For the second year in a row, our Women’s masters ladies were on the podium at the National XC Relays in Cumbernauld. Huge congratulations to Emer, Louise and Ann for securing Bronze medals! Louise, together with Romy, has also been selected to represent Scotland at the British and Irish Masters International Cross country event in Swansea on 17th November. Well done to both of you! Thanks to Scottish Athletics for organising event (the full race report and results are available here), and well done to all the Bella members who took part yesterday, before heading back to party at our Annual Awards Night! The Women’s Masters podium at #LindsaysXC National Relays – 1. Hunters Bog Trotters2. @rungarscube 3. @bellaroadrunner pic.twitter.com/XjjliCRvi6 — scottishathletics (@scotathletics) October 27, 2018
Racing
Here it is! Jimmy Irvine himself was delighted earlier today to show off this year’s finisher’s t-shirt. Every runner will get one of these technical, long-sleeved t-shirts after finishing the race. The t-shirt image is from the Edinburgh to Glasgow relay race 60 years ago. Jimmy overtook the fancied Victoria Park runner, J. Taylor to win the third leg with a 38 yard lead. “When you go past, leave them no hope,” is one of Jimmy’s pithy mottos. The race will take place on Sunday 11 November in Bellahouston Park and has been very popular in recent years. You can sign up now at https://www.entrycentral.com/bella10k Enter as soon as you can to avoid disappointment! For more details go to https://www.bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk/?p=711 We are very grateful for the support over many years from our Main Sponsor, achilles heel.
What a day at the Great Scottish 10k and Half Marathon! At least 85 Bellas were involved in marshalling, pacing and racing this morning. That must be a record, and that’s not even including our fantastic supporters along the route! Congratulations too to Louise Ross for winning the Scottish Masters Bronze medal, finishing with a huge PB of 1.24.57. We were defending our Scottish national Ladies team Gold from 2017, and hope to find out later this week if we were successful! Thanks to everyone for making it such a memorable day!
Danny just put together a list of ’13 Good Things about the Stirling 10K’. We needed to share, so you all know what they are…. It’s Flat It’s true to its word. My Garmin says the elevation gain is 43 metres. That means those of you who live in a house probably climb something like this going to bed. Those who live in a flat, I suppose it depends what floor you live on, but you get my point. It’s not Sherbrooke hills Van with real coffee machine Parked right near the start. It had a van with a built in proper coffee machine. We arrived early and got espressos, cappuccinos, and americanos (easier to get your heart rate up than doing strides). Richard got a snickers bar. Lots of Bellas Twenty in all. We had a great time. Where were you? You got half a pint of milk at the end (instead of a medal although see point 7) Means you don’t have to stop on the way home to get milk. Or you could drink it as the perfect recovery drink it is. (Check the ingredients of those expensive recovery drinks – they are just milk, with unhealthy stuff added). And lets face it you have too many medals hanging all over the place. Milk is better. Harry entertained us with his superhero impersonations. Kenny and Julia brought Harry. Harry is 3 years old. He is a superhero. Be like Harry. It’s the Scottish 10k championship too True. It is. It’s also in the Bella Roadrunner Club Champs. Bella ladies win Scottish medals. Again. Our ladies brought back the bounty. Louise Ross and Emer Campbell picked up National Silver and Bronze medals in the V40 category and Shona Donnelly won V50 Bronze. Bella men ran too. Bella’s got PBs Hard training pays off. Also see point 1. And in Richard’s case also see point 2. Richard and Sarah Jane both got a 10k PB. Purple arch at the start Roz liked the purple arch. Roz is mara training so she paced Sara-Jane. Be like Roz. Good weather It was a bit windy but sometimes it was behind you. (Ok, Ok, no it wasn’t. You always had a head wind even though we changed direction all the time). And it was surprisingly humid conditions. But it did not rain until we all finished. So I suppose weather was OK. Maybe fix the weather. Well organised There are no queues for the toilets (well only a small queue sometimes), there are more toilets in the sports centre, it had just the right amount of runners, there are loads of marshals and they are really nice, staff in the sport centre were helpful, you can park very close to the start, the finish line is really well organised, It’s not crowded, did I mention you get milk no medal, although Shona, Louise and Emer did. Scenery is nice There is a bit when you are running down a straight track and […]
Twenty Bellas raced this morning in windy and surprisingly humid conditions at the Stirling 10k which also doubled up as the Scottish 10k Champs. Several scored PBs and season bests, but it was our ladies who once again brought back the silverware. Louise Ross and Emer Campbell picked up National Silver and Bronze medals in the V40 category and Shona Donnelly won the V50 Bronze. Well done ladies! 🥈🥉🥉 Results available here, and our thanks to Central AC for hosting a superb event! Photos courtesy of Graeme McNay and Robert Macleod.
