7 ladies and 16 men from Bella took on the challenge of the longest cross country race on the race calendar – the National XC championships at Falkirk on Saturday, 18 Feb. As ever, this race attracted pretty much all of the best runners in the country, so competition was fierce throughout the pack. The ladies had the pleasure of a snow storm as they lined up for their start, but that was quickly forgotten one they got stuck into all the hills and mud. The race was won by defending champion Freya Murray and the Bella ladies came in 11th team overall out of 28 teams: 68 Romy Beard Bellahouston RR 36:03 70 Claire Wharton Bellahouston RR 36:10 83 Elsie Downham Bellahouston RR 36:53 98 Emma Bryson Bellahouston RR 37:08 101 Ciara Baxter Bellahouston RR 37:18 111 Julia Harris Bellahouston RR 37:51 141 Sarah Gillies Bellahouston RR 39:46 11th Bellahouston RR (319) 68,70,83,98 The men’s race was also won by a defending champion – Derek Hawkins. Bella men’s team managed 9th place overall out of 33 teams: 42 Kieran Docherty Bellahouston RR 43:34 70 Greig Glendinning Bellahouston RR 45:19 96 Russell Whittington Bellahouston RR 46:25 104 Craig Reid Bellahouston RR 46:37 115 Mark Johnston Bellahouston RR 47:02 142 Scott Kennedy Bellahouston RR 48:10 159 Gerard Scullion Bellahouston RR 48:48 165 Bruce Carse Bellahouston RR 49:02 179 Grant MacDonald Bellahouston RR 49:18 205 Thomas O’Connell Bellahouston RR 50:05 291 Gordon Clements Bellahouston RR 53:01 295 Andrew Hardman Bellahouston RR 53:05 305 Barry Edwards Bellahouston RR 53:35 364 John Newlands Bellahouston RR 56:04 393 Alex Lawther Bellahouston RR 57:24 443 Chris Brotherston Bellahouston RR 1:00:37 9th Bellahouston RR (569) 42,70,96,104,115,142 My personal favourite bit was the Trench of Doom(?) at the far end of the golf course, which was not unlike falling into a big hole and trying to scramble out the other side, times three. And to top it all off, our own Bryan Burnett provided the live commentary on the day, displaying his usual shameless bias to cheer on all the Bellas taking part – thanks Bryan! A great day out with some brilliant performances – well done everyone. Results Report from Bruce
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Last Saturday saw the 42nd (I think) running of the classic wintry Carnethy 5 hill race over the scalloped Pentland hills south of Edinburgh. The popularity of the event (it fills up online before it opens) didn’t stop a large squad of nimble fingered southside road runners from entering the event. The race was notable for the quality of the field, the placidity of the weather (the week before we were battered off the hill during a recce) but also for the individual achievements. Whether it was Greig Glendinning dipping under an hour for the first time, Gordon Clements’s remarkable first timer bulldozing run, Grant and Elsie Macdonald’s continued excellent form, Barry ‘the jeggin’ Edwards daring to step on a hill, Sandy ‘hill-lover’ Brindley embracing the hills oncemore or David ’funny-man’ Stakes showing his darkhorseness [add to dictionary], the joy of running was all around us. Whether puffing up hills or charging along roads, running form and fitness are fickle and fleeting; it is on days like these with a tingle in your spine, you know truly that your running days are golden… Report from Chris Results
Six Bellas braved the brutal conditions in Kilmarnock to take part in the Scottish National Masters cross country event on Saturday 4 February. First things first, I have run in many cross country events over the years and conditions here were amongst the most challenging I have experienced. Rarely have I heard so many runners on the starting line question why they were taking part and rarely have I seen so many folk shivering so much half an hour after the race in the shelter of St Joseph’s Academy where hot food and drink were available. The soup and hot food were just what was required to provide some warmth. I hope this doesn’t deter folk from taking part in the future as rarely do you get such conditions, witness the following day at the Renfrew Road Race when we had fine spring conditions with the sun emerging for parts of the race. Back to the event itself, we had Julia Harris running in the ladies 6k event. She got around a muddy and slippy course and finished a creditable 19th position out of 58 finishers. We’re sorry that we couldn’t give Julia more support on her way round but the cold, sleet and windy conditions made you only want to take some shelter where you could. Unfortunately we didn’t have a full ladies team this time around so here’s hoping for next year. In the men’s event over 8km, our team was 7th position out of over 50 teams. Greig Glendinning had a fine run finishing in 14th position, with Russell Whittington in 34th, Gerry Scullion in 60th, Robert McEwan in 104th and Ewan McDonald in 167th positions of 178 finishers. Well done to all who took part, all deserve credit for bearing up to the conditions. If nothing else it is character building. What sort of character I am not sure! Results are on the Scottish Athletics website. Report from Gerry
