The John Muir Way 50k Ultra Marathon ran on Sunday 9th March, on a beautiful spring day on the east coast of the country. The route extends from Port Seton promenade, up through Aberlady, Gullane and North Berwick, down to East Linton and onto the finish at Foxlake Adventures, Dunbar. A stunning route taking in coastal path, woodland and rural landscape on the historic John Muir Way. A huge well done to Brendan McGuiness with 4:24:49, on the back of his recent, excellent Glentress Marathon, Stuart McMillan with 6:05:34 in his first Ultra, and the legend that is Lucy MacKay with 6:57:18. An excellent, well organised event and as always, thanks to the volunteer marshalls, officials, and sponsors.
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It was the Shettleston Harriers 54th Alan Scally 5k Relays on Saturday 1st March, at Glasgow Green. This is a great annual event which this year saw some 261 teams from all over Scotland participate, including our own 9 teams covering Senior, V40 and V50 classes. The event was very well organised as always with excellent pen marshalling and updates for relay changeovers by protay timing. The weather on this first day of meteorological spring was cool, with both a light breeze and some rain. The course is traffic free and flat, and all contained within Glasgow Green. There was great running from our Bellas across the nine teams, with several PBs recorded. Our Mens V40s (Oscar Coetzee, Angus Gray, David Jarrett, Paul McNairn) took 2nd place, while our Women V40s (Ann Robin, Claire Wharton, Charlotte Parkinson, Sarah McSharry) took 3rd place! Overall, our top 3s were (M) Josh Evans (15:36), Oscar Coetzee (16:09) & Sean McAnallen (16:48) (F) Cathy Wood (19:52), Poppy Bowie (20:16) & Jen Conway (20:20). All-in-all, a fantastic afternoon, with a great atmosphere and warm support. Thanks to Shettleston Harriers, protay and everyone involved in marshalling and officiating.
Well done to the four hardy Bellas who ran the 21+mile Ardgartan Trail Race on Saturday 22nd February 2025. It was a rearranged event after the recent storms. The route was 90% off-road, following a loop of the Ardgartan Peninsula, with some tarmac, forestry trails and an open hill section across to Lochgoilhead, before the climb back up to the ‘Rest And Be Thankful’ and a final downhill section to the finish. No ‘Strawberry Fields’ or ‘Norwegian Wood’ on the course for our ‘fab four’ of Bryan Mulgrew (2:53:51, 5th), Marty Campbell (3:46:27), Jonny Moran (3:49:56) & Gerry Hanlon (4:07:37). A tough day on the trails and notably, a fantastic effort by Bryan with a course PB. Well done gents!
It was the big Cross Country event of the season on Saturday 22nd February at the Scottish Athletics Lindsays National XC, Callander Park, Falkirk. It’s always a great day, and thankfully the awful weather of Friday and Sunday was replaced by a sunny Saturday sandwich. Still, enough mud and undulation for anyone over a challenging 10k course. Over 1,600 athletes ran in the various categories, including 27 Bellas. Our results were as follow: GENTS: Oscar Coetzee (35:46, 5th MV40), Josh Evans (35:47), Calum Borthwick (37:07), Iain Murphy (38:53), Stuart Laurence (39:37), Paul McNairn (39:52), Alan Moss (39:58), Bruce Carse (40:25), Jethro Browell (40:48), David Jarrett (40:55), Jamie Robinson (40:56), Jay Cowan (41:52), Ryan Macready (44:14), Rich Evans (45:39), Dave Ferguson (46:18), Kenny Mcdonald (49:57). Our gents team (top 6) finished 28th. LADIES: Cat MacDonald (38:41, 10th), Jen Conway (44:54), Cara Thom (45:52), Sophie Jenkins (46:22), Flora Henry (48:06), Emma Peters (48:09), Claire Wharton (48:44), Veronica Fusaro (49:45), Katie Blackett (51:07), Alice Howe (56:10), Megan Parkinson (56:55). Our ladies team (top 6) finished in a brilliant 9th place! Cat MacDonald produced our performance of the day to finish in 10th placed lady overall, with Oscar Coetzee yet again shining in the MV40 category with a 5th place. So, just about the end of the cross country season. Well done everyone for participating and loving the mud!
