Huge congratulations to our amazing Claire Wharton & Shirley Wieland, recently received Bronze medals from Scottish Athletics. Both were confirmed as finishing 3rd W50 & W60 respectively, at the London Marathon, that was the Scottish Athletics Lindsays Scottish Marathon Championship race this year. Fantastic results ladies, well done! Saturday 9th May 2026 started with the tough 7.8 mile, 3,150ft of ascent, Ben Lomond Hill Race, Scotland’s most southerly Munro. The amazing Cat MacDonald was the winning lady in 1:27:54, retaining her title from last year. Ally MacDonald, Cat’s father ran 1:37:35 finish for 2nd place MV60. Huge congratulations to Hannah Berry who ran ‘The Lap Clockwise’ 47 Mile Lake Windermere Ultra on the same day. 1,200 starters, so an outstanding effort by Hannah getting around in 8:31:16 to finish 10th overall, 1st lady. A fantastic performance in her first ultra! Meanwhile, up in the north east, Ian Watt ran a brilliant 4:52:19 to finish 14th overall, 1st MV50, at the 50k Moray Coastal Trail Race. The following day down in a very hilly Yorkshire, in the Leeds Marathon, there was an outstanding PB run by Jordan Davidson to finish 13th in 2:44:39, with Ben Nurse also running a brilliant PB 1:21:26 at the Leeds Half Marathon. It was back to Ayrshire on Saturday 16th May, for the Queen’s Park AC Goatfell Hill Race. 15.5 km with 870m of ascent, starting and finishing at the Ormidale Pavilion in Brodick. On it again were Cat MacDonald first lady, and Ally MacDonald second MV60. It was a brilliant start to Sunday 17th May for our amazing Poppy Bowie over on the Gold Coast, Australia, taking second female at the GC30 Main Beach Trail HM in 1:31:44. And in Austria, Wallace Gray ran the Salzburg Half Marathon (1:55:34) with Louise Gray tackling the 10k (56:39). On Sunday 24th May, at the Cape Town Marathon, Colin Hughes ran an incredible PB 2:54:33 for 10th MV60, and looks like the 6th fastest MV60 marathon time by a British athlete so far this year. The event was also the Abbott World Marathon Age Grade Championship with Colin ranking 9th. Expertly paced with a mere 3s deviation (4:05 – 4:08 per km) and an outstanding 87% age grade performance. It was also the Edinburgh Marathon Festival that same weekend, with Bellas running in the Marathon and Half Marathon. It was a warm day for it so very well done firstly, to our Marathon three of Alan Chalmers 3:30:41, Emma Peters PB 3:42:29, Babs Wilson PB 4:18:22 . And in the HM, brilliant running by Calum Borthwick 1:15:38, Lucy Prior 1:32:38, Laurence Prior 1:32:39, Jishnu Bhattacharya 1:34:17. On Saturday 30th May, at the Blair Castle Trail Weekender, Calum Brown conquered the Full Tilt 58k Ultra (c. 36 miles). Over 6,400 feet of ascent over two Munros. A brilliant Ultra debut in 7:43:25! Down at the Great Manchester Run Half Marathon on Sunday 31st, Jonathan Wieland shaved 8 mins from his PB for a new one of 1:23:58, while his […]
Club Championship
It was Ayrshire for the Troon Tortoises 39th Troon 10k on Wednesday 13th May 2026. 1,151 starters with a fantastic 28 Bellas running! There was an outstanding PB of 33:32 from Paul McNairn, to finish 3rd overall, 1st MV40. Very well done everyone else, with David Jarrett 36:57, Jamie Wieland 38:12 PB, Lewis Milligan 38:26 PB, Chic Forsyth 39:21, Jonny Moran 41:38, Kenny Crawford 41:52, Jen Conway-Evans 42:56, Michael Walsh 44:33, Gavin McGowan 44:37, Lyndsay Kennedy 45:42 PB, Caroline Munro 46:59, Jim Robinson 47:46, Gillian Gallagher 48:36, Lynne Hamilton 48:40, Robert Boag 49:00, Alice Howe 49:28, Lynn Rennie 50:28, Babs Wilson 50:50, Wallace Gray 51:11, Fiona Birrell 51:39, David Boag 52:24, Louise Gray 53:59, Guy Schmidt 55:09, Louise Nimmo 58:13, Nicola Barrington 1:12:18.
On Sunday 3rd May 2026, in British Columbia, Canada, the amazing Ross Horgan ran the BMO Vancouver Marathon in a fantastic 2:33:39 finishing in 14th place from 7,300 participants! An outstanding performance, and even more impressive with Ross only recently back running after injury.
On Sunday 3rd May, it was the ‘Run Nation’ Strathclyde Spring Half Marathon at Strathclyde Park. This was a ‘long’ Club Championship race for us and there were good conditions for it. Brilliant running by Jordan Davidson 1:18:24 2nd, 1st MSnr & Cathy Wood PB 1:32:31 2nd lady, 1st FV35. Another PB in the bag for Cathy who goes from strength to strength. Jordan continues to impression every outing, a real inspiration. Well done you two!
It was the Sri Chimnoy Scottish 5k Championship at Silverknowes on Friday 1st May. This is a fantastic annual event that always guarantees a fast field. And again this year, the conditions were good. Scorching his way around was our sole Bella, Paul McNairn, smashing his 5k PB with 15:52. This follows a week in which Paul, a local Postie, also smashed his 3k (Track Night) and 10k (Round the Houses) PBs, notwithstanding crushing his PBs for Half Marathon (Alloa) and 10 Miles (Tom Scott) just a few weeks back. What a ‘run’ our Paul is on! No doubt kept in check by his champion wife, Yvonne, who runs with our neighbours at Giffnock North! There must be a big mantelpiece in the McNairn household!
