Eight of our members travelled to Stirlingshire, to the lovely wee village of Buchlyvie on Saturday 24th January 2026, for the annual 10k race. This is another Club Championship ‘medium’ event for us. This is a very friendly event, with a 300 place limit. The course is out and back and begins behind the Primary School, turning left onto Station Road for just over half a mile, then right onto the old railway track (predominantly firetrack and flat). The halfway turning point is at Barbadoes Cottage (situated on the old railway track). On the return, the course finishes at the school. Well done everyone with Ben Law (5th, 2nd MSnr 37:49 PB), Kevin Queenan (46:12), Tomoyo Fujiwara (47:16), Lyndsay Kennedy (47:50), Alice Howe (49:15), Wallace Gray (51:13 2nd MV60), Henry Merriweather (53:43), Louise Gray (58:36). Thankyou to the organisers, officials, volunteers and people of Buchlyvie for another great event! See you in 2027.
Monthly archives: January 2026
There was a brilliant turnout of 22 Bellas at the Maryhill Harriers Nigel Barge 10k, on Sunday 19th January 2026. The weather conditions were perfect, fairly mild with a light breeze and even some sunshine! There were some challenging underfoot sections on the tough undulating course for the 329 starters, but as always, it was a well organised and enjoyable event. This was also our latest ‘medium’ club championship event for 2025/2026. Our amazing Tony Connelly was 3rd in a PB 31:13, which was also a CLUB 10K RECORD. This was an outstanding effort by Tony given the course profile, to beat the club record that has stood since 2010. Tony now holds all of our men’s records, bar Half Marathon. Close on Tony’s heels was Ross Horgan who also ran a brilliant PB of 31:49, with congratulations too, to Oscar Coetzee who was 1st MV40 in 33:33! Jordan Davidson (35:04) completed our first four men, who took second placed mens team. Our ladies had a great day too with Sarah McSharry (43:34), Leanne McIntosh (45:47) and Anne Campbell (47:16) taking our first three spots for Club Championship points. Thanks to Maryhill Harriers for another great event and of course, to the volunteers and officials.
This year, we introduced some new style ‘trophies’ for our major award winners, crafted locally by two of our very own members! Six such trophies were produced for Honorary Life Member, Member of the Year, Male & Female Club Champions and Male & Female Most Improved. The body of these was designed and crafted from stained, leaded glass based on the abstract ‘B’ of our club logo. The base was cut and shaped from hardwood, with an engraved plaque attached to the front. We think these look great and hope that the recipients love them too. So, it goes to show that there’s more to running clubs than running!!
It was great timing in Saturday 10th January 2026 for our latest annual visit to the Emirates Arena in the east end of Glasgow. Outside, it was cold and icy, but inside it was scorching hot on the fabulous indoor track for our mile races! And we saw our head coach Gerry Scullion receive his Honorary Lifetime Membership to the club! This was a ‘short’ Club Championship event ticked off for the 43 Bellas who participated. And, as always, there were some fantastic performances were put in, with lots of PBs recorded. On the day our top 3s were (m) Paul McNairn 4:52, David Jarrett 4:53, Bryan Mulgrew 4:55 (f) Cara Thom 5:38, Cathy Wood 5:47, Emma Peters 5:56. We also managed some bonus races, with our winners being 800m – David Jarrett 2:14 & Cara Thom 2:27, 400m – Paul McNairn 0:59 & Ruth McKelvie 1:17, 200m – Michael Walsh 0:28 & Ruth McKelvie 0:35. Another brilliant, fun morning out! Many thanks to our volunteer members who ran this so smoothly for us.
Huge congratulations to our new, and only our seventh, Honorary Life Member – Gerard Scullion! For many years, Gerry has been our highly respected head coach and an inspiring mentor to countless members. He has also previously served as club captain and on the club committee. Gerry has given an extraordinary amount of time, expertise, and dedication to the club, not to mention his own outstanding achievements as a runner across many age groups. This richly deserved honour is a true reflection of the lasting impact he has made on our club. Well done, Gerry!
Fourteen Bellas headed to Tillicoultry on Sunday 28th December to race the PH Racing Clubs annual Tilli 10k. A great route from Tillicoultry to Dollar and back on the Devon Way, in the shadow of the amazing Ochil Hills. This race always sells out its 800 places very quickly, and is a great finisher to the year, and a great way to shake off that festive overindulgence. Its also one of our ‘medium’distance Club Championship events! It was a great day for it, slightly chilly, but dry and calm. Our star of the day was Stuart Laurence who ran a fantastic 37:05, with the amazing Cathy Wood rounding off a brilliant year with a PB of 41:20! No sooner had 2025 ended, when 2026 arrived with the first 10k of the year at the Beith Harriers annual New Year 10k on Friday 2nd January! Another great event, with a smaller field of 300, on a tough but scenic route around Beith. Kenny Osborne ran a great race to finish in 6th place, 1st MV40 in 34:15, with Cathy Wood 42:48 and Tom Thorne 45:37. So, another year of racing stretches out in 2026, and we can’t wait!