There’s been a definite shift in the weather this week and winter appears to be upon us. Still, there are plenty of events going on around the country to keep our Bellas busy! It was a brilliant effort on Saturday 16th November, by Ruairi Barfoot (1:59:18) & Stuart McMillan (2:44:12), at the Glentress Winter Trail Half Marathon near Peebles. It was a really tough route, with over 2,600 feet of elevation gain, on a cold day in the Borders. Congratulations to Dean Dempsey who recorded a big PB of 1:29:52, at one of the UKs most southerly races, the Gosport Half Marathon, the following day. Hard training paying dividends for Dean in getting under the 90 minute barrier. On the same day, way further north, Mark Young (in his Metro Aberdeen vest) clocked a brilliant 1:23:13 at a very cold and windy Fraserburgh Half Marathon, providing a great confidence booster for his upcoming Valencia Marathon. And more locally, the latest Acorn Trails ‘South by 5’ race took place on Sunday at a chilly Linn Park on a challenging course. Well done to the Bellas who ran. Now only four races to go in the series!
Monthly archives: November 2024
Sunday, 10th November 2024, saw the latest running of our annual Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k race at Bellahouston Park. The race is named in honour of our founder, and it was fantastic to have both Jimmy and Sandra Irvine in attendance again this year. The event was a sell out, and on the day the murky weather cleared just in time for the participants to tackle the tough, undulating course around the park’s footways. The autumn colours in the park complemented some great performances across the field and across all abilities, with our wonderful volunteer marshals and organisers cheering everyone along the way. The 600 finishers received our Charles Rennie Mackintosh inspired long sleeved shirt and were able to fuel-up and enjoy some recovery snacks at our excellent post-race buffet! Congratulations to all of the prize winners: • 1st female – Rosa Donaldson (Bellahouston Harriers): 36.23 • 2nd female – Alicia Paton (Cumbernauld AAC): 37.33 • 3rd female – Kelly Taylor (Bellahouston Road Runners): 38.27 • 1st male – Ryan Thomson (Cambuslang Harriers): 30.49 • 2nd male – Cameron Muir (Shettleston Harriers): 33.06 • 3rd male – Alasdair Campbell (Cambuslang Harriers): 33.20 • V40 female – Jill Smylie (Giffnock North AC): 41.00 • V50 female – Deborah Gray (Bellahouston Road Runners): 40.40 • V60 female – Pauline Henderson (Bellahouston Harriers): 47.26 • V70 female – Charlotte McKay (Greenock Glenpark): 1.03.12 • V40 male – Oscar Coetzee (Bellahouston Road Runners): 33.47 • V50 male – Brent Brodie (Bellahouston Harriers): 35.02 • V60 male – Gareth Walker (Clwb Run Wales): 41.42 • V70 male – Andrew Haddow (Bellahouston Road Runners): 49.41 • 1st female team: Bellahouston Road Runners (Kelly Taylor, Deborah Gray, Louise Ross) • 1st male team: Bellahouston Harriers (Fraser Armstrong, Adam Stark, John Carr) • 1st female member of Bellahouston Road Runners – Kelly Taylor • 1st male member of Bellahouston Road Runners – Oscar Coetzee We are very grateful to Migo Sports for generously sponsoring the race again this year and providing the prizes. We are proud of the efforts of our club members, whether the 54 running, the similar number helping on the course, the organisers behind the scenes and those who contributed to the amazing buffet! Thank you too, to the excellent Brian Burnett for his brilliant, insightful race commentary. Lastly, thank you to everyone who supported us in entering the race and supporting the runners on the day. See you at the Jimmy in 2025! #seeyouatthejimmy
We are well into cross country season, having recently had the various relay events. It’s now the individual races, and it was off to Kirkcaldy for the Scottish Short Course Championship on Saturday 2nd November, where 1,100 athletes across the various age grades competed. The weather was kind and underfoot conditions were good for our wonderful contingent of Bellas who took part. For our ladies, we had Cara Thom, Sophie Jenkins, Jen Conway, Flora Henry, Kirsty MacFarlane, Leanne McIntosh, Laura Wilkinson, Alice Howe & Alison Brown. The gents were represented by Calum Borthwick, Jethro Browell, Stuart Laurence, Rich Evans, Tom Thorne & Gary McIntosh. Great running again by all, on an enjoyable day in Fife. Now it’s onto Erskine at the end of November for the West District Championship! On the same day up in beautiful Perthshire, there was the Glen Ogle 33 Ultra Marathon. Again, there were almost perfect conditions for this testing event that follows part of the Rob Roy Way, from Killin south to Strathyre and back. Fantastic running again by our Bellas with Brian Mulgrew (4:10:40, 9th Place, Course PB), Brendan McGuiness (4:42:02), Stewart Penny (4:42:56), Ian Watt (5:17:23), Simon Wells (5:30:55), Lucy MacKay (6:31:12) & SJ Kissock (7:31:40). Sunday 3rd November saw the first of this seasons Acorn Trails ‘South by 5’ races at King’s Park. Good weather and an undulating course bode well for the runners taking part. Well done to the Bellas who ran, namely Ryan Macready (5th place), Melanie Ovens, Tom Thorne, Jamie Wieland, Andy Tomlinson, John Sandbach, Aileen Coulter, Nicola Barrington, Hugh Brown & club legend Brian Burnett! A great weekend of off-road running across Scotland, very well done!