It was the Dunbartonshire AAA Clydebank 10 Miler on Sunday 12th April. The route is a flat, out-and-back and begins at Clydebank Leisure Centre, following the Clyde River along the scenic Forth & Clyde Canal to The Bowline at Bowling Harbour, before returning to finish under the shadow of the iconic Titan Crane. It’s a great event and one of our ‘long’ championship races, with some strong wind to contend with on the day. Nevertheless, there was great running by Jamie Wieland PB 1:04:15, Al MacLachlan 1:09:22, Gerry Scullion 1:10:04, Kenny Crawford 1:11:34, Tomoyo Fujiwara 1:15:56 (1st FV50), Alice Howe PB 1:18:50, Stephanie Boyle 1:22:53, Wallace Gray 1:22:58, Lynne Hamilton 1:27:30, Sue Campbell Senior 1:27:44, Roz Wilson 1:29:30, Claire Galloway 1:29:45, Louise Gray 1:32:15 & Graeme Pert 1:47:35. Another great FV50 win for Tomoyo as she gears up for the London Marathon! And well done to Wallace Gray, having ran 20 Along the Forth, the Alloa HM and Clydebank 10 in the past four weeks!
It was Drumchapel parkrun on Saturday 11th April for our latest off-road championship event. Its a great parkrun event and a tough, challenging, hilly course. There was a great wee turnout of 10 Bellas and we had the top 5 spots with Ben Nurse 18:39, Jordan Davidson 18:52, Sam Ramsay 20:55, Alan Moss 21:16 & Calum Brown 21:43. We also had second and third placed ladies in Claire Wharton 23:50 & Tomoyo Fujiwara 26:20. Many thanks to all at Drumchapel for hosting us, and making us feel so welcome.
We lost an hours sleep on Sunday 29th March 2026 at the 62nd Tom Scott 10 Mile Road Race at Strathclyde Park This is always a favourite annual event run by Law & District AAC, and again, it served as the Scottish Athletics 10 Mile Road Race Championship. It was also one of our won ‘long’ club championship events. Over 300 starters lined up, including 22 Bellas, on what was a cold, wet and very windy day in Motherwell! The race started at 1000hrs sharp, with the first mile spent battling a strong cross-wind that seemed determined to push someone into the loch! The exposed parts of the course were tough all the way around in pretty relentless conditions. So, it was tough going, but as always, great running all round from our Bella contingent. Our top threes were (M) Tony Connelly (53:27, 5th), Callum Borthwick (55:22, PB, 14th), Paul McNairn (57:02) (F) Cathy Wood (1:07:08, PB, 10th lady), Ann Robin (1:09:59, PB). Claire Wharton (1:14:37, 3rd FV50). Cathy, Ann & Claire also finished 3rd ladies team! A big thankyou to the organisers, and particularly the volunteers, first aiders, photographers, Perfect Timing Scotland, etc, for battling really brutal weather conditions. Full results below: https://results.perfecttimingscotland.co.uk/Results.aspx?CId=20065&RId=3125
It was the 42nd Alloa Half Marathon on Sunday 22nd March 2026. Another big event, with around 2,300 runners involved, including 35 Bellas, tackling one of our ‘long’ club championship races. This year the committee organised and funded a coach to ferry 30 of our members to/from the event. Thanks to Abbey Coaches for getting us all there and back safely. As always, it was a very well organised event, with an early start at 0900hrs from Lornshill Acadamey. This is a great local facility with access to a big running track, facilities to escape the cold, toilets and the gym hall to store gear. The weather was pretty good, cool, overcast and a light breeze to start with, although a stiff headwind picked up coming along the long stretch that runs parallel to the Ochil Hills. The route ran from the school, turning sharp left onto the main road into Alloa itself, with a loop around the houses before heading north on an undulating section to Sauchie, Fishcross then Tillicoultry. From there, it’s a left turn onto that long stretch right through Tillicoultry to Alva, with those magnificent Ochils to the right the whole way. With a great view of Dumayat, it’s then a sharp left again onto the flat section prior to the Menstrie Brae climb. Hitting this at 11.5 miles is tough. It has been vicariously described as ‘Heartbreak Hill’ and ‘Life Affirming’ even making you question your life choices. But once at the top, there is some short-lived relief realising there’s just over a mile to go! Short-lived however, as its a tough wee climb through Tuiilbody back to the school and a great welcome back! Again, as always, there was brilliant support all the way around, and the volunteers involved did a great job. Our Bellas registered lots of amazing PBs and Course Bests this year. Our top 3s were (M) Ross Horgan (1:13:23, 11th), Bryan Kerr (1:13:49, 15th, PB), Paul McNairn (1:14:47, 2nd MV40) (F) Cara Thom (1:32:46), Veronica Fusaro (1:33:02 PB), Claire Wharton (1:34:21, 3rd FV50). Over and above we had Bruce Carmichael (1:17:36 1st MV50), Colin Hughes (1:26:56 2nd MV60), Al MacLachlan (1:32:47 3rd MV60) & Shirley Wieland (1:51:42 3rd FV60). Full results are at the link below. https://live.sportsystems.co.uk/results.aspx?CId=20246&RId=12296 And an extra well done to Wallace Gray, who ran ’20 along the Forth’ 20 mile race the day previous and finished Alloa just 24 hours later! Well done everyone, and thanks to the organisers, officials, volunteers, emergency services and of course the supporters.
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!
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/