HELP RAISE CLUB FUNDS

An easy way to help raise Club Funds – buy through the www.easyfundraising.org.uk website

 

How does it work for you?

1.       Go to the www.easyfundraising.org.uk website

2.       Click on “Support a Good Cause”

3.       Type in “East Kilbride Athletic Club” as the good cause and press find – ignore post code

4.       On next page select East Kilbride Athletic Club as the good cause you want supported

5.       Complete the personal details

6.       Download the easyfundraising toolbar

 

Now you are ready to shop and the shops will donate a percentage of your purchase to the Club –

Either log onto easyfundraising via the easyfundraising toolbar and select the shop you want to buy from and you will go to their home page and anything you buy the Club will benefit.

Or log on via the easyfundraising.org.uk home web page and select the retailer and start shopping.

 

Diamond League @ Hampden Park!!!

 One and only chance to witness world class athletes in action at
Hampden Park before the Commonwealth Games!

The world's best athletes are set to head to Glasgow two weeks before the Commonwealth Games for the Sainsbury's Glasgow Grand Prix at Hampden Park on July 11-12.

The event, which forms part of the prestigious IAAF Diamond League, will see the world's second fastest man of all time over 100m, Yohan Blake, go up against Britain's Adam Gemili, World Indoor 60m champion Richard Kilty and 2003 world 100m champion Kim Collins on July 11.

Double Olympic and world champion Mo Farah will grace the track on July 12, where he will be joined by the likes of Olympic champions Greg Rutherford and Christine Ohuruogu.

Tickets are now on sale, so for those who have missed out on Commonwealth Games tickets, this is your opportunity to see the world's best athletes in action!

Buy your tickets today by clicking HERE or call 08000 556056.

* 10% group discount offer available for a transaction of 10 tickets or more! Call the group booking line on 0844 844 2121.

If you have any queries please email majorevents@britishathletics.org.uk
scottishathletics cannot deal with any ticketing queries for this event.
For more information on the Sainsbury’s Summer Series please click here.

YDL @ East kilbride Sunday 4.5.14

Young Athletes Development League @ JWSC East Kilbride Sunday 4.5.14

On International Star Wars day (May the 4^th be with you) some of our young athletes from East Kilbride Athletic Club made a great start to the season.  There were some fine performances, some personal bests and even a Club Record.

Under 13 Girls:

Rebekah Sykes 150m 22.3

Lucy Muirhead 1^st 800m 2:38.26

Sarah Connolly 1^st 1200m 4:14.87 * U13 CLUB RECORD*

Under 13 Boys:

Owen Selfridge 5^th 100m 14.17

Calum Hopkins 2^nd B 800m 2:42.41, 200m 30.61 & Long Jump 2^nd B 3m 54cm

U15 Girls:
Robyn Peacock 4^th 800m 2:44.35
Rebecca Russell 6^th 300m 49.61

U15 Boys

Ryan Clydesdale 6^th 200m 26.95 & 2^nd B Shot Put 6m 64cm

U17 Women
Chloe Mason 1^st 100m 13.35
Nicole Sharp 3^rd 200m 27.75
Heather Addison 1^st 1500m 5:09.23



U17 Men
Greg Kelly 1^st 100m 11.94
Callum Field 2^nd 200m 23.58
Martin Lynas 2^nd 1500m 4:38.44

If anyone is missing from these results please let us know via the club email address or ekacpb@gmail.com

Please note Club Records & top 20’s on website have been updated.  Spread the word, get training and get competing #blackandyellow

Female Top 20's

Female Top 20's now up to date at http://ekac.org.uk/club-records.php

Club Records

Hey folks now that the track and field season is well and truely underway we have come up with a new way of updating the club records, top 20's and club pb spreadsheet. If you set a new PB email the details including name, age group, event, performance, venue and date to ekacpb@gmail.com
‪

So get out and get competing and start setting new PB's to tell us all about!  Yazzzz
#‎blackandyellow‬

Press Report for EKMC 1.4.14

Following a highly successful winter cross country and road racing season East Kilbride Athletic club turned its attention to track and field on Tuesday 1^st April. Keen to test the fitness their young athletes had worked hard on all winter the coaches devised a middle distance time trial, primarily for the younger members of the club. To make the evening more interesting the senior mens’ squad agreed to act as pacemakers to help the racers target personal best times.

The change to lighter evenings was accompanied by a brief respite in the wind and rain providing reasonable conditions, if a little cold.

