Starting on Saturday 17th October, in beautiful Chiavenna, in the Alps north of Bergamo, Italy it was well done to Cat MacDonald, who finished 13th lady with 47:58 at the Kilometro Verticale Lagùnc, and to Alistair MacDonald who ran 58:00 in the mens edition. A3.3k course, with 1k of ascent! Then on Sunday 18th, Cat ran the Val Bregaglia 25k Mountain Trail Race finishing 2nd lady in 2:15:40. Up & Running had a couple of events on Saturday too. Well done to Iain Murphy who was 2nd in 1:26:28 at the Chaterherault Trails 20k, while Gianluigi Re was 3rd at the Alexandra Park 5k with a 20:00 PB. On Sunday 18th October, it was the TCS Amsterdam Marathon. A bit of rain in this one, but outstanding work by the dynamic duo of Chic Forsyth 3:08:42 PB & Gavin McGowan 3:29:36. Well done guys! It was also the Altra Yorkshire Marathon on a sunny Sunday, on a tough, hilly course. A brilliant top 100 run by David Jarrett with a PB 2:47:52, while James Berry had an amazing marathon debut in 2:58:41. And it was a great run by Veronica Fusaro on the back of a disrupted training block, with a PB 3:50:15. In the north east of England on Sunday, there was a brilliant run by Dave Ferguson with 1:29:42 2nd MV45, at the Run Nation Northumberland Castles Half Marathon. An 11 year HM best performance by Dave!
Club Championship
On Saturday 10th October, it was the start of the Scottish Athletics Cross Country season with the Lindsay’s West District XC Relays at Kilmarnock. The weather was kind on the day at the excellent Ayrshire venue in the fields adjacent to the Athletics Arena. We had a great turnout of 28 Bellas, with results as follow: (M) Oscar Coetzee 11:54, Paul McNairn 12:36, Josh Evans 12:54, Jordan Davidson 13:12, Bryan Mulgrew 13:13, Iain Murphy 13:22, Sam Ramsay 13:29, David Jarrett 13:38, Alan Moss 13:47, Jamie Robinson 13:57, David Pattison 15:42, Alan Digweed 15:45, Kalonde Kasengele 17:31, Frank Thielen 18:02. Congratulations to Oscar, Paul, Jamie & David were first place Mens Masters Team! (F) Cathy Wood 14:22, Abby McGlone 15:20, Kirsty MacFarlane 17:15, Lynne Hamilton 17:39, Alice Howe 17:56, Angela Eadie 18:33, Roz Wilson 19:03, Claire Galloway 19:26, Chi My Ta 20:19, Sue Campbell Senior 20:37, Alison Brown 21:14, Louise Gray 21:35, Louise Nimmo 21:38, Terry Nimmo 22:48. And well done too, to Ross Horgan 12:37, Ben Nurse 13:29 & Debi Gallagher 16:32 with Garscube Harriers, Glasgow Frontrunners & Giffnock North respectively.
Saturday 11th October, kicked off with the GB Ultras Glasgow to Edinburgh Ultra. A 0600hrs start for Alan Chalmers & Lucy MacKay to tackle the 58 miles from west to east along the central belt canals. Very well done to both, finishing in 10:58:02 & 13:14:29 respectively. It was an almost literal marathon Sunday 12th October, starting with the MBNA Chester Marathon. The fifth biggest marathon in the UK, and a brilliant run by the brilliant Calum Borthwick to finish in a PB 2:37:22, while there was another belting run by Lucy Warrington with a massive PB of 3:59:10. Und es war eine fantastische leistung von Mhairi Hill at the Munich Marathon. Our Bavarian Bella had a great 4:07:28 finish. And, in a warm Bank of America Chicago Marathon, there were no less than a magnificent seven Bellas running magnificent races with Mark Young 2:59:10, Chelsea Cruikshank 3:05:18, Colin Hughes & Marty Campbell 3:32:17, Anne Campbell 3:43:29, Lauren Rice 3:47:06, Pauline Wright 3:49:18.