Some great results in the last few weeks at the club that we wanted to highlight. 2018 John Lucas Round Strathaven 50 Mile Relay Huge congratulations to to Euan, Andy, Graeme, Russell and Craig (Euan, Andy and Graeme pictured) for winning the men’s relay event. Well done too to Ann who took part at the same event, in the mixed team event. Many thanks to Marc Bromwich for organising the men’s team entry, and was all set to run, but had to pull out because of injury. 2018 Paisley 10k A great clutch of results and individual runs from the always popular Paisley 10k, part of our annual club championships. Shona Donnelly was 1st female v50, Gerry Scullion 1st male v50, and Cat, Ann and were the 2nd female team home. Cross country training returning in September Our informal Saturday morning cross country focused training sessions resumes from 8th September in Bellahouston Park. More details on the club forum: Chi will be posting specific details in advance. Always a great way to start the weekend! Cross country and relays are a big part of the club’s autumn and winter focus, and pretty much all the races are included as part of our membership. Justensure your Scottish Athletics and club membership is up to date, and that you’re setup on the forum in order to get your name down when entries open! Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k entries open Entries to our popular 10k, the Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k, have now opened, and are already selling fast. Pop along to entrycentral.com/bella10k to sign up.
66 Bellas competed in another hotly contested President’s Cup on Wednesday 20 June. The 5K handicap race around Bellahouston Park was won by Julia McDonald for the women and Andrew Haddow for the men. Each runner sets off after a time handicap based on their recent race performance. So every club member has a good chance of winning and the finish is always exciting. More than three quarters of runners crossed the finish line within one minute of each other. Even so the team of volunteers at the finish funnel coped brilliantly. Club president Richard Leyton led the winners to victory on the lead bike before presenting the prizes afterwards over sandwiches and cake at Nethercraigs. Congratulations to all the runners and well done for all those new PBs. Full results for the race are available on the club member’s forum.
A sunny, if slightly windy day in Glasgow today saw the conclusion of the Babcock 10k series at the expertly organised Shettleston 10k on Glasgow Green. A great turnout from members – many of whom were completing the series of three – and some super pics too (a selection below) from the Bella support crew! We’re delighted that Romy Beard, Laura Henderson and Mandy Morgan secured team bronze in the West District championships competition within the race. Full results here, and the team results are on the Scottish Athletics report. Well done Ladies, and well done everybody who took part! Well done too to Stephen McQuade securing a 13 minute PB at the Edinburgh Marathon today (in a time of 3:05:47), and Garry Smith following on from his debut Highland Fling a few weeks ago tackling the Edinburgh Half Marathon. Many members just took advantage of the lovely bank holiday weather to enjoy a ride or run in the sun, whether a parkrun, the Dunblane 12k, or their local park/streets. This week’s training we’re looking forward to track speed sessions, and tempo efforts in Pollok park, all looking forward to next month’s Brian Goodwin 10k. If you fancy getting along to develop your running or improve your 10k time, have a poke about our website, and come along around 6.20pm. Pictures courtesy of Camilla Cunningham and Mhairi Moir. Plenty more on our club member’s facebook group.
