Well, what a week! A bit of a marathon / ultra extravaganza! Congratulations to Anne Campbell on a great Boston Marathon on Monday (21st) in pretty warm conditions for 3:43:21. Great work by our mountain goats on Saturday (26th) at the ‘Devil of the Highlands’ 42 mile race, on the WHW from Tyndrum to Fort William, with 6,500ft of ascent. An amazing run of 5:56:55 by Bryan Mulgrew, who finished in 7th place with a great effort too by Kenny McDonald in 9:51:41. Bad luck for Del Rigmand withdrawing injured after 17 miles. The 45th TCS London Marathon took place on Sunday (27th). A world record field of 57,000+ in very warm conditions but an amazing event as always. Fantastic running by our Bellas: Johnny McBeth – 2:26:39 PB Ross Horgan – 2:30:17 PB Calum Borthwick – 2:42:15 Angus Gray – 2:47:48 Iain Murphy – 2:47:13 PB Mark Young – 3:00:07 Kelly Taylor – 3:04:13 Liam McNally – 3:15:01 PB Chic Forsyth – 3:17:33 Gavin McGowan – 3:33:11 Sarah McSharry – 3:33:37 PB Anthony Houston – 3:41:09 Pauline Wright – 3:51:53 Laura Wilkinson – 4:17:13 Shirley Wieland – 4:32:45 Wallace Gray – 4:39:10 Angela Eadie – 4:44:30 Alison Brown – 4:56:47 Garry Smith – 7:00:37 Johnny was only a few seconds away from a new club record. Congratulations folks, great efforts in tough conditions! The Adidas Manchester Marathon also ran the same day, with even more brilliant Bellas lined up: Ruari Barfoot – 2:40:22 PB Kenny Osborne – 2:44:22 PB Jamie Robinson – 2:56:01 PB Craig Ross – 3:12:45 Rhona Fraser – 3:16:24 PB Louise Ross – 3:19:54 Robert Jefferies – 3:24:20 PB Gregor Crawford – 3:26:55 Jennifer Lamb – 3:29:31 Ross Wood – 3:33:46 Steven Lamb – 3:38:21 Christie Lamb – 3:38:22 Jonny Moran – 3:44:12 Harris Millar – 3:45:53 Leanne McIntosh – 3:48:57 PB Alex Sutherland – 3:56:23 Gerry McDonnell – 3:58:22 Jamie Wieland – 4:08:53 Brian McQuade – 4:19:39 Tommy Burridge – 4:20:32 Marty Campbell – 4:21:17 Lucy Mackay – 4:43:20 Nicola Barrington – 6:05:13 For those who PB’d, or first timers, extra well done! A great effort by Marty, recovering from a knock after a push and still finishing. A big well done and thank you to all of the friends, family and club~mates of our Bellas who were at these events to support and cheer-on our runners.
Monthly archives: April 2025
It was the fourth Stride Athletics 5k ‘Flat ‘n Fast’ at the West Lothian Cycle Circuit in Linlithgow on Saturday 19th April 2025. Another large field for what is becoming a go-to event for speedsters from all over Scotland! A total of six 5k races on a course consisting of 5 laps x 960m, plus a finishing straight. Brilliant running on a windy day from Tony Connelly (15:16), Ross Horgan (15:21 PB), Bryan Mulgrew (16:06), Jordan Davidson (16:49), Paul McNairn (16:49 PB), David Jarrett (17:02 PB), Alan Moss (17:59), Cathy Wood (19:35 PB), Veronica Fusaro (20:22), Flora Henry (21:27), Laura Templeton (24:44). Tony and Ross were very close to beating the club 5k record of 15:12 (held by Tony himself!).