The main story in town last week was the Great Scottish Run. Firstly, thankyou to our wonderful volunteers who helped out at the GSR Junior races on Saturday 3rd October at Glasgow Green. Sunday 4th October was of course the Great Scottish Run 10k & Half Marathon (HM) and the last day of our 2025/2026 Club Championship. We had 75 members involved in both races. Very well done everyone, including the 20 or so members who recorded Personal Best performances so, some highlights…. Ross Horgan set a new PB and **CLUB RECORD** in the HM with an outstanding time of 1:09:57, finishing in 19th position overall. This record has stood since 2011, and it’s a tribute to Ross’ ongoing dedication to training that he now holds it. Not far behind were Oscar Coetzee (1:22:00) & Paul McNairn (1:13:30 PB) to finish brilliantly as 2nd & 3rd MV40 respectively. Murdoch Rodgers also finished in an amazing 2:09:30 for 3rd place MV75. Our top three ladies were Amelia Matthews (1:23:41), Kelly Taylor (1:26:10) & Deborah Wright (PB 1:31:19). Outstanding performances again. We had four Wieland family members running in the HM with Jonathan (PB 1:23:33), Jamie (1:28:50), Shirley (1:55:23) & Emma, in her first HM (1:56:22).
Saturday 26th September was the Kelpies Half Marathon. Year 3 for this event which is becoming very popular with a good route from The Kelpies up and over the Clackmannanshire and Kincardine Bridges. Very well done in windy conditions to Martin McNulty 1:39:08, Lyndsay Kennedy 1:43:34 PB, Steff Boyle 1:53:14, Wallace Gray 1:58:43, Roz Wilson 2:00:02, Lynn Stuart 2:08:40, Louise Gray 2:22:06. Then, we had a couple of amazing Bellas down south tackling very tough events. Firstly, Ross Gale took on the GB Ultras ‘Cheshire Ring 100 Mile Ultra’. Actually 102 miles with a mix of trails knitting together the Bridgewater, Ashton, Rochdale, Peak Forest, Trent & Mersey and the Macclesfield Canals. What a performance by Ross clocking 16:54:37 for 3rd place. For context, roughly 4 back-to-back trail marathons averaging 4:14 each! It was also the 5 Valleys Ultra in the Lake District on Saturday. 58k with over 2,300m of ascent. A great performance from Luke Gall to finish in 10:02:05. On Sunday 27th, it was the ever popular Baxters Loch Ness Marathon. This was the 24th running of the event, with our Lucy MacKay having now run every edition among her now 83 marathons. What an achievement, and Lucy crossed the line (4:35:27) with Fiona Rennie, the only other person to have run all 24. Very well done too, to Ben Nurse 3:03:53 PB, Christophe Valtier 4:03:56, Isla Montgomery 4:44:25. Meanwhile, in Germany it was one of the World Marathon Majors in Berlin. A brilliant city for it, on a lovely morning. Fantastic performances by Bryan Kerr 2:41:00, Neil McSeveney 3:00:49 & Rhona Fraser 3:21:36. It was also the Linlithgow 10k on Sunday. Well done to Cathy Wood 40:02 who was 3rd lady.
On Saturday 19th September, it was the ‘Flat n’ Fast 5k’ in a windy Linlithgow. The seventh event in this series, with a great turnout of 11 Bellas in Ross Horgan 15:38, Ross Gayle 16:38, Jordan Davidson 16:58, David Jarrett 17:07, Calum Brown 18:00 PB, Lewis Milligan 18:28, Cathy Wood 18:55 PB, Jen Conway-Evans 20:13, David Pattison 20:52, Frank Thielen 23:44, Katherine Wainwright 26:03. Very well done to Benji Scragg who ran the High Peak 40 in the Peak District on Saturday too. 40.5 mile hilly trail ultra starting and finishing in Buxton. An outstanding performance by Benji in his ultra debut, with an amazing who 5th place finish in 7:05:20. On Sunday 20th, it was a short ferry ride from Largs to the Isle of Cumbrae for the Kenny Phillips 10 Miler. A sunny, but blustery day, with great running by Stuart Macdougall 1:02:48 3rd MV40, Jonathan Wieland 1:03:06 PB, Sam Ramsay 1:03:08 PB, Jamie Wieland 1:07:26, Frans Roelofse 1:15:43, Keir Gowan 1:16:45, Brian Young 1:26:53. Well done to Tomoyo Fujiwara who was 3rd FV50, with 1:41:39 at the Dumfries Half Marathon on Sunday too.
