GAA Miler Meet helping raise standards

Saturday 25th July 2015

Cameron Steven wins the B 1500m race – photo by Bobby Gavin

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Once again the Glasgow Athletics Association Miler Meet proved a highly-successful event specific evening – as dozens of athletes delivered PBs at Hutchesons’ Grammar.

With almost 150 names on start-lists for 1500m and 40 or so for 5000m, these paced raced were busy yet still provided slick organisation with the Scottish endurance community enthused by recent high-level performances.

Indeed, European U20 finalist Kathryn Gillespie came up with a PB at 4.16 only five days after her fifth place in the 1500m in Sweden and it was an evening which saw no fewer than 18 men run under four minutes with Alastair Hay the fastest at 3.49.71.

Back in 2014, there were five men to run under four minutes at the GAA Miler Meet.

In the 5000m races, there were scottishathletics District Championship medals up for grabs and Murray Strain (HBT) won the East in 14.26.16 and Lachlan Oates (Shettleston Harriers) the West gold in 14.35.96.

Fife AC’s Adam Scott was among the top performances with a 3.53.32 run in the top 15000m race that took him close to Josh Kerr’s current Scottish U17 record for the distance.

In that race behind Hay there were PBs for the likes of Gavin McArdle (Kilbarchan), Michael Ferguson (Aberdeen) and Ryan Thomson (Ronhill Cambuslang) and a string of others.

Scottish National XX winner, Edinburgh AC’s Maddie Murray, was the fastest woman at 1500m as she headed Gillespie in their race in a new PB of 4.13 .76.

There was also a superb U13 performance by David Addison of Corstorphine AAC at 4.29.

The top women’s performances in the 5000m were by East athletes as Central AC’s Fanni Gyurko clocked 16.57.23 with Fife AC’s Annabel Simpson at 16.59.12.

Kathryn Gillespie – PB after Euro U20 final

For Gillespie, the mixed race format and paced opportunity were perfect for a PB after a lot of focus on championship racing for the Europeans.

And it may be a while before the Central AC athlete races again in Scotland with an impending education move . . . to Harvard.

‘I am headed to the States quite soon to study at Harvard and while it is mainly an academic move I am sure it is going to work well for my athletics,’ said the 18-year-old, who is with the scottishathletics National Academy.

‘The facilities, level of competition and the coaching and training groups in Boston mean it is a great opportunity.

I will see how the schedule works out – I am not contracted to a team – and coming back for something like the Euro Cross trials in Liverpool would be ideal. I was very close to making the U20 team last December but making it on the track was a good feeling.

‘I like the Miler Meet format and I am delighted with a PB by around two seconds. I like racing against the boys and it is always a well-run event by the GAA.

‘It has been quite a week with the European final last Sunday but I always wanted to run this meeting, as well. Fifth in Eskilstuna pleased me and I felt I handled everything well about representing GB. It was omething I’d aimed at for quite a while and you have to have a plan.’