The Kingdom of Fife, in general, doesn’t have much to offer the running community, a few nice hills, some pretty bridges and a few roads that take you out of Fife are among the highlights. Its generally a cold, lacklustre and soulless place where it is acceptable for people to enjoy dressing up in plus fours and tweed whilst wasting a nice walk following a small projectile round a well manicured garden. On Saturday the 21st of January, we bade a tearful farewell not only to one of the few decent things that Fife has to offer, but, also to one of the last bastions of running tradition. For years the Devils Burdens Cake Raffle has grown in stature and status in Bella folklore and this year it was cruelly snatched from us… The story of the fabled Cake raffle began with Helen Palmer (now of Bella’s Norway branch) having partaken in the Burdens race returned victorious with Carrot cake held aloft like an exalted hero. Helen told of iced carbohydrate riches beyond compare. In the years that followed legions of Bella’s followed in Helen’s legendary footsteps we all pretended that we were there for the race, but this was just a charade, we were all really there for the cake. Team Bella in the last years have fared well in the raffle largely due to spending more money than is required to bail out Greece on raffle tickets. Each year when our first victorious raffle winning warrior went forth to claim their prize the calls of “CAKE…. CAKE” could be heard in the hall. It was not uncommon for a Bella to forego a bottle of Champagne or spirits in order to satisfy their cake habit. Once all the cakes had been won we only then turned our attention to the wine, spirits, slankets and left over/unwanted Christmas presents. The cake raffle made no appearance on Saturday, there was no mention and then it was all over. Some Bella’s were stunned, the others just shocked that something so loved could be taken from us without even a whimper. The side show that was the Devils Burdens race was attended by one Bella Ladies and 3 Bella Mens teams. The Ladies team was: Leg 1: Ciara Baxter and Romy Beard, Leg 2: Jackie McGuire, Leg 3: Elsie Downham and Sandy Brindley, Leg 4: Emma Birnie. Who completed the course in 3:37.28 and were 12th Senior ladies team. The Mens A team consisted of Leg1: Grant McDonald and Craig Reid, Leg 2: Mark Johnston, leg 3 Matt Williamson and David Weatherhead, Leg 4 Russell Whittington. They were 17th overall in a time of: 2:44.02 The Mens B team consisted of: Leg 1: Bryan Lamb and Brendan Moriarty, Leg 2: Stuart Mathieson, Leg 3: Robbie Hayman and Andy Birnie, Leg 4: Nea MacInnes who were 30th overall in: 2:54.25 The Mens C team was : Gordon Clements and Alex lawther, Barry Edwards, leg 3: Steven Gilligan and Chris Brotherstone and leg 4: […]
This short but challenging event was the first of three mixed terrain winter duathlons organised by Fort William based ‘No Fuss’ events. Set in the stunning mountain amphitheatre of Glen Nevis (moved from last year’s Glencoe route due to fallen trees) 84 duathletes turned up on Saturday 14th to do battle on mountain path, fire road and tarmac. The first leg was a short but steep run, (about 4-5k, they’re not sticklers for exact distances) up the single track path towards Sgurr a’Mhaim, followed by a rapid road descent back to transition. The dilemma with an event of this distance is whether it’s worth changing from running shoes to cycling shoes; figuring there may be some ‘technical stuff’ ahead, I decided to stick with the trainers. The 12k-ish bike section followed the fast, undulating road almost to the bottom of the Glen, before hanging a left and climbing back up a forestry road. Most people opted for some sort of mountain bike, but there were some pretty racy looking cyclocross numbers making short work of the dry, hard packed conditions – with thankfully no ‘tricky bits’ to reveal my woeful lack of bike skills. Back at the transition, I managed to overtake a few of those whom had smoked me on the ascent as they struggled to change back into their trainers (always a nice moment, on a longer ride it would have been a very different story!) By this time I was in 7th; with the front three well out of sight, over the same run loop I managed to catch one competitor and squeeze 6th overall/2nd SV. Great result from Inverness triathlon’s Henry Blake, who came first by over 3 minutes. The prize giving took place in the Nevis Centre in Fort William, where podium finishers received giant medals and a bobbly hat, courtesy of Big Bobble hats (http://www.bigbobblehats.co.uk) For anyone looking to try something a bit different, these events are nicely run, low key and friendly, and take place in some truly fantastic parts of Scotland (the second leg of the ‘winter feast’ is in Arisaig http://www.nofussevents.co.uk/event/Win … ries/2759/). As one who mostly runs, the challenge of a bit of mountain biking (and changing shoes against the clock) is quite good fun. Full results at http://www.nofussevents.co.uk/userfiles … %20Nevis(1).csv Report from Hamish
