SPRINT GALA
Premier Sprint Open Graded for all ages
22/07/23
It was a pleasure to see the return of the GAA sprint Galas on Saturday in Scotstoun Stadium and in great summer spirit our sprinters didn't let the weather spoil the occasion! We saw no less than 24 personal best performances over the day, supported by a further 10 seasons best!
In the 100m VPCOG’s Chloe Lambert and Dundee Hawkhill's Rachel Lorimer traded blows in the head to head with a 1 – 1 draw over the two rounds. In the men's side Ethan Pottie took the fastest time of the day (11.04) in round 1 closely followed by Rory Voss's 11.06 run in round 2.
Emily Craig was the standout performance of the day, eclipsing the women's 400m hurdles prize pot standard with her 61.56 run! Connor Henderson also ran well setting a hefty seasons best while James Clark set a life time best in cold, blustery conditions! In the shorter format Giffnock's Erin Campbell won comfortably in the women’s race, and club mate and Jump Glasgow Champion Angus Rennie remarkably set a life time best into a -2.6 head wind!
During this Gala we were also happy host an invitational 200m race to help Glasgow School of Sport athlete, Dean Patterson, in preparation for the Commonwealth Youth Games. Surrounded by Scotland's finest Dean stormed home in a remarkable 21.81 (-2.4) and we wish him all the luck in the world out in Trinidad! Go get it Dean!
As always we want to say a huge thank you to all our officials, volunteers, coaches, and spectators for supporting this meet.
Also an incredible well done to all our athletes that took the wind head on on Saturday- quite literally!
SUMMER SPRINT GALAS
The brain child of Josephine Moultrie during her tenure as the GAA Coordinator, the GAA Sprints galas were an innovative solution to aid in the rebirth of Scottish sprinting. Performance focused competitions the Galas core aim is to provide a platform for athletes to run fast, develop key competition skills and aid in the growth of a Scottish sprint community.
Unlike your traditional open graded event the sprint galas utilise performance seeding and athlete friendly timetabling to optimise the energy of each individual race creating an environment perfect for PBs! Prize pot initiatives are employed to entice the quickest athletes from across Scotland and beyond creating head to head battles to enthral and inspire!
We’re very proud to boast about the success of these events with not only superb personal best rates but also notable engagement from Scotland’s elite and increased performance at the very top level.
Open to all the galas cater from young to old, from novice to elite. All we ask is that people come healthy, enthusiastic and prepared for the unpredictable Scottish weather.
For a detailed history of the sprint galas please check out the article that Josephine has kindly written here!
