Sunday 10th May saw the start of this year’s Babcock 10k 3 Race Series, with the Shettleston 10k, doubling as the Lindsays Scottish Athletics 10k Championship. A lovely morning for the 500 strong field at Glasgow Green where we had 21 Bellas running. Some great results, notably Oscar Coetzee 33:02 1st MV40 & Bruce Carmichael 35:07 3rd MV50. On Thursday 21st May, it was the second race in the series at Dumbarton. 460 starters on a rainy but decent night. Brilliant performances from our 25 Bellas, notably Oscar Coetzee 33:10 2nd, Paul McNairn 34:38 6th, 1st MV40, Bryan Mulgrew 35:01 10th, all 2nd place Mens Team. Ann Robin 40:10 2nd FV40, Ruth McKelvie 45:31, Claire Wharton 45:28, all 3rd place Ladies Team. Al MacLachlan 42:04 2nd MV60. On Thursday 28th May, the third and concluding race took place at the Helensburgh 10k. It was a tough one on a warm night for our 19 Bellas participating. Of note, Oscar Coetzee 33:19 2nd MV40, Paul McNairn 33:52 3rd MV40, Bryan Mulgrew 34:07, Al MacLachlan 41:37 2nd MV60, Pauline Wright 48:21 2nd FV50, Pauline Bradley 56:04 3rd FV60. Brilliant again by Oscar, Paul & Bryan, this time winning the Mens Team prize.
Racing
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 […]
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!
The weekend past was a great one for Grant Murphy, Ross Gale and Ruiari Barfoot! First off, Grant Murphy finished in 3rd place (35:52) at the Neilston pad race on Saturday 2nd May. Saturday was also the Blast Running Fife Pilgrim Way Ultra from North Queensferry to St Andrews Cathedral. 56 miles with 1,200m of elevation. A fantastic effort by Ross Gale, who finished in 4th place in 8:26:33. Then, on the same day, over at the most westerly point of the Inner Hebrides, there was a great performance by Ruairi Barfoot (36:20) in the Tiree 10k, to claim 2nd place. Well done gents, great running all round…literally!
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!
On Sunday 26th April, over in Greece, Angus Gray finished 13th, 3rd MV40 in 2:41:57 at the Thessaloniki Marathon. At the Rhodes Marathon & Half Marathon, there were brilliant runs by Laura Loddo 4:03:19 Mara PB & Gianluigi Re 1:44:48 HM PB. Bravi a tutti e due! Sunday was also of course the big one, the TCS London Marathon. An historic world first sub-2 hour major, a women’s World Record, even a Scottish record. A warm one to contend with, so many congratulations to the Bellas lucky enough to take part: Bryan Kerr 2:38:10, Ruairi Barfoot 2:39:32, Kenny Osborne 2:43:23, Iain Murphy 2:52:29, Jamie Robinson PB 2:55:28, Mark Young 2:59:21, Chelsea Cruikshank 3:02:41, Lucy Prior PB 3:11:36, Alan Chalmers PB 3:15:00, Claire Wharton 3:26:13, Tomoyo Fujiwara 3:30:25, Christie Lamb PB 3:29:43, Anne Campbell PB 3:37:42, Debi Scott 3:55:22 & Gillian Gallagher 3:55:46 PB (GN vests), David Pattison 4:01:05, Shirley Wieland 4:46:29.
Saturday 25th April saw the latest running of the 42 Mile ‘Devil o’ the Highlands’ Foot Race. Tyndrum to Fort William on the West Highland Way, and thankfully, the weather was good for our Bellas! Well done to Bryan Mulgrew 6:47:09, Ben Nurse 8:00:21 (Glasgow Frontrunners vest), Kenny Mcdonald PB 9:48:22 & Della Lansley 12:20:16. It was also the inaugural Beecraigs Backyard Ultra on the same day. As many 4.167 Mile laps as you can muster every 60 min until there’s only one person left. Stephen McQuade took this on and ran a sensational 20 Full Laps, 83.3 miles, cumulative time 17:58:48, just shy of 85 miles total, a PB. Wow!
On Sunday 19th April, it was the 2026 adidas Manchester Marathon. The event is the second largest of its kind in the UK and widely regarded as the flattest. Three Bellas made their way south to tackle the race. Thankfully, there were good weather conditions and as usual, it was very well supported. Congratulations to Chic Forsyth PB 3:11.03, Robert Smith PB 3:23:05 & Angela Eadie PB 4:25:44. Three Bellas, three PBs, not too shabby!
Monday 20th April 2026 was the 130th running of the Boston Marathon. The race was held on it’s traditional spot on ‘Patriots Day’ with over 30,000 participants. It is also one of the abbott world major events. We were fortunate enough to have two ladies running. It’s a tough undulating course, extending from Hopkinton to Boylyston Street in Boston, but did they run well! So, congratulations to Sarah McSharry who ran a PB 3:27:29, and Pauline Wright who ran a brilliant 3:45:06! And since its Boston..”Cheers!”. Enjoy the recover ladies, and safe journey home.
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 had three of our men away from Scotland over the weekend racing in events. Poland, Italy, England, in that order. First off, on Saturday 11th April, there was a nice performance from Piotr Kopec with 1:38:17 at the ArcelorMittol Poland Dabrowa Half Marathon. An excellent run by Piotr while home visiting family. Then we had our current reigning men’s club champion, Tony Connelly, in Italy, producing an outstanding run of 2:38:20 at the Milan Marathon on Sunday 12th. Tony just continues to perform at an excellent consistent effort and holds almost all of our club records! Lastly, we had Ross Gale (pictured) at the Boston Marathon (the English version!) on Sunday, recording an excellent PB performance with 2:44:55 to place 10th in the race!
Oscar Coetzee has been back home in South Africa of late, and still getting in those challenging races! After finishing first Male Vet (51:41) at the Ravensmead 15k in Cape Town last week, he took on the much tougher Two Oceans Ultra around Table Mountain National Park, Cape Town on Saturday 11th April. This 56k (35 mile) race is said to be the most beautiful of its kind in the world, sitting between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Oscar ran an incredible 3:58:53 to break the four hour mark. His first 30k saw him up with some of the best in the race, including the ladies eventual winner, Gerda Steyn (in the attached image, Oscar is on the far right with Steyn third from the left). So, he continues to go from strength to strength, and is a real credit to himself, his family and luckily, to his adopted Glasgow running club. Well done Oscar!