On Saturday I headed through to Holyrood Park and Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh to compete in the Great Winter Run 5k and then watch a feast of top quality Cross Country action with Kenenisa Bekele topping the bill. The 5k started on the road next to Arthur’s Seat went uphill for two kilometers, levelled out for one and then back downhill for two. The first kilometre was sheltered and I found myself out in front. We were then met by a fairly strong headwind and I held onto the lead until two kilometres. At that point Adam Priestley from Corstorphine AAC and Sean Gaffney from Inverclyde AC both came past me and then got about 50 metres ahead. I was feeling tired, but dug in and hoped for the best. At about 3.5k I caught Sean and moved back into second place. At 4k I passed Adam and had the amazing feeling of only having the pace car and 1k of running between me and a win. I managed to hold on and for the first time in my life had the incredible feeling of breaking the tape at a race. Neil Thin of Edinburgh AC came through to take second place. My split times should give a flavour of how hilly the course was. The first mile was run in 6:03, the second in 5:52 the third in 4:49 and the last 0.1 mile in 4:52 pace. The third mile was the first time that I have broken five minutes for the mile. After the race I met up with Stewart Roberston and Bryan Burnett to watch the cross country. It was very entertaining and we witnessed the race event of Bekele being outshone in a cross country. To finish of the perfect day after the races had finished we headed to The Royal Mile for a few beers. Report from Russell
The West District cross country championships took place on Saturday, 10 December at Irvine. Thankfully for both runners and supporters conditions were better than earlier in the week. Although there was a cold breeze, it was quite pleasant for running in, less so for standing around. The course had altered from previous years, nearly a reversal in direction. The ground conditions were fairly good, a couple of areas of softish ground though nothing like Rouken Glen so it made for fast running. While we were short for a full ladies team the three ladies who made it along (Julia Harris, Romy Beard and Jane Wild) gave an excellent performance and were rewarded with silver vets team prize. Well done to them. In the men’s event, where eight Bellas took to the course, we were 11th placed team overall out of 17 and our vets team came in 5th of 21 teams. Our finishers were: Greig Glendinning, Bruce Carse, Craig Reid, Scott Kennedy, Gerry Scullion, Tomy O’Connell and Rankin Lawther with Keiran Docherty pulling out during the race. We were a bit jealous of the various clubs tents on display where runners could take some shelter before and after running and in particular we noticed that Inverclyde had room for flasks, food and whatever else – now that would have been very welcome. Still I think we all enjoyed the trip to Irvine. Full results available from the Scottish Athletics website. Report from Gerry
Dawsholm Park was the venue for the Glasgow Uni 5 miler on Saturday, 3 December. Things weren’t looking too good, as after registering and getting changed I found the entrance foyer of the sports complex jam packed with apprehensive looking runners sheltering from the cold, wet and windy conditions. Luckily the rain stopped for long enough to get out for a quick warm up before heading to the start line. I had been warned before the race to get a fast start as there was a bottleneck at a gate near the start, but it seemed that this year they managed to get the gates open fully and slapped some wood over the cattle grid, so no problems there. After a steady climb for the first 500m we got a nice downhill section which led us through the forecourt of a car was (where we had to dodge some hosepipes!), then it flattened out a bit til we descended into Dawsholm park. Things got a bit muddy through here, and we were then faced with a beast of a hill to climb back out to Maryhill Road, back into the sports complex and then had to do it all again for lap 2, at which point the rain decided to start lashing down again. This was a pretty tough race, so there weren’t many PBs, but it gave us all a good workout. Good spread of cakes afterwards too. The race was won by Thomas Fay of Shettleston Harriers in an impressive 25.14. First Bella home was Kieran Docherty. Full results using link below: http://www.haresandhounds.com/roadrace.php Thanks to Bruce for providing this report.