The evening was kicked off with the under 11s running 600m over two heats. The youngsters were all desperate to run as fast as possible with Cameron MacDonald and Holly Coutts deciding after 100m that the pacemaker simply wasn’t fast enough and leaving him in their wake. In spite of grim predictions from their coaches Cameron maintained the blistering pace to record a time of 2:01:2. Not only was it the fastest 600m of the evening, it was also third fastest by an under 11 in club history. Holly fought bravely to the end but was pipped, by a second, on the line by Abbie Kirwan who stormed the final 100m to record 2:10:5, again third fastest on the record list.

800m was the distance for the under 13s and above, run over 3 heats. A number of gutsy performances were on display in the first two heats with pbs being decimated all over the place. The greatest improvement on the evening went to Hannah Dickson who knocked 24 seconds from her previous best time.

The final heat was hotly anticipated as the club’s big guns lined up for a crack at some already impressive times. At under 13 the best time was recorded by Owen Selfridge, running a strong, consistent two laps to record a pb of 2:37:6 on his first day as an under 13. Sarah Connolly ran an equally strong race to finish in a pb of 2:44:5 as fastest girl.

Under 15 races were won by Matthew Kirwan in 2:53:8 and Chloe Mulligan who is used to much shorter distances in a pb of 2:53:2. Under 17 Honours fell to Kyle Fenix, another short distance specialist, in 2:38:1 and Rachael McCusker in 2:58.5 both pbs. The fastest time of the evening was set by under 20 Shannon McMahon who ran an impressive 2:33:6, just behind pacemaker Jamie Clements who won bragging rights over his team mates and a small prize by hitting his target exactly with a time of 2:30:0.

The aim of the evening was to test the athletes current form. With over 40 pbs from 46 runners the coaches agreed the hard miles in wind, rain, snow and mud over the winter were well worth the effort. Thankfully the athletes and spectators all enjoyed the ordeal as well.

EKMC 1.4.14

Well done to everyone involved in a great opening night to our track and field season.  Our inaugural EKMC meet produced 43 (yes forty three) PB's.

Thanks to all officials, pacemakers, coaches and athletes.

600m

U11 Male                                            U11 Female

Cameron MacDonald   2:01.2              Abbie Kirwan                2:10.5

Euan Sweeten               2:07.4              Holly Coutts                  2:11.9

Ross Hamilton               2:09.2              Leah Muirhead              2:12.8

Evan Selfridge               2:13.4              Maja Robertson            2:24.6

Paul Cairns                    2:14.6              Kayla McCrone            2:25.7

Luca Galgani                 2:26.6              Sarah Clydesdale           2:28.0

David Fox                     2:31.0              Hannah Hamilton           2:37.8

Dean Gilmore                2:32.1              Madeline Hopkins         2:44.6

Finn Coffield                 2:32.6              Hannah McCafferty       dnf

800m

U13 Male                                            U13 Female

Owen Selfridge             2:37.6              Sarah Connolly             2:44.5                         

David McGiven            2.49.6              Lucy Muirhead              2:57.6                         

Thomas McCourt         2:50.0              Sophie Forsyth              2:58.1                         

Joseph Hagan               2:54.5              Rebekah Sykes             3:06.2             

Liam Woods                 2:58.9              Lara Brown                  3:06.5                         

Rudy Brown                 2:59.3              Hannah Dickson            3:06.8                         

Aaron Gilbride              3:07.7              Aimee Docherty            3:20.6                         

Jason Gilmore               3:13.7              Ciara Boyle                   3:23.3

                                                            Robyn McLean             3:26.5

Lillian Trail                     3:30.2

                                                            Abbie McLauchlin         3:38.8

U15 Male                                            U15 Female

Matthew Kirwan            2:53.8              Chloe Mulligan             2:53.2

Rebecca Russell             2:56.9

                                                            Lori MacDonald            3:14.5

Caitlyn McPhillie            3:30.5

                                                            Sian Fyfe                       3:37.2

U17 Male                                            U17 Female

Kyle Fenix                    2:38.1              Rachael McCusker        2:58.5

                                   

                                                            U20 Female                                       

                                   

                                                            Shannon McMahon       2:33.6

Scottish Track and Field Age Group Indoor Championships

Over the course of the weekend EKAC had a number of athletes involved in the Scottish Age Group Indoor Championships. These championships allowed the EKAC athletes to go head to head with the best athletes the country (and England and Ireland) had to offer. Not only is this an invaluable experience for the athletes, but it also allows their coaches to assess how well all the hard work over the winter has paid off. Going by some of the results the hard work seems to be paying off! Some notable performances over the two days:

Greg Kelly won the silver medal in the under-16 60m in a new PB time of 7.48 seconds, only finishing behind the record breaking Michael Olsen of Edinburgh AC. Greg (14) also finished fourth in the 200m in a time of 24.16, just outside the PB of 24.05 he set at the Scottish Schools Indoor Championships. Greg also plays football for Westwood Rovers, who are in the last four of the Scottish Cup for their age group.