Sunday 16th February saw a number of races for our Bellas. The Barcelona Half Marathon was first off, on a sunny day in the stunning port city. A new HM World Record was set at 56:42 by Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda but aside, there were fantastic performances from our Bellas in Barca with Charlie Whall (1:23:36), Lauren Rice (1:31:26, PB) & Anna Whall (1:50:30). Força Bella! The Glentress Trail Races were also held near Peebles, on a dry but cold day in the hills. Well done to Brendan McGuiness, who smashed the marathon in a brilliant 4:19:49, tackling around 5,400ft of elevation gain in the process. The HM had Mike Wilkes (2:02:10), Rich Evans (2:02:40) & Siobhann Dunn (2:11:59), while Jen Conway (54:17) finished 3rd lady in the 10k! Great running folks. It was also the Acorn Castlemilk 10k Trail Race on a hilly route from Linn Park along the eastern periphery of Castlemilk.Well done to Ruairi Barfoot (52:28, 3rd), Jamie Wieland (1:10:43), SJ Kissock (1:28:12), Louise Nimmo (1:31:22) & Terry Nimmo (1:40:31, 3rd FV60). Great running on a very tough course.
Saturday 15th February 2025 saw the 9th running of our annual mob match against our friends and neighbours, Bellahouston Harriers. Pollok parkrun graciously hosted again, and this year saw a record turnout for the event of 172 runners in a parkrun field of almost 550. And it was congratulations to the Harriers on defending last year’s win, to take the total standings to 7 – 2 in favour of us Road Runners. It was another great morning of running and catching up with friends in the blue and purple corners! And to make it more special this year, the event fell on the 90th birthday of our founder and former Harrier, Jimmy Irvine. There was record attendance from both clubs, with 97 Harriers and 75 Road Runners, with the Harriers winning margin coming down to 4 runners. Over 100 members of both clubs and their families attended the after party at Clydesdale Cricket Club, which topped off a fantastic morning! Thanks to the organisers in both clubs and of course to Pollo parkrun, the volunteers and the staff at Clydesdale Cricket Club.
Some of our amazing vets have been celebrating significant events of late! Lucy MacKay celebrated her 60th birthday recently and decided to spend the morning of her big day completing a marathon around Pollok Park! It’s no surprise really, as Lucy has completed dozens of marathons and other endurance races, and she is one of only two people to have finished every running of the Loch Ness marathon since it began in 2002. Lucy enjoyed the company of some Bella buddies on her 8 laps of the park. Good preparation for her (so far) four planned marathons this year. What a woman! Meanwhile, Alistair (Al) MacLachlan completed his 600th parkrun at Elder Park towards the end of January! An incredible feat, with no stopping Al, who continues to race the MV60 category at various distances, with gusto and repeated success. And last, but far from least, out founder, Jimmy Irvine, celebrated his 90th birthday this week. Jim is a huge inspiration to the club, and the wider running community in the southside of Glasgow, and was an international class athlete in years gone by, having ran competitively for 65 years. An absolute legend.
It was off to Dundee’s Camperdown Park on Saturday 8th February for the Scottish Athletics National Masters XC. It was an 8k course in near perfect conditions, and even the sun made an appearance! Four Bellas participated and ran great races with Oscar Coetzee (28:09, 14th place), Alan Moss (31:04), Rich Evans (33:20) & Alistair MacDonald (34:58). Well done gents, brilliant running! The following day, Bryan Mulgrew & Alan Chalmers ran at the Falkirk 7 Hour Ultra Trail Race at Callander Park. The aim was to cover as much distance as possible on the muddy, hilly 4.089 mile course (800m loop for the last hour). There were decent, if cold, conditions for this epic, with Bryan finishing in a brilliant 7th place in 6:59:00 for 78.4km. Alan, in his first ultra event, covered 56.4km in 6:56:27. Great effort guys!
