The weather forecast for Saturday in Glasgow was for below zero temperatures and fog first thing in the morning so the setup team were out bright and early in Pollok park to assess the condition of the parkrun route and decide whether or not an alternative course would be needed. When we all slipped simultaneously and almost fell on the ice on the road from the Burrell car park the decision was made that salting the icy patches would not be enough to make the standard course safe. The playing field route had been used previously by parkrun although it was a bit soggier this time around and had to be rerouted slightly to take account of the new ponds which had recently appeared.
To ensure that no one obtains an unbeatable Personal Best, and there was none, the alternative routes are generally slightly longer than 5K and the playing field route used on this occasion if no shortcuts were taken was 5.29K. Although the course was a bit muddy-no surprise there then- it is January in Scotland after all – it was a beautiful day for a run. And whilst many of the 285 runners enjoyed the cross country run the fact remains that many pairs of running shoes will never really be white ever again. If you were one of the 36 first time park runners please come back again and enjoy the usual route through the forest.
Congratulations to all those who took part and in particular to
Men's placings:
1st - Ethan SLOAN-DENNISON (JM15-19) of Victoria Park City Of Glasgow AC, in 18:17.
2nd -David HENDERSON (SM30-34) of Greenock Glenpark Harriers, 19:08.
3rd - Niall MCALINDEN (SM25-29) of Westerlands Cross Country Club, 19:12.
Women's placings:
1st - Jenny BANNERMAN (SW20-24) of Inverness Harriers AAC, (9th overall) in 21:25
2nd - Emma LAMONT (SW25-29) of Fusion Triathlon Club, (29th overall) in 23:11.
3rd - Claire WHARTON (VW40-44) of Bellahouston Road Runners, (30th overall) in 23:13.
Grateful thanks are also due to all the volunteers who stoically endured frozen fingers and toes to make the event happen!

Well done – all of you !

Liz Corbett

 The run is in Glasgow Green again this year to help raze money for combat Stress. 3rd March 2012.

Entry fee is £5 for adults and £2 for 12years and under. Anyone wishing to take part in this year's run can email me at john_hen_2000@yahoo.co.uk and I can send you out an entry form or sponsor form if you wish. There is a warm up with Claire Gemmell starting at 1145am then the run will start at 12pm. There will be prises for the first three men, women and kids to complete the 5k run There will be no prises for the 1mile walk.

Thank you all so much and I hope to see you all on the day.

 I am writing to invite you to join is the 2012 Run Kirkintilloch series. Held during the year, this includes the 12.5k race in February, 10k in June and the half marathon in October. Details here of the races and the series.

Resolution 5k is designed to help turn New Year’s Resolutions into a reality and the event is a fun approach to achieving goals. Registration costs £10 and there is no set minimum sponsorship, we simply ask participants to raise as much as they can. All money raised will go to supporting the charity’s work in Scotland. All participants will receive a medal and a t-shirt on the day.

For more information – www.stroke.org.uk/resolution

There's also a flyer (PDF link) for the Glasgow event.

Carnegie Harriers presents the Devilla Forest 15 and Devilla Forest 5, two new trail races through the Devilla Forest near Kincardine.