Callum Field made the step up to 400m and won a silver in the under-16s in a time of 54.64 seconds, a good performance by the 14-year-old after a slightly interrupted preparation. Callum has had a good winter and recorded a PB time of 54.53 seconds in January after reaching the finals and picking up prize money in the youths' 60m and 90m races at the historic New Year meeting at Musselburgh racecourse.

Shannon McMahon (17) is one of EKAC's unsung heroes and she won her seventh medal at Scottish Schools / Scottish Age Group level with a battling bronze in the 200m at under-20 level. Shannon is looking to move up to longer distances but found she had enough speed in her legs to record 26.91 seconds for third place, an indoor PB.

Nicole Sharpe (14) made the semi-finals of both the under-16 60m and 200m, equalling her PB of 8.60 in the 60m. Her time of 27.98 in the 200m was just behind her PB mark of 27.58 set at the Scottish Schools Indoor Championships, where she again reached the semis.

Aidan Gilbride (16) Aidan won his 800m heat in a time of 2:00.13 to qualify for final. In the final he was in contention with two others around the last bend for a shot at the medals unfortunately after a little barging ensued (which Aidan bore the brunt of) he finished in 4th place in a time of 1:59.42, just ½ second off his PB.

Two former EKAC members who train with the EK sprint squad dominated the 60m for under-20 women. Arlene Barr has had a breakthrough winter and recorded a PB of 7.84 seconds in her heat before winning the final in 7.88 from Laura McCracken, who finished second in 8.01.

Another athlete who has started training with the EK endurance squad (Heather Addison) picked up a silver medal in the 1500m final.

Alisha Montgomery and Chloe Mulligan also ran well over the 60m and 200m, a week after Chloe had set a new 200m pb of 28.19 at the scottish schools the week before. Mixing it up with the country’s best was good preperation for their summer season.

Ryan Clydesdale also competed in the 200m and set a new PB of 28.00.

The club’s junior section where taking their first footsteps into national competition. Competing in the under 14 age group to gain experience at national level which will stand them in good stead for future national competitions.

Over the 60m and 200m indoor PB’s where set left, right and centre by: Owen Selfridge, Josh Haughey, Lara Brown, Jessica Hagan.

Over the 800m more indoor PB’s set by Sophie Forsyth (2 mins 56 seconds) and Thomas McCourt (2 mins 47 seconds) whilst Calum Hopkins also had a solid run over the 800m.

Next up for East Kilbride’s athletes is the Scottish National Cross Country Championships on Saturday the 22nd of February. These championships will have a special feel about them as EKAC’s greatest cross country runner; Alan Partridge (64) will be lining up alongside the senior men’s team.

EKAC xcountry a success

East Kilbride Athletic Club were delighted to host the newest races on the Scottish Athletics Cross Country Calendar recently with a full programme of events held at O’Cathian Farm, Hay Hill Road, Jackton.

 

In conjunction with the East Kilbride Community Trust and landowner Mr James Kean EKAC the club proceeded to host one of the most traditional cross country courses seen in recent times.  With almost three hundred competitors braving the elements the club declared the event a complete success and look forward to making this an annual event.

 

The Senior Men’s race was won by Mark Pollard (Inverclyde) after a good battle with Robert Gilroy (Cambuslang) and Cameron Wilson (Kilmarnock) took the bronze medal in third place.  In the Senior Ladies event Kara Tate (Kilmarnock) finished strongly to take a close victory from Lisa Finlay (Dumfries) with Carole Setchel (Shettleston) taking third place.  There were also age group races for both boys and girls and the winners in each event were: Boys Under 11 Elliot Bain (East Kilbride AC), Under 13 Scott Sprang (Ayr Seaforth), Under 15 Ryan Gray (Inverclyde) & Under 17 Men Aidan Gilbride (East Kilbride AC).  Girls Under 11 Alisha Sivell (Kilbarchan) , Under 13 Emily Crusher (GiffnockNorth), Under 15 Nikki Miller (Giffnock North) & Under 17 Women Nicole Scott.

