TWO local runners represented Greenock Glenpark Harriers in the Falkirk 7 Hour Trail Race.

Ultra veteran Viki Smith and relative ‘new kid on the block’ John Logan were the two Harriers who lined up at Callander Park in their first ultra races of the year.

Falkirk is at the forefront of Scottish amateur athletics at the moment with the Scottish National Cross Country Championships having taken place at the weekend at the same venue.

The ultra race, though, saw runners given six hours to complete as many ‘big’ undulating loops over around four miles as they could, before switching to the smaller and much flatter 550 metre loops for the last hour.

Viki had a fantastic run, completing an amazing 23 laps and covering just short of 65km coming 10th overall in the women’s race and fourth in the women’s V50 category in a really competitive field.

Viki Smith and John Logan represented Greenock Glenpark Harriers at the Falkirk 7 Hour trail race in Callander Park. (Image: Greenock Glenpark Harriers) Viki is headed for the Trail Menorca Cami de Cavalls later this year and will have many more kms in her legs before then.

John, who has been going from strength to strength and has been running and training superbly well recently, ran the race of his life; he has been working on his race management in recent weeks, and fought off cramp to clinch a superb overall second place, completing a sensational 29 laps – more than any other competitor in the field, and covering a total distance of slightly more than 85km.

The men’s race was won by Aaron Partridge, who completed 86.4km over 22 laps, while Heather Imrie was the first female runner, covering almost 73km across 18 laps.

It was a great day in Falkirk for GGH which was well represented at a fantastic and well run event.

READ MORE: Nearly 50 runners compete in Greenock Glenpark Harriers' Willow Bowl race

John has yet to find his strongest events and has also performed strongly over a variety of distances including some excellent performances on GGH's shorter club races.

Both athletes had a great, if cold, day out, and at £40 agreed that the race, organisation and the all important goody bag was fantastic value for money.

There are rumours that Viki is starting a blog on the quality of post race paraphernalia, but heartily recommends this event as one for the diary.

The ‘best wee running club in the west’ has runners of all abilities and the weekly sessions are a welcoming and structured way to take your running journey to the next level.

Viki covered nearly 65km in 23 laps of the course. (Image: Greenock Glenpark Harriers) To find out more, get in touch at greenockglenparkharriers@gmail.com.

The club operates a four-week trial where new members can come and see what all the fuss is about, as well as a full calendar of club races throughout the year.

The next club race is the Docherty Cup along the Gourock seafront on April 5 – a ‘conceding handicap’ race over 10 miles with shorter races for juniors in the under 11, under 13, under 15 and under 17 age groups.

The GGH club race calendar for the year also features the Willie Jukes race in Dunoon on May 3, the Chisholm Mile on May 27, the Cornalees Hill Race on June 14, the Singlehurst Trophy on Bute on July 5 and the Bill Elder Trophy on August 10.