It was the Scottish Veteran Harriers Club (SVHC) Cross Country Trials for the British & Irish Masters on Saturday 12th September at Tollcross Park. 8k for the gents and 6k for the ladies, and always a challenging course. Fantastic performances from Oscar Coetzee 26:02 2nd overall, Cathy Wood 23:46 1st FV35, Jen Conway-Evans 23:52 2nd FV35, Claire Wharton 26:11. So Oscar, Cathy & Jen qualify for the finals in Dublin in November. It was also the hilly Kyles 10 Miler on the same day at Kames. A great Bella turnout and very well done to Bryan Mulgrew, who was 3rd in an amazing 1:00:18! Great going too by Colin Hughes 1:05:57 2nd MV60, Martin Murphy 1:25:23, Shirley Wieland 1:26:37 2nd FV60, Frank Thielen 1:28:05, Roz Wilson 1:28:59, Wallace Gray 1:29:10, Louise Nimmo 1:42:02, Louise Gray 1:44:27, Terry Nimmo 1:49:33, Stevie Bell 2:30:36 1st MV70. First off on Sunday 13th September was the Kilmacolm Half Marathon. A West District Championship event, and a beautiful morning, and some scorching performances too from Oscar Coetzee 1:12:15 3rd 1st M40, Calum Borthwick 1:12:33 5th, 3rd MSr, Amelia Matthews 1:24:50 2nd lady, 1st F30, Ronnie Hart 1:28:14 2nd M50, Jamie Wieland 1:30:33, Deborah Gray 1:30:54 2nd F40+ 1st F50, Conan McCreadie 1:32:57 PB 2nd MU21, Sandy Macdonald 1:34:23, Laura Henderson 1:53:10, Camilla Cunningham 2:07:20, Murdoch Rodgers 2:12:39 1st M70. In the 10k Ross Gale finished 2nd in a brilliant 34:24! It was also the Cumbernauld 10k the same day. Very well done to Cathy Wood 39:57, Katie Mathieson 45:05 1st FV50, Kalonde Kasengele 49:29, Sue Campbell Senior 49:35 PB 2nd FV50, Lucy MacKay 56:56.
The brilliant Cat MacDonald represented Team Scotland again in Italy on Saturday 5th September, at the ‘Vertical’ Trofeo Nasego International Mountain Race in Casto. From bottom to top, 1,000m of ascent up the 4.2k course in 56:04. Well done Cat! Well done too, to Simon Wells, who ran the Ben Nevis Race on Saturday. 14k with 1,345m of ascent to the summit, then back down. A brilliant effort in 1:31:40. Well done to the dynamic duo of Helen Winning & Caroline Munro, who ran the windy Tiree Ultra Relay on Sunday 6th September, completing 17 miles each! And then there were a couple of nice Half Marathon results too. Firstly, in Budapest there was great PB running by Gianluigi Re 1:38:13 & Laura Loddo 1:49:47. And there was a brilliant PB 1:26:15 and 2nd place finish for Michael Rice at the Run Nation Strathclyde Park HM.
Sunday 6th September saw too of our most popular 10k races take place in Stirling and Saltcoats. Both form part of our Club Championship as ‘medium distance’ events. In Stirling, it was the Podfather Stirling 10k, with great results from Oscar Coetzee 32:19 2nd MV40, David Jarrett 35:06, Bruce Carmichael 35:09 2nd MV50, Jay Cowan 37:55, Callum Dickson 39:12, Cara Thom 39:29 PB, Abby McGlone 40:41, Veronica Fusaro 44:12, Nick Smith 44:48, Murdoch Rodgers 55:34. Meanwhile, in Saltcoats, it the North Ayrshire Athletics Club (NAAC) 10k. Well done to Sam Ramsay 39:29 PB, Cathy Wood 40:31 2nd Lady, Robert Smith 42:19, Kalonde Kasengele 48:03, Mandy Morgan 51:14, Wallace Gray 52:36, Emma Queenan 54:30, Gayle McKay 55:49, Pauline Bradley 56:07, Chris Doak 57:21, Katherine Wainwright 59:40. More fantastic podium finishes for Oscar, Bruce and Cathy, and an outstanding run by Cara to finally smash the 40 minute barrier. Well done Bellas!
