Up in the Highlands on Sunday 8th March, it was the 2026 Inverness Half Marathon. This is a fantastic event that had over 5,000 runners this year, including the 5k participants. The weather was fine, with some decent spring sunshine. It’s a lovely scenic but tough course, as are almost all HMs!! We had four Bellas running this year. Our first past the post was the amazing Oscar Coetzee in 1:12:58, taking first MV40 position. Bryan Mulgrew ran a fantastic 1:15:09, his second fastest HM, as he sharpens up for the West Highland Way Race this summer. Angus Gray was just behind Bryan in 1:15:46, only a minute or so away from a PB. Claire Galloway was our sole Bella lady and ran a brilliant 1:57:47. Well done everyone!
Club Championship
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It was the 50k John Muir Ultra on Saturday 7th March, from Port Seton to Dunbar on the east coast. It was a perfect day for it, with some lovely spring sunshine, but given the wet weather of late, there were some tricky wet sections. especially on the second half of the route. Nevertheless, there was amazing running, pacing and endurance by our two Bella participants, Simon Wells (4:24:16, 50k PB) & Emma McCahill (4:41:53, 4th lady, 1st FSnr). Very well done you two, now get the feet up!
The Shettleston Harriers 55th Allan Scally 5k Relays took place on Saturday 28th February, at Glasgow Green. It’s always a brilliant event and this year saw 338 teams of four runners participate, so c.1,350 runners! The conditions were perfect too, dry, bright and only a light breeze. There was a slight course change to negotiate due to works at the boathouse, but this didn’t detract from the event. We had 10 teams run, with our FV40 ladies (Claire Wharton, Ann Robin, Sarah McSharry, Jane McNeilly) winning in their category! Our MV40 mens team were third in their class, and 13 of our members scored amazing PBs. Thanks to all who took part, the organisers, officials, David McNulty Race Photography and Protay Timing. Full results at https://protay.co.uk/asr2026/results.php
Well done to everyone who ran in the Lindsay’s Scottish Athletics National Cross Country at Callander Park, Falkirk, on Saturday 21st February. The climax of the Cross Country season, it’s always a tough, but brilliant event. And it was fantastic to see Laura Muir returning to the event. Our first threes were (Male) Oscar Coetzee (35:54), Josh Evans (36:50) & Paul McNairn (37:34) / (Female) Cat MacDonald (38:54, 20th), Cara Thom (42:58) & Jen Conway-Evans (45:09). Full can be found below: https://results.sporthive.com/events/7427379424208617472
The Kirkintilloch Olympians Neil McCover Memorial Half Marathon & Robert Rogerson 12.5k took place on Sunday 15th February 2026. Neil McCover was a Superintendent with Strathclyde Police, when he was killed while cycling during a lunch break from work in 2010. He was a thoroughly nice guy, a great runner and a Kirky Olympian. An award goes to the first serving police officer at the HM in his memory. And on this occasion, it was our Stuart Douglas! These are tough early season races, with several challenging climbs, and the HM was the first of our ‘long’ club championship events this year. As always, there were great Bella performances across the board. In the Half Marathon we had Jordan Davidson (1:16:55, 2nd, 1st MSnr), Grant Murphy (1:19:00, 4th, 3rd MSnr), Stuart Laurence (1:23:30), Stuart Douglas (1:27:06, PB), Alan Chalmers (1:28:43 PB), Jamie Wieland (1:29:36) & Tomoyo Fujiwara (1:43:42, 1st FV50). This also meant that Jordan, Grant and Stuart L, took the mens team prize! In the 12.5k, we had Bryan Mulgrew (45:24, 5th), Cathy Wood (53:05, 5th lady) & Murdoch Rodgers (1:17:35, 3rd MV70). A great day out again in Kirkintilloch, with thanks to the Olympians and all the volunteers! And some great pictures courtesy of David McNulty Race Photography.
We were in Greenock again on Sunday 8th February, for the brilliant annual Renfrewshire AAA 5 Miler. It’s one of our favourite races, and one or our ‘short’ Club Championship events. The weather was kind this year, with heavy early morning rain clearing away, to leave a nice mild, bright day, with only a light wind. We had 32 Bellas on the start line (23% of the field) at Battery Park ready for the out-in course along the Esplanade and back. Laps of Battery Park to start and finish, and great support out on the eroute! Our top 3s were Tony Connelly (25:27, 2nd MSnr), Calum Borthwick (26:25),& Alan Moss (29:02), with Ann Robin (31:37, 1st FV40), Cathy Wood (32:41) & Katie Mathieson (36:06, 3rd FV50). Our ladies took 3rd team prize too! In addition, Shirley Wieland was 2nd FV60 in a 5 Mile PB 39:49. A thoroughly enjoyable morning, in surprisingly good conditions! Many thanks as always to the organisers, officials, volunteers and Protay Timing. Full race results can be found at the undernoted link: https://protay.co.uk/raaa2026/
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.
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.
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.
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!
Seven super Bellas were in Spain recently to take on two of the most exciting marathons in Europe. First off, on Sunday 7th December , were four of our members who ran the Valencia Marathon on a warm, sunny day in Catalonia. There was brilliant running from Bruce Carmichael (2:42:25), Neil McSeveney (2:46:34), Bryan Mulgrew (2:47:14) and Sarah McSharry (3:36:02). Next was the Malaga Marathon on Sunday 14th December, where we had three Bellas running, in good conditions in Andalusia. Again, there were great performances from Brian Kerr (2:37:57, PB), Laurence Prior (2:55:50, PB) & Chic Forsyth (3:19:30). A fantastic run from Bryan in particular, who finished in 75th place from 17,500 participants. Bien hecho todos!