The Kirkintilloch Olympians Neil McCover Memorial Half Marathon ran on Sunday 9th February, in damp, chilly weather, but this didn’t stop our Bella contingent on what is a tough, undulating course. This was our first Club Championship ‘long’ race of the season. Bryan Kerr was 3rd in a fantastic PB time of 1:15:58. Poppy Bowie finished 2nd lady in 1:35:17, proving that her recent 2nd place finish at the Buchlyvie 10k was no fluke. Our remaining finishers produced fantastic results too: Grant Murphy (1:16:16, 4th), David Jarrett (1:26:36), Cathy Wood (1:38:23, 3rd FSnr), Veronica Fusaro (1:40:17, 2nd FV40, PB), Tomoyo Fujiwara (1:42:32, 1st FV50), Pauline Wright (1:45:05), Andy Tomlinson (1:47:15), Wallace Gray (2:10:52) & Louise Gray (2:13:43). Our top three of Poppy, Cathy and Veronica won ladies team prize and similarly, it appears that Bryan, Grant and David took the mens team prize. Very well done everyone! It was also simultaneously the Kirkintilloch Olympians 12.5k race, with Stuart Macdougall (45:16), Brendan McGuiness (50:35), Anne Campbell (1:00:20) & Kirsteen Waddell (1:22:32) all running. Another great outing for our athletes!
There was a brilliant turnout of Bellas at the Renfrewshire AAA 5 Mile Road Race at Greenock on Sunday. We had 39 finishers from the 108 strong field! It was surprisingly mild for Greenock in early February, and thankfully no snow, hail, flooding or driving rain, just some grey drizzle and the challenge of a cold blustery wind, particularly at Battery Park. There was great running as always from Team Bella, with several medals claimed for: Kenny Osborne (26:49, 2nd MV40) Colin Hughes (32:08, 1st MV60) Louise Ross (32:31, 3rd lady, 1st FV40) Deborah Gray (33:11, 3rd FV50) Al McLachlan (34:20, 2nd MV60) Jane McNeilly (34:29, 2nd FV40) Shirley Wieland (40:40, 2nd FV60) Emma Queenan (41:50, 2nd FU20) Murdoch Rodgers (47:01, 1st MV70) In addition, our gents team (top 6 of Tony Connelly, Ross Horgan, Kenny Osborne, Bryan Kerr, Angus Gray, Stuart Laurence) placed third, while our ladies team (top 3 of Louise Ross, Deborah Gray, Jane McNeilly) placed second! With thanks to Inverclyde AC for hosting another great event, and of course to the brilliant officials and volunteers for making it possible. Over at the Glasgow Winter Warmer 5k at Glasgow Green, also on Sunday, Rachel Fraser finished first lady with a great PB of 20:34!
The latest running of the Buchlyvie 10k took place on Saturday 25th January 2025, having survived the aftermath of Storm Eowyn. Unfortunately, difficult travelling conditions meant a reduced field, including several Bellas who were unable to make it. As always however, it is a well organised and very friendly event. The race is predominantly trail, from the primary school, onto the old railway track to the turn back at Barbadoes Cottage. So it was a wintry scene, with a cold wind, but thankfully not too much of the wet stuff! A big well done to the Bella Buchlyvie 5 who ran the race, with our results being: Iain Murphy (37:00, 6th place), Poppy Bowie (44:00, 2nd lady!), Sarah McSharry (44:05, 3rd lady!), Kevin Queenan (47:06) & Tomoyo Fujiwara (47:28). Great efforts all round!
Well done to the 16 Bellas who ran the Maryhill Harriers ‘Nigel Barge 10k’ today (Sunday 19th). It was an excellent, well organised event around the Garscube and Dawsholm Park grounds. There were near perfect conditions on the tough, undulating course with brilliant performances throughout. Our finishing order was Tony Connelly (31:58, 3rd), Stuart Macdougall (35:11), Bryan Mulgrew (35:24), Stuart Laurence (37:14), Jamie Robinson (37:58), Dave Ferguson (40:51), Ian Watt (42:02), Stuart Douglas (42:45), Ross Wood (43:42 PB), Tom Ferris (45:29), Jamie Howie (49:10), Alex Sutherland (52:30), Gary McIntosh (52:30), Leanne McIntosh (52:31), Murdoch Rodgers (57:49, 3rd MV70), Terry Nimmo (1:00:43). The final Acorn Trails Sx5 at Queen’s Park (series race 6) also took place today. Well done to the Bellas who took part, especially Ryan Macready who with a 5th place finish, took 3rd place overall for the series! There were some other races taking place on Sunday too. Very well done to Jordan Davidson who recorded a PB of 1:18:11 to finish 2nd at the ‘Up & Running’ Glasgow Green HM, where Stephen McQuade finished 5th in PB of 1:20:13. David Jarrett ran a great 1:21:35 at the Santa Pola HM in Spain, while Rich Evans returned to his old stomping ground to complete the St Albans Striders ‘Fred Hughes 10 Miler’ in a brilliant 1:07:07.
