000

Making his sixth appearance, Stuart MacDougall (SM25-29) sprinted off at five minute mile pace to take an early lead.   However he was overtaken in the first lap by the chasing pack of Ross Bark (25), James Breen (44) and Al MacLachlan (50) and that’s the way it was to remain as the Stranraer athlete raced to a convincing result, raising his arms skywards as he crossed the line in 17:47.  Hamilton’s Breen just managed to hold off a strong challenge from Bellahouston Road Runner MacLachlan to claim runner-up spot in 18:29, one second ahead of the super veteran. 

In the women’s event the first prize went to Denise Muir (40) who crossed the line in 21:48, 75 seconds more than it took her to run the much flatter Edinburgh parkrun the week previous.   The Portobello runner beat Solihul  and Small Heath’s Samantha Barrett (38) by 46 seconds.  First time parkrunner, Maureen McGarvey (F40-44) placed third with a time of 22:38.

Dedication

Immediately after crossing the line, an emotional Ross Bark explained that he had made the 170 mile return journey with his wife and daughter to take part in the run to help him cope with the loss of his mother in law Mariel who had sadly recently passed away.  He had therefore raised both hands as a celebration and pointed to the sky in memory of his mother in-law who he dedicated his result to.

WAVA

In this week’s Age Graded competition, Irvine’s 58 year old Jim White scored 81.69% with a time of 19:18.

Points Table

Al MacLachlan’s fine performance keeps him at the top of the Men’s Points Table with a total of 905, 114 points ahead of second placed John Gilhooly, with Ian Goudie of Kilmarnock Harriers third on 688. 

Jeanette Whiteside sits at the top of the Women’s Points Table on 770, 116 points ahead of Sophie Mary Parcell, with Bellahouston Harrier Erica Christie in third spot on 578.

Many thanks to Ian Goudie for the write-up. Ian was taking part in the National Cross Country himself, but came along to watch proceedings and lend some support. Many thanks!

A couple of minors...

Social networks

We post regular updates and news items on twitter and facebook. You don't need an account to view the updates, but they'll come in to your feeds if you do. Follow us on twitter: @glasgowparkrun, or become a fan on facebook at facebook.com/glasgowparkrun

We'd remind our participants that the Burrell carpark is charged at £1 from 10am. You can park for free outside of Pollok Park - Shawmoss Road is ideal - and jog in. Particularly useful if you're running late. Wherever you park, please park considerately and adhere to speed limits (15mph inside Pollok). There are also toilet facilities open in the Old Stable Courtyard, from first-light, and can easily be worked in to your warmup. See our Reference pages on facebook (no account required to view) for details and maps. We have an information board in the start area which has the toilet map on.

Competition

To help you on your way, we're delighted to be able to offer a free place on the Glasgow Running Network's 10k refresher course. E-mail GlasgowOffice@parkrun.com with a subject of "Competition entry" if you'd like to be entered into our draw. Details on what's involved here: http://www.runglasgow.org/GRN/training-for-races.php - Entries close after the parkrun on 27th February - We'll do the draw in the Burrell cafe after the event. The course starts in early March, and take place at five locations.

Local Races

There are always local club organised events going on in the area, and we'd encourage our runners to take part in these to test themselves at different distances, and over different courses. See the Glasgow parkrun Links page for upcoming local events, and get in touch if you'd like to promote your event or club.

Thanks again to Ian Goudie for the report.

Regards,

Richard.