 

The races were run over four testing laps around O’Cathian Farm nearJackton.  With each lap featuring three climbs and testing muddy conditions it was a true test of cross country running with many post race compliments flooding in.  A selection of the post race compliments follow:

 

Jim Orr (Cambuslang) - Thanks to everyone involved at East Kilbride Athletic Club today for their hard work and effort in putting together an excellent day's cross country racing. Well done folks!

 

Colin Partridge (Lothian) - Really enjoyed the race today. Mud glorious mud!

 

Neil Walker (Kilmarnock) - Great event today guys, good turnout, very tough course!

 

George Pettit (Cambuslang) - Thats what you call a cross countrycourse,Great event will be back next year.

Alan Sprang (Ayr Seaforth) - Congratulations on a well run and great event. It was good to see a traditional cross country course for once.  Pity there’s no more like it.  I hope you will run the event again.

With such positive feedback the club will be delighted toliaise with the East Kilbride Community Trust regarding making this an annual feature in both the sporting calendars of the town of East Kilbride and Scottish Athletics.

For further information on both East Kilbride Athletic Club and the East Kilbride Community Trust go to their respective websites at www.ekac.org.uk &www.eastkilbridecommunitytrust.co.uk/

Interview: Mike Skinner

Last month GB athlete Mike Skinner ran for East Kilbride Athletic Club in the McAndrew Road Relays. This week the club sat down with the runner to discover his passion for the sport.

Just like many athletes out there, Mike, who also works for a sports management company, juggles work commitments during the day and training sessions at night:

“You have to be organized and have good time management skills.” He tells the club.

“When I leave the house in the morning I will normally have kit with me for the evening session or run, some food/snacks for before and after and sometimes shower gear.

“I will normally try to pack all this the night before so I am not rushing in the morning. When I leave the house around 9am I know that it will close to 8pm before I am home again, or on session days even later.

“I’m not going to say it is easy but it is just something you have to do if you want to run well.”

In order to keep running well Mike admits that he has had to adapt his running over the years as he gets older. Skinner, who ran 800m and 1500m in his earlier years has progressed now to completing 5000m and cross country championships:

“Unfortunately I think that is just something that happens with age!

“I have been running for over 20 years now and I have realised that my body doesn’t recover as quickly any more.

“I cannot do enough of the shorter/quality sessions that you need for the 800/1500 and so I have had to move up in distance.

“That being said, it has been nice to have some change as there are new challenges and goals I can set myself.” Added the athlete.

One of the goals that Mike had promised himself was to pull on an EKAC vest and help the club out at a race. Last month he did just that, along with taking the younger kids out for a training session and answering all their queries about his career so far.

Skinner’s first club was Blackheath and Bromley, a south London club, and even do this day he is still a member. When asked if loyalty was important, Mike was confident in his answer:

“Very strongly I do, yes.

“I have been a member of Blackheath and Bromley since I turned ten years old and I owe a lot to them.

“The coaches that gave me so much time when I was younger, the club officials who do so much behind the scenes and the amount of success that I have been lucky to be a part of with the various teams, have all added to the enjoyment that I have taken from athletics.

“Me being a member and representing the club I think is a small price to pay for all it has given me.”

So not only does Mike give back to his first club, as mentioned earlier, he also helped out EKAC at the McAndrew Road Relays.

Skinner, along with the rest of his team, was required to run a 5K road race set around Scotstoun. Of his performance, the GB athlete wasn’t too overjoyed:

“I was a bit disappointed in my own performance.” He commented.

“I would have liked to have run faster but I say that after pretty much every race! I always think I could have done more.

“In terms of the race and being part of the EKAC team I really enjoyed it.

“For so many years I have been promising to come up and represent the club and so I am really glad I’ve done it now and I had a really enjoyable weekend.”

During his weekend at EK, Mike also took the younger athletes out for a training session and answered any questions that they had for him.

Mike admits that growing up he never really had an inspiration that got him into running:

“I am a big Chelsea fan and so I used to like all the Chelsea players but ones that you would never have heard of (I supported Chelsea when they were not as big and successful as they are now!)

“The individual I liked most though was a basketball player, Michael Jordan.” He added.

“Maybe because his name was also Michael but also because he led by example.”

So when he was younger Mike did what every other youngster does and dabble in a number of sports:

“When I was younger I played all sports.” He commented

“Football was my favourite and I played for the school team. 