Very well done to the dynamic duo of Christine Milligan 7:01:58 & Lynne Goldie 7:39:53 at the Breaking Strain 50k ‘Run the Borders Ultra’ from Melrose to Jedburgh on Saturday 22nd August. A fantastic effort on a lovely day. It was the brilliant 7 Mile Tom Robb Trail Race in the Carron Valley Forest on Saturday too. Well done to the brilliant contingent of Brian Mulgrew 46:21, Alice Howe 1:05:56, Fiona Birrell 1:06:50, Roz Wilson 1:07:23, Lynn Stuart 1:09:52. And on Sunday 23rd, it was the Scurry ‘Devilla Forest Trail Races’ on Sunday. In the Half Marathon, there was a brilliant run by the brilliant Jordan Davidson for 2nd place in c.1:24:39. In the 10k, the equally impressive Simon Wells finished 2nd in c.38:58.
Over on the east coast on Sunday 16th August, it was the Scottish Half Marathon. A fast, flat road race along the East Lothian Golf Coast, finishing with a unique final furlong inside Musselburgh Racecourse. Another one of our ‘long’ Club Championship race and brilliant efforts by the 5 Bellas who ran, namely Bruce Carmichael 1:18:49 2nd MV50, Mark Young 1:24:46, Chelsea Cruikshank 1:26:43, Rebecca Croney 1:45:10, Robert Boag 1:56:01.
On Sunday 16th August, it was the Paisley 10k, one of our ‘medium’ Club Championship races. We had the winner this year in the amazing Ross Horgan with a PB 31:36. An outstanding effort and only 24s away from a new club record. And there was another brilliant run by Deborah Gray in 40:47 for 1st FV50. Ross, together with Bryan Kerr 42:47 PB & Calum Borthwick 33:02 PB also took the Mens Team prize. A brilliant day, with at least 9 PB performances from our contingent of 30 Bellas. Well done everyone! Full results are available below: https://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=20246&RId=12358
On Wednesday 5th August 2026,we substituted out normal training night for a 5k Time Trial on a measured Strava ‘segment’ within Bellahouston Park. This event counted as a ‘short’ race in our Club Championship for 2025/2026. We had a great turn out of over 40 members running and several more helping out on the sidelines. It was a cool, breezy evening but that didn’t deter our runners who put in great efforts a got a welcome tick-in-the-box towards their Championship standing.
It was the Greenock Glenpark Harriers ‘Bill Elder 10k’ on the evening of Friday 7th August in Greenock. The second ‘public’ running of this great event that takes a scenic, flat out/back route along the Greenock Esplanade. This race served as one of our ‘medium’ Club Championship events again this year with a healthy 14 Bellas making the trip to Inverclyde. As always, there was great running by Team BRR with Jamie Robinson 37:37, Jonathan Wieland 38:07, Calum Brown 39:13, Cathy Wood 39:41 PB 2nd Lady, Jamie Wieland 39:51, Deborah Gray 41:22 1st FV50, Martin McNulty 42:38, David Pattison 42:45, Gerry McDonnell 43:23, Alex Shaw 44:58, Frans Roelofse 45:46 3rd MV60, Tony Breslin 46:24, Murdoch Rodgers 56:42 2nd MV70, Chris Doak 57:31. Another great 10k PB for Cathy who continues in such a strong vein of form and who is now pushing for sub-39 minutes.
It was one of our Club Championship ‘short’ races on Saturday 25th July 2026, at Cuningar Loop parkrun. We had a brilliant turn out of 40 runners and 2 volunteers. Well done everyone who participated. We had 7 men in the top 10, with 7 ladies amongst the top 10 females, including the first 5 ladies. Our own first 3s were Paul McNairn 1st, Kenny Osborne 2nd, Michael Rice (4th) with Cara Thom 1st, Claire Wharton 2nd, Jen Conway-Evans 3rd. Thank you to Cuningar Loop parkrun for accommodating us and of course, to the volunteers, runners and supporters who all helped to make it a great day.