Emma has sent this excellent race report from the The Inter-Counties Fell, on Saturday 23rd May at Hutton Roof Crags near Kendal: Bella was represented by Kenny Richmond, Iona Robertson and Emma Birnie all running for the Scotland West team. The course was a tough 7 mile slog up to Hutton Roof crags then a long undulating cross country course to the near vertical acsent up Farlton Knot and back for a fast grassy descent back to Hutton Roof village. The West teams led the way in the Scottish stakes with the West girls team (Fiona Maxwell (Shettleston), Iona and Emma) bringing home bronze medals for third place and the mens west team (Matthew Gillespie & Tom Owens (both Shettleston) & Kenny Richmond the 3 counters) securing 4th place overall. Other Scottish team results are as follows: Women – Scotland East 4th (just beating Greater Manchester on first-team-home), and Scotland Central in 8th. Among the men’s teams, the honours were in the same order with Scotland West 4th, Scotland East 6th and Scotland Central 9th. The Scotland North teams were incomplete. A great day out with fabulous cakes on offer at the village fete afterwards! Full results are here: http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2009/hutton.htm
Monthly archives: May 2009
Just a bit of blowing the club trumpet here…don’t know about anyone else, but we’ve been smiling over the last few days at the variety of races that Bella runners (and riders) have been turning up at. In the last week or so we’ve had: Greig pot-hunting on the roads and farm tracks of the Borders Bella sweeping all before them at Goatfell Joe running his 2nd superb ultra in a month a record Bella turnout at the Glasgow parkrun Ewan conquering the hills of Windermere Brian O’D flying the flag at Loch Leven Richard hashing with Mendip Hills Hash House Harriers (MH4) Mole, Bruce G and Jackie (and others?) braving the hairpins and carpet tacks on epic cycle events a couple of Bellas winning a bizarrely handicapped ’10k’ race on Skye (albeit running in the colours of their 2nd claim club!) In the coming week we’ve got (among others): a Bella contingent heading to the Inter Counties fell race in Cumbria more (even more remote) pot-hunting from Greig on the Isle of Lewis the Polaroid 10k series kicking off in Helensburgh another parkrun So we’ve got 5ks, 10ks, HMs, Marathons, Ultras, Hill Races and cycle races. Throw in the ongoing Duathlon training which folk are doing in preparation for the Highland Cross and the Corrieyairack Challenge, and I think you can say we’re diversifying more than most clubs! Doesn’t make writing training schedules any easier though! It’s all great to see and illustrates that we’re so much more than just a road running club. There’s something for everyone at Bella!
Well done to the Bellas who took part in Ben Lomond Hill Race on Saturday. Some challenging conditions (a snow blizzard up top) made for an interesting race. Andy Birnie was 1st Bella with an excellent 7th place. Race was a dead heat between a visiting American called Judson Cake (I kid you not!) and Brian Marshall. Thanks also to Stuart and Katie for defying hypothermia, by marshalling at the top. Report and results here: http://shr.uk.com/NewsItems.aspx?NewsItemID=476
Hot off the press, Ian Goudie has sent through this race report from Wednesday’s Troon 10k: “Wet wet wet! and breezy blowy windy!” is how one of the over eight hundred runners at the 24th Troon 10k described Wednesday’s race. The torrential rain, sleet, hailstones and gale force winds made it a challenging event but the marvelous support provided by Scott, Craig, the stewards and the hardy Ayrshire locals, kept runners going to the very end. The wild weather didn’t stop Bellahouston RRs taking 35 runners for a jaunt along Troon’s South Beach esplanade. Bella’s Star of the night was Emma Birnie, who finished first in the Women’s Vet Race and third in the overall Women’s Race in a great time of 39:54. However on a night when everyone had to battle against the elements, every one of the Bella 35 were winners! Full result and photos are available on the Troon Tortoise web site: http://www.troontortoises.org.uk Ian’s personal race report is available here
Club members Raymond and Susie recently tied the knot, and celebrated as any good running couple should, with a trip to a far away marathon. Here’s their full report: The Boston marathon was on Monday 20 April, with the build-up kicking off in earnest the previous Friday with our wedding. Conscious of the endurance benefits of alcohol me and the best man squeezed in a couple of sneakies at a windowless pub in Garscube Road to calm our nerves prior to the ceremony. Susie claims not to have troubled the champagne beforehand but even I know that it beggars belief that she married me sober. After the ceremony – and some obligatory stretching shots outside the ski centre – the carb-loading continued inside the House for an Art Lover with both grape and barley energy drinks. As the night wore on there was time for a final pre-marathon session: 1 x tango (warm up); 3 x Strip the Willow (tempo) @ 2 pints recovery; Gay Gordons / Dashing White Sergeant / St. Bernard’s waltz (continuous loop); Auld Lang Syne (cool down). Experienced marathoners will appreciate that this is all textbook stuff. Shamelessly hawking our newly-wed status at check-in the following day earned us an upgrade to club class and a passport to the BA executive lounge at Heathrow. There we were surrounded by a dizzying array of complimentary fine foods and drink. Susie retained her dignity whilst I treated it as an against-the-clock all you can eat/drink buffet. Once on the flight the hospitality continued in the same vein. By mid-Atlantic I felt like a goose being fattened for foie gras. Having registered at the expo on the Sunday – and given our livers a well-earned rest – it was up at around 5am on race day to wolf down some contraband porridge and head off to the start. The Boston marathon is a point to point race and so fleets of yellow school buses left central Boston from 6am to get all 26,000 runners out to the town of Hopkinton in time for the 10am start. The organisation was superb. The only downside was that once at Hopkinton there was the grim prospect of hanging around for a couple of hours in a field that doubles as the high school sports ground. It was a bit like T in the Park but without the neds. New England can be pretty cold at that time of year. You could tell the Boston veterans: they were the ones with thermals, bivvy bags and tents. Susie wasn’t too badly off with her bella hoodie and a couple of tops. I’d taken one look at the early morning blue sky from our hotel room window and figured that a vintage men’s health 10k T-shirt would be more than enough. Whilst I sought refuge in a portaloo Susie managed to cadge a few spare bin liners that proved just about enough to stave off hypothermia. The race itself was unforgettable. It’s a tough up […]