Bellahouston Road Runners celebrated it’s 25th anniversary this week. To celebrate, we headed to the Emirates Arena on Saturday 11th January, for a morning of indoor races. Over 70 Bellas ran one mile heats, that counted as a Club Championship ‘short’ distance, before 800m, 400m and 200m ‘fun runs’. It was great to see so many brilliant races and performances on the fantastic new track. It was then on to Glasgow Green Football Centre for lunch, birthday cake and a series of talks and inputs Opening remarks and memories came from our founder, Jimmy Irvine, accompanied as always, by his wife Sandra. We also enjoyed the reflections of our current president, Emer Campbell, and past presidents Oscar Wild, Emma Birnie, Robert McEwan, Brian O’Donnell and Richard Leyton. This really was a thoughtful insight into the formation and development of the club, and as was so aptly put by Robert, a glimpse of the jigsaw that has helped to establish the club with members at it’s core. We had two further distinguished guests who delivered excellent presentations, namely Kilbarchan AAC legend Bobby Quinn and Cambuslang Harrier, and recent Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k winner, Ryan Thomson. Bobby and Ryan’s experience, achievements and perspectives were fascinating and provided real food for thought. Thankyou to both for giving their time and enthusiasm. It was a great day, and a wonderful start to our 25th year. Thankyou again to all of our guests, committee members, coaches and volunteers who put together and ran these events.
The 2024 Tilli 10k, hosted by West Fife’s PH Racing Club, took place on Sunday 29th December, in the shadow of the beautiful Ochil Hills. The course is traffic free and follows the Devon Way cycle path, extending from Tillicoultry to Dollar and back. Registration was smooth and well organised, with a choice of a swanky beer or fancy soft drink for the race recovery! It was a fresh, blustery morning but the rain thankfully held off for the race. The first two miles were busy before the field stretched out, with a bit of shelter from the westerly wind. After the turn in Dollar, the headwind kicked in all the way back to Tillicoultry, but with an overall elevation gain of only 91ft, it was thankfully a fairly flat course! It’s a great event and there was an excellent turnout of 21 Bellas, with our results as follow: Tony Connelly (32:16), Calum Borthwick (33:06), Bryan Mulgrew (35:07), David Jarrett (36:24 PB), Stephen McQuade (36:52), Ryan Macready (38:16), Kelly Taylor (38:36), Dean Dempsey (40:49), Colin Hughes (40:55, 3rd MV60-65), Michael Daniel Rice (41:15), Cathy Wood (43:00), Marty Campbell (43:58), Ross Wood (44:58), Lauren Rice (45:11), Tom Ferris (46:04), Anne Campbell (46:41), Kevin Queenan (48:29), Joni Lindsay (49:36), Laura Wilkinson (50:31), Louise Gray (57:10), Wallace Gray (1:02:09). Well done everyone, and enjoy the beer! #Tilli10k
On Sunday 15th December, the latest edition of the Generali Maratón Málaga took place in Andalusia, Spain. The route crosses the beautiful city of Malaga, and passes by some of its main monuments, through part of its historic centre and along the seafront. It has been held since 2010 and is recognised as part of the official calendar of World Athletics. Conditions on the day were almost perfect. Congratulations to both Sean Coyle (2:39:12) and Ruairi Barfoot (2:48:11) who ran exceptionally well to record outstanding performances. Lots of hard training and preparation paid off on the day. Well done!