Great news from the weekend: The club had two representatives at the British and Irish Masters Cross Country in Bellahouston Park. Russell Whittington was running in Scotland’s V35 team (and came away with a Silver medal), and Julia Harris representing Wales in the V40’s. It was certainly a wet and windy Saturday afternoon, so huge congratulations to everybody who took part. Russell sent in this superb event report: On Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to run for the Scottish Masters team in the British and Irish Masters Cross Country in the home surroundings of Bellahouston Park. The race is split up into age categories in five year groups starting at V35 and going up to V70 for the men and V65 for the women. The event is made up of teams from Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. I was put in a strong looking V35 team along side David Miller, Jamie Reid, Robert Gilroy, Joe McKnight and Iain Connell. The weather and course conditions were very challenging. The weather was wet and windy and the the course was muddy and hilly so all in all it was a proper cross country. The first race was for all the women and the male V65 and V70 categories and was made up of one big loop and one smaller loop. The Scottish women got the team off to a great start with stand out performances from Lesley Chisholm third overall and second V35, Melissa White 4th overall and first V45 for the second year in succession and Fiona Matheson 5th overall and first V50. The F35 and F45 teams were both one point behind England in second place and the F50, F55 and F65 teams all took bronze medals. Our own Julia Harris was representing Wales in this event and finished 75th overall in a time of 27:15. The male race for categories V35 through to V60 was two big loops of the course. The race started at 12.45 and started on the pitch and put area. From there we headed uphill through the wooded area of the park followed by the downhill heading towards the House for an Art Lover. This descent was the trickiest part of the course as it was very muddy and several runners fell over in this section. After the House for an Art Lover we headed into a strong headwind past the Palace of Art and then up the second of the tough hills. The loop finished with a lap around the back of the cycle track before setting off on the second muddy lap. I finished in 76th place in a time of 28:39. Peter Matthews was first home for Ireland in 24:54. First Scot was Jamie Reid who was 7th overall and 2nd V35. My V35 team finished 2nd overall one point behind the winners Ireland. The four to count for the team were Jamie Reid, David Miller, Robert Gilroy and Joe McKnight. Fortunately for me there were […]
Saturday 12th November saw the second running of the Jimmy Irvine Bella 10K, sponsored by Achilles Heel. The race is named after the founder of Bellahouston Road Runners Jimmy Irvine and the race made its debut on the calendar last year to celebrate the 10th year of the club. Bright autumn sunshine and slightly breezy weather greeted just over 400 runners on the start line in Bellahouston Park. The race was won by Robert Gilroy (Ronhill Cambuslang Harriers) for the second year in succession in a time of 32:07. Second home was Kieran Docherty (33:47) and third was Russell Whittington (34:38), both from host club Bellahouston Road Runners. In the ladies race the honours this year went to Julie Doncaster in a time of 40:03. In second place was Yana Thandrayen (Portobello RC) in a time of 40:30 closely followed by Sheena Jack (Fife AC) in a time of 40:48. The male V40 category was won by Michael McLoone (Greenock Glen Park Harriers) who also finished 5th overall in a time of 34:50. Andy Law (Mid Argyll AC) retained the V50 title finishing in 37:34. Clydesdale Harrier Watson Jones took the V60 category with an impressive 45:58. Katie Mathieson from Bellahouston Road Runners took the V35 female category with a time of 42:06. Julia Harris also from the host club capitalised on good form by taking the V45 category in a time of 43:17. The V55 category was won by Margaret Deas from the Scottish Veteran Harriers completing the course in 52:07. Given the number of purple vests