The Tour consists of a series of five races of various distances and types of terrain over five consecutive nights. It’s been praised by this year’s participants for being low-key, well-organised and inclusive.

The first event, held on Monday (13 August) was the ‘Lochwinnoch Loosener’, an 8k mixed-terrain fast, flat and traffic-free route along the cycle path from Castle Semple towards Kilbarchan.

Tuesday (14 August) saw the ‘Garscube Gallop’, a gentle 7k off-road race in the woods and on the soft trails of Dawsholm Park.

Wednesday night’s race (15 August) was the ‘Canal Canter’ 8K: an out-and-back along the Forth & Clyde Canal towpath.

The fourth event for the tired legs of tourists was Thursday night’s two-lap ‘Dumbarton Dream’, consisting of 7k of grass and trails in Levengrove Park.

As of Thursday night, there was still all to play for in terms of final Tour standings, with age group prizes and overall winner still up for grabs. There has been strong representation from a variety of clubs so far, and veteran runners in particular seemed to be posting some very good times.

The prizegiving for the whole series will be held after the final race at Cartha Rugby Club, and organisers encourage all runners to ‘hang around’ afterwards to celebrate their achievement.

Full results are available on https://www.facebook.com/tourofclydeside

Photo: Gordon Curran (Facebook/Tour of Clydeside)