Posts Tagged “glasgow”

Dawsholm Park was the venue for the Glasgow Uni 5 miler on Saturday, 3 December. Things weren’t looking too good, as after registering and getting changed I found the entrance foyer of the sports complex jam packed with apprehensive looking runners sheltering from the cold, wet and windy conditions. Luckily the rain stopped for long enough to get out for a quick warm up before heading to the start line.

I had been warned before the race to get a fast start as there was a bottleneck at a gate near the start, but it seemed that this year they managed to get the gates open fully and slapped some wood over the cattle grid, so no problems there. After a steady climb for the first 500m we got a nice downhill section which led us through the forecourt of a car was (where we had to dodge some hosepipes!), then it flattened out a bit til we descended into Dawsholm park. Things got a bit muddy through here, and we were then faced with a beast of a hill to climb back out to Maryhill Road, back into the sports complex and then had to do it all again for lap 2, at which point the rain decided to start lashing down again. This was a pretty tough race, so there weren’t many PBs, but it gave us all a good workout. Good spread of cakes afterwards too.

The race was won by Thomas Fay of Shettleston Harriers in an impressive 25.14. First Bella home was Kieran Docherty. Full results using link below:

http://www.haresandhounds.com/roadrace.php

Thanks to Bruce for providing this report.

Great news from the weekend: The club had two representatives at the British and Irish Masters Cross Country in Bellahouston Park. Russell Whittington was running in Scotland’s V35 team (and came away with a Silver medal), and Julia Harris representing Wales in the V40′s.

It was certainly a wet and windy Saturday afternoon, so huge congratulations to everybody who took part.

Russell sent in this superb event report:

On Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to run for the Scottish Masters team in the British and Irish Masters Cross Country in the home surroundings of Bellahouston Park. The race is split up into age categories in five year groups starting at V35 and going up to V70 for the men and V65 for the women. The event is made up of teams from Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

I was put in a strong looking V35 team along side David Miller, Jamie Reid, Robert Gilroy, Joe McKnight and Iain Connell.

The weather and course conditions were very challenging. The weather was wet and windy and the the course was muddy and hilly so all in all it was a proper cross country.

The first race was for all the women and the male V65 and V70 categories and was made up of one big loop and one smaller loop. The Scottish women got the team off to a great start with stand out performances from Lesley Chisholm third overall and second V35, Melissa White 4th overall and first V45 for the second year in succession and Fiona Matheson 5th overall and first V50. The F35 and F45 teams were both one point behind England in second place and the F50, F55 and F65 teams all took bronze medals.

Our own Julia Harris was representing Wales in this event and finished 75th overall in a time of 27:15.

The male race for categories V35 through to V60 was two big loops of the course. The race started at 12.45 and started on the pitch and put area. From there we headed uphill through the wooded area of the park followed by the downhill heading towards the House for an Art Lover. This descent was the trickiest part of the course as it was very muddy and several runners fell over in this section. After the House for an Art Lover we headed into a strong headwind past the Palace of Art and then up the second of the tough hills. The loop finished with a lap around the back of the cycle track before setting off on the second muddy lap.

I finished in 76th place in a time of 28:39. Peter Matthews was first home for Ireland in 24:54. First Scot was Jamie Reid who was 7th overall and 2nd V35. My V35 team finished 2nd overall one point behind the winners Ireland. The four to count for the team were Jamie Reid, David Miller, Robert Gilroy and Joe McKnight. Fortunately for me there were medals for all six of the team and so I am the very proud owner of a British and Irish Masters silver medal. The V55 team also won a silver medal and the V50 team won the bronze.

The event was followed by a dinner dance and awards ceremony at the Crown Plaza which I went along to with my wife Maureen. There was some very entertaining ceilidh dancing later in the night with more marks for effort than quality, but all teams got involved and the dance floor was always full.

Next year I think that the race is due to be in Belfast and I am going to give it my best effort to retain my place in the team and make the trip over the Irish sea for the event.

And Julia added:

Yes, it was a fantastic opportunity and although no medals for my Welsh team (I was put in with the young V40′s) and I slipped and went down my full length both times on the wee boggy downhill, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Cymru am byth.

Full results available on the Scottish Athletics website.

For more on Scottish Masters Athletics, they have a website here.

Bella were, as ever, well represented at parkrun. The weekend saw the 44th running of the Glasgow parkrun event, and the first running of the Edinburgh parkrun.

A great day for the Bella Posse at the Glasgow parkrun today, Sat Oct 17. Scott Kennedy who seems to have caught the parkrun bug, in between running marathons, took a further 8 seconds off of last week’s course PB to finish third in 17:44. Jane Simpson continued the fine form which made her Bella Member of the Month by going one better than her second place last week to win the women’s event in 19:30, taken a further 24 secs off of last week’s course PB!

Club President Robert McEwan retained his place as best age grade %, by achieving 79.01% with a time of 19:08.

Bruce Carse also earned a new PB and John Sandbach and Sandra Houldsworth both took part in the Pollok Park event with excellent first runs.

Position Athlete Sex Run Time Age Grading % Age Category Personal Best
3 Scott KENNEDY M 17:44 76.41% SM35-39 New PB
5 Bruce CARSE M 18:15 70.87% SM30-34 New PB
10 Al MACLACHLAN M 18:42 78.88% VM50-54
13 Robert MCEWAN M 19:08 79.01% VM50-54
16 Jane SIMPSON F 19:30 75.90% SW30-34 New PB
45 John SANDBACH M 21:45 64.67% VM40-44 1st run
53 Linda KENNEDY F 22:01 69.19% VW35-39
66 Murdoch RODGERS M 22:49 69.69% VM55-59
80 Sandra HOULDSWORTH F 23:58 61.89% SW30-34 1st run

Last week’s winner Carnegie Harrier Andrew WRIGHT was the first athlete across the finish line today. He completed the course in 15:49 and posted an age grade score of 83.35%. A total of 193 runners completed the course.

Over in Edinburgh:

Some 204 runners completed the inaugural Edinburgh parkrun in a Baltic, sunny and surprisingly wind free Cramond foreshore…………. and of course Bellahouston Road Runners were represented at the historical event.

Strong performances from Richard Leyton and myself earned us both all time PBs. Richard took 16 seconds off of his best 5k time to finish in 48th position in 20:43, an age grade % of 64:04%. I proudly displayed my Bella vest as I finished four places ahead, in 44th place with a time of 20:19 (wava 73.75 %) some 19 seconds better than my previous best 5k time.

Running legend Neil Renault (Edinburgh AC) led from the start and was first over the line in a time of 14:59, an age grade of 86.1% and in a day when loads of cyclists and triathletes took part, it was fitting that the first woman home was Rachel Ramsay of Edinburgh Road Club who completed the course in 20:48, 71.31%.

Thanks to Ian Goudie for the race reports, and a huge thanks to the teams of volunteers that made both the Glasgow and Edinburgh parkrun events such a success on Saturday.