on display it was no surprise to see Bellahouston Road Runners take both male (Kieran Docherty, Russell Whittington and Greig Glendinning) and female (Katie Mathieson, Ann Robin and Ciara Baxter) team prizes. Outside of the prizes all runners received goody bags and medals for their efforts, with an impressive spread of savoury and sweet eats, alongside teas and coffees on offer for all. This years race proved to be extremely popular with all entries sold out in advance of the race. Many returned for a second year, and we hope to see them all again for the Bella 5K next August and the 2012 Jimmy Irvine Bella 10K. Full Race Results are here. Race photos available for purchase from http://www.scottsportphotography.co.uk/
Big big thanks to everyone who made today’s race happen. Provisional results can be found here. Any race queries please send to races@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk Full race report to come.
Craig Reid sent in this report from last Saturday’s Glen Ogle Ultra marathon. Saturday 5th November saw the first running of the Glen Ogle Ultra Marathon. The 33 mile out and back route started in Strathyre at 8am and followed a scenic route towards Killin. Weather conditions were perfect on Saturday morning and over 120 runners lined up at the start line. Due to the larger than expected field the route had to be cut to around 31 miles. I started at the back of the pack as I didnt want to set off too fast. The first 6 miles or so were very hilly and so it was difficult to get into a steady rythm. As I moved up through the field I met fellow Bella runner, Rebecca Jonson who was also doing the race. Miles 6 – 10 were very gradual and took us up through the glen and over the viaduct to the second checkpoint. My legs felt fresh and after stopping for water I pressed on. Miles 10 – 18 were through the forest on a mixture of paths and trails. By this point I was completely on my own and was making good time on the paths. By mile 14 I hit a massive hill and actually had to stop and walk up it as my legs ached. This left me feeling full of doubt as I wasnt even halfway round and I was walking already, I began to wonder if I would even finish. Thankfully that was the worst uphill section and once I got to the top I soon got back to running and returned to the 18 mile checkpoint. At 18 miles I took my first energy gel even though my legs were still feeling surprisingly good (apart from on that one big hill). I decided to try and run nice and steadily to the last checkpoint at 25 miles but the route was slightly downhill at this point and everytime I looked at my watch I was hitting between 6:30 and 7 mins per mile. At 24 miles I managed to catch another runner. He told me I was looking good and that the other guys werent far ahead so if I pushed on I could catch them. I thought at this point I was maybe in the top 20 or so but this runner informed me that by overtaking him I was now 5th! At mile 25 I got to the last checkpoint. Unfortunately this was where I had left my drop bag so I would have to do the last 6 miles with a rucksack on my back. I wasted a couple of mins trying to find my last energy gel and bottle of lucozade and set of again. The last section was on road and by mile 27 I had caught the 4th place runner and could see 3rd a few hundred yards up the road. Somehow my legs still felt good and I was battering out 6:45 […]
All race numbers were posted today Tuesday 1st November. Please remember to bring your number on the day.
With just under two weeks to go until race day we are delighted to announce that the race is now completely full. All 500 entries have sold out with the last one going earlier today. Race numbers will be posted this coming week. On the day entry is not available.
We now have only a small number of entries available for the race on Saturday 12th November in Bellahouston Park. It is looking highly likely that the online entries will sell out in the next few days taking us to 500 competitors. When this happens ON THE DAY ENTRY WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE. To avoid disappointment, please take advantage of the online entry. Race details and entry details are here.