“As I was in the football team and they knew I loved sport the school entered me in the local primary schools cross-country race.

“I ran in this race and won in a new course record! A coach from Blackheath and Bromley was at this race and asked if I was a member of an athletics club.

“At that stage I wasn’t and so they invited to go to the local track on a Wednesday night for some coaching. This I did and as they say the rest is history!”

For youngsters looking to get into athletics, Mike admits that youngsters need to enjoy themselves and learn to take the good with the bad:

“My biggest tips would be to make sure you enjoy it and don’t get too serious too soon.”

“I don’t believe a 10 or 11 year old should be training 6 times a week and not playing any other sports!

“Athletics is a hard sport and there will be some tough times to go through, be it injuries, setbacks or disappointments.

“But, when you work hard at something and you get the rewards it is an amazing feeling and if you can stick at it I have no doubt you’ll make some great friends and create some amazing memories along the way too.”

Scottish Cross Country Relay Championships

EKAC headed through to Cumbernauld for the Scottish Cross Country Relay championships on Saturday ( to a course that has more hills on it than East Kilbride has roundabouts in it!) With minimal rain and wind, the conditions were good for a cross country race.

EKAC where involved in 3 races on the day: junior boys, junior girls and senior men.

First up were the junior girls. The A team of Sarah Connelly, Lucy Muirhead and Mhairi Boyle ran well to finish in 43^rd. The B team also ran well to finish in 69^th.

Next up it was the junior boys. The A team ran very well to secure 17^th position; the team consisted of Calum Hopkins, Martin Lynas and Aidan Gilbride.  Martin ran the 10^th fastest time by an U15 and Aidan ran the 15^th fastest time by an U17 no mean feat considering they were up against some of the best in the country! The B team also ran well to finish in a respectable 59^th.

Lastly it was the senior men’s team who were up. The seniors require 4 runners per team to run 4K each. The A team done brilliantly to finish 22^nd an improvement on last year’s position by 7 places!  The A team consisted of Jack Kirwan (14:21), Vincent Hastings (14:16), Grant Baillie (13:18) and Alessandro Tronconi (13:25). 

The B team also ran well to finish 74^th with Niall Walker (14:24), David Thomson (15:39), Derek Leitch (16:49) and Graeme Haddow (16:46).

Next up for EKAC is the Scottish Short Course Championships which take place on November the 10^th.

Lanarkshire’s Relay Good for EKAC

The Lanarkshire Road Relay Championships were held at Drumpellier Park in Coatbridge this weekend.
The championships proved to be a memorable day for East Kilbride AC. The conditions however were not so memorable. The kid’s races were run around the loch and they would have been drier running through the loch! The rain was relentless but that did not deter the youngsters.

The U11 girls team finished 9th with Maja Robertson, Robyn McLean and Abbie Kirwan all running well.

The U13/U15/U17 girls A team finished 2nd the team consisted of Sarah Connolly (7:14), Lucy Muirhead (7:14) and Shannon McMahon (7:49). With Sarah and Lucy running the joint fastest time of the day by under 13 girls! The B team consisting of R Peacock (8:22), R Russell (8:04) and M Boyle (7:58) finished 7th.

The U11 boys ran well to claim the Lanarkshire crown. The A team consisted of Owen Selfridge (4:50), Cameron McDonald (5:13) and Elliot Bain (4:38). Elliot claiming the fastest time of the day by an under 11 boy! The B team consisting of E Selfridge (5:29), A Gilbride (5:40) and E Sweeten (5:26) also ran well to claim 5th position.

The U13 boys A team was unlucky not to claim a bronze as they were pushed out to 4th. Gutsy performances all round from Matthew Kirwan (9:48), Ryan Clydesdale (10:41) and Calum Hopkins (9:46) lead to some impressive times.

The U15 boys also ran well to claim the Lanarkshire crown. The A team consisted of Callum Field (8:55), Ross Malloch (9:17) and Martin Lynas (8:28). Martin claimed the fastest time of the day from an under 15 boy.

The senior team is a team of 4 men required to run 4km each. The senior men’s team that was aiming to improve on last year’s 3rd but where hit badly by a number of call offs and injuries.

Fielding just one team this week, the
guys showed good character and battled to a respectable 6th position, not bad considering the average age of the last two runners was 56! The team consisted of Jack Kirwan (13:40), David Thomson (14:52), Derek Leitch (15:39) and Graeme Haddow (15:58).