Easter Sunday 20th April 2025, saw the latest Run Lanarkshire Monklands Half Marathon & 10k, after a break in 2024. The course start / finish was at St Ambrose High School, Coatbridge, and featured an extended undulating route around and through Drumpellier Country Park. The weather fine and cool. It was a successful day for our Bellas, with Oscar Coetzee winning the HM in a fantastic time of 1:13:10, while Stuart Macdougall took third place in 1:19:07! Both Oscar and Stuart raced in the MV40 category. The amazing Deborah Gray goes from strength to strength, and was the first lady to finish in 1:30:31. Deborah raced in the FV50 category. Great performances too from Sandy MacDonald (1:31:01), Martin McNulty (1:36:04), Claire Galloway (1:59:32), Andy Tomlinson (2:00:01) and in the 10k, Ben Lamont (49:38). Very well done everyone!
Saturday 12th April saw the latest of our Off-Road championship races at Drumchapel parkrun. It was a lovely morning with solid running on that tough course by our dynamic dozen! Well done everyone including our ‘podium’ trio of Jordan Davidson 1st, Stuart Laurence 2nd, Claire Wharton 1st lady. As always, thankyou to Drumchapel parkrun and all the wonderful volunteers! Well done to the 16 Bellas who ran the Dumbarton AAA Clydebank 10 Mile race (doubling as the West Dist 10 Miles) on Sunday. Nice conditions and great results too with the pick of teh bunch being Tony Connelly (52.36, 2nd), Oscar Coetzee (54:15, 3rd, 1st MV40) and Claire Wharton (1:10:25, 2nd FV50). Another ‘long’club championship race complete! Lastly, it was beautiful Paris in Springtime on Sunday for one of the world’s biggest marathons. As always, we had some bellas participating. Very well done to David Boag (4:44:13) & Jane Galt (5:20:14).
On Saturday 5th April, Stephen McQuade tackled the Devilla Forest 8 Hour Challenge. The aim was to complete as many 4.36 mile laps as you can muster in the 8 hour limit (although there was dispensation to finish a lap if it started prior to that time). The weather was fine and dry for this inaugural ‘NU Limits’ event and Stephen bagged 5th place after 12 laps in 8:22:02 for a grand total of 52.5 miles! What an amazing effort, and supported by his brother, Brian, who covered over 20 miles himself! The following day, Neil McSeveney finished 3rd (46:00) at the Edinburgh 13.1 Kilomathon. A great route from Ocean Terminal to Murrayfield in great weather. A fantastic performance! And lastly, well done to one of our newest members, Aryan Davani, on completing the Brighton Marathon (4:47:43) on Sunday too. Tough going in warm conditions in what is the UKs third largest marathon.
Our latest ‘long’ club championship race took place at Strathclyde Park on Sunday 30th March, at the 61st Tom Scott 10 Mile Road Racer. The event also doubled as the Scottish Athletics 10 Mile Championship! We had another great turn out with 44 Bellas participating in the starting field of 327, almost 12% of the total! The route was the ‘classic’ Tom Scott, so mainly flat with some moderate inclines on the north side. It was a bright, dry morning with a fairly strong WNW wind blowing down the loch. So, some tricky conditions battling the ‘breeze’ particularly the first two miles, and returning back up the far side of the loch. It was also surprisingly warm in the sun on the opposite side with the breeze following behind. As always, there was great running from our Bellas, who always look forward to this event. Our top 3 men were Oscar Coetzee (55:12), Bryan Mulgrew (56:59) & Stuart MacDougall (57:51). Oscar was 5th in the MV40 age category after a strong run. Bryan ran brilliantly after being unsure of starting after a recent injury. For our ladies, it was Deborah Gray (1:07:16), Cathy Wood (1:10:19) & Jen Conway (1:10:41). Deborah was also 5th in her FV50 age category, and a great run by Cathy in her 10 mile race debut! And well done too, to Mhairi Hill, the sole Bella for the ‘Round the Loch’ 6k, finishing 2nd FV35 in 29:37! Congratulations to the winners throughout the field. Another great race organised by Law & District AAC. Thanks as always to all of the volunteers, marshals, officials, medics, sponsors and Perfect Timing Scotland.