It was Barwwod Park in Erskine on Saturday 6th December 2025, for the latest Scottish Athletics West District Cross Country Championship event. We had a quartet of ladies and a dozen gents taking part on a decent day in Renfrewshire. Conditions underfoot were soft, with several tricky sections with an accumulation of some impressive mud! Our ladies set off first, with 3 laps of the course, covering around 4.2 miles. Cara Thom was the first Bella lady home in am impressive 30:30, continuing her impressive form this year. For the gents, the ever impressive Oscar Coetzee was the first Bella gent home in 24:52 to take MV40 bronze, and helping the gents senior team to 4th place, just outside of the medals. Next up is one for the masters at Tollcross Park on 31st January 2026!
Sunday 9th November 2025 saw the latest running of our annual 10k race at Bellahouston Park, the Jimmy Irvine Bella 10K! We had some significant changes this year with a new flatter course and our race HQ being located at Bellahouston Sport Centre. We have had to tweak our course in recent years due to works within the park and we will of course take on feedback regarding this latest version, as we will about our new HQ location. It was pretty wet in the days leading up to the race, and that rain continued on the day, right up to the start of the race (at midday). Thankfully, it eased off for the most part of the race! This year, we had over 800 runners sign up to participate and there were around 640 finishers on the day. We did of course put on our usual post-race buffet which was more accessible this year being house at the nearby sport centre. We also teamed-up with ‘Rerun It’ to collect used sports gear that the charity will ship over to Malawi for use by local athletes. And, as always, we were delighted to partner with The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice to raise funds for the hospice. The race itself saw a new course record set by the winner, Jamie Crowe of Central AC in an amazing 12:41! There was also a fantastic run from Jill Cherry of Victoria Park City of Glasgow with 34:53, only 30s away from a new female record. Bellahouston Road Runners gents and Bellahouston Harriers ladies took the respective team prizes! Some other records fell too with Tony Connelly (31:37) being a new Bellahouston Road Runners course record; FV70 Margo Turner 56:29; Johnny Mair 47:46. Well done folks! The full list of winners reads: 1st female – Jill Cherry (Victoria Park City of Glasgow): 34.53 2nd female – Rosa Ryan (Perth Road Runners): 38.57 3rd female – Kristina Glynn (Bellahouston Harriers): 39.19 1st male – Jamie Crowe (Central Athletics Club): 29.41 2nd male – Lewis Hannigan (Kilbarchan AAC): 30.25 3rd male – John Bell (Inverclyde Athletics Club): 31.09 V40 female – Sarah McSharry (Bellahouston Road Runners): 43.20 V50 female – Allie Chong (Giffnock North AAC): 41.10 V60 female – Shelia Lewis (Giffnock North AAC): 45.22 V70 female – Margo Turner: 56.29 V40 male – Oscar Coetzee (Bellahouston Road Runners): 33.07 V50 male – Brent Brodie (Bellahouston Harriers): 35.29 V60 male – Gareth Walker (Clwb Run Wales): 40.04 V70 male – Johnny Mair: 47.46 1st female team: Bellahouston Harriers (Kristina Glynn, Joanne Frith, Julie Lynch) 1st male team: Bellahouston Road Runners (Tony Connelly, Ross Horgan, Steven Lamb) 1st female member of Bellahouston Road Runners – Cathy Wood: 41.35 1st male member of Bellahouston Road Runners – Tony Connelly: 31.37 Full results at: http://results.perfecttimingscotland.co.uk/Results.aspx?CId=20065&RId=1257 We are very grateful to Migo Sports for generously sponsoring the race again this year and providing the prizes. Thanks to everyone involved in organising the event, the volunteers, marshals, medics, timing […]
What an event for Bellahouston Road Runners at this year’s very scenic Loch Rannoch Marathon! A beautiful day on Sunday 12th October for the event, with three Bellas participating. And it was success for all three! Jordan Davidson, carrying on his excellent form this year, finished in a PB of 2:44:29 to finish second in the race, first Male Senior! Then there was Tomoyo Fujiwara, in 3:34:52 to finish 3rd placed lady, first FV50! Lastly, Ian Watt ran 3:38:20 to claim first MV55! A brilliant treble of prizes for our brilliant Bellas!
It was the Great Scottish Run 10k & Half Marathon on Sunday 5th October. The stormy weather gave way to blue skies and a bit of a breeze for a great event. Excellent support and a new start at the top of St Vincent Street for a record field this year. We had around 100 Bellas running and marshalling! It was an early 10k start, but great running from our 6.2 milers, with our first 3’s being: Ross Horgan (32:35, 15th), Grant Murphy (33:10 PB, 20th), Ross Wood (44:44) – Lauren Rice (43:04), Rachel Fraser (44:41 PB), Alex Shaw (49:39). Then, it was the Half Marathon, where we had around 72 Bellas running. Some amazing PBs achieved and too many great runs to mention. Our top 3s were: Ruairi Barfoot (1:14:52 PB), Ross Gale (1:15:38), Jordan Davidson (1:16:05 PB) – Rebekah Russell (1:25:49, 3rd F35-39), Rhona Fraser (1:30:48, 1st F45-49), Cara Thom (1:31:56 PB). In addition, Al MacLachlan (1:33:56) was 1st M65-69. Elsewhere, Claire Wharton qualified for the British & Irish Masters Cross Country after trials at Tollcross Park! Lynn Stuart ran a brilliant PB at the Chester Marathon, Flora Henry was second lady at the Barry Buddon 10 Miler in Carnoustie, and Poppy Bowie was first lady at the Brisbane Road Runners 20k! Very well done ladies!!