The club has had a busy few days for club championship races, with the Dumbarton 10k and the rearranged Down by the River 10k both featuring as medium distance races this week. The Dumbarton 10k was a fantastic evening for the 35 members taking part, and highlights from the results include Claire Wharton (41:57) and Jane McNeilly (42:35) as 1st and 3rd V40 Ladies (separated in 2nd by our friend Mary Senior, formally of this parish). Gerry Scullion continued his fine running form with a superb 37:00 as 3rd V50 Male. Cambuslang 10k took place earlier today, and we understand Romy was 3rd Lady overall, Emer 4th lady (and 1st V40), and Romy, Emer and Mhairi scooping the 1st ladies team prizes. Away from the champs, Wednesday evening saw perfect conditions for the Antonine trail race with their coveted finishers rock, Saturday saw the popular Dick Wedlock 10k taking place in Pollok park, where Bryan Mulgrew stormed to 3rd place. Well done to everybody who took part!
The Club held its inaugural 3K track race on 18 April, the sunniest and warmest evening of the year so far. No fewer than 53 club runners competed in three heats, cheered on by fellow club members, and supported by an enthusiastic team of volunteers who worked hard to time each runner individually. It was a great chance for everyone to practise racing on the track in a friendly environment, and a nice excuse to enjoy some food and drink together after the running was over. We hope that this sort of racing evening will become a regular part of the club’s activities. Let us know if you have any ideas for next time! The club is extremely grateful to Doleen and Jim who gave invaluable help on the night, and to Pollok Parkrun and Giffnock North for lending equipment. Congratulations to all the runners who took part and a big thank you to everyone who volunteered. Here is a brilliant video of the event that Kevin Turner has put together.
Robert Macleod just sent in this race report from yesterday’s Tom Scott 10 mile road race: If you had asked me 5 or 10 years ago would I take up running in the years to come I would have just laughed at you, the most running I ever done was running from people wanting to batter me in school, I officially ran my first race in June 2016 doing the men’s 10k in my Adidas sambas and the reason that was I didn’t intend to continue running after that, I struggled with that race and I stumbled over the line in just over an hour, fast forward to April 1st 2018 otherwise known as April fools day well I certainly wasn’t planning on being a fool today as I prepared myself for my very first ever long race, the 56th Tom Scott memorial road race which was a 10 mile race around Strathclyde park, Earlier in the week my 5 year old daughter Mirrin asked me Daddy why do you never win races, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but I answered because there are faster people running than me that’s why, I had the added bonus of the children being away for the weekend with their Auntie so there was no added distractions, We set off in plenty of time and arrived at Strathclyde park just before 9 to get my race number, I definitely underestimated the coldness and I only had a top over my running top, we went inside and then later I nipped out for a wee warm up, the start of the race was quickly approaching so I quickly took my top off and threw it to Elizabeth, the race started quickly and I probably started off a bit quick, that would catch up with me later, I set myself a target of 1 hour 20 minutes which is 8 minutes a mile and I thought I’m more than capable of that, I was unsure of what route this race was taking me but following who’s in front of me I can’t go wrong, on the other side of the loch I seen Graeme Paterson and he told me to stay steady all the way round and that’s what I intended to do, as I was about to start the last lap the winner Luke Traynor was finishing his race which is very impressive and hopefully he will go to the very top and I certainly believe he will, when I got round to the other side I was overtaken by Lynne Hamilton, I asked her if she would wait for me but I don’t think she heard me, I occasionally looked behind me and I noticed Lynsey wasn’t far behind me so I managed to catch a second wind, this was my first visit to Strathclyde park and I could just about see where the finishing line was so I made a run for the finish I seen the clock ticking at […]
Matthew Campbell sent this report in shortly after taking part in the Rome Half Marathon The race started on the outskirts of Rome and finished on the coast in a town called Ostia. The weather on the day was ideal a few light showers and fairly overcast although I still managed to get slightly burnt! The course didn’t take in any of Rome’s tourist sites and for the most part was ran on one big long straight road, it was a fairly flat courses although between mile 6 and 7 there was a quite steep incline that eventually leveled off at about the 8 mile mark. The rest of the race was gradually downhill. At the three mile stage I was regretting the amount of walking I did the days before sightseeing as my legs were already starting to feel a bit heavy but I found a second wind (I knew there was a good reason to eat all that pasta) and reached the 10 mile mark, the last 3 miles were a bit of a struggle but I dug in and managed to finish in under my 2 hour target (1.56.53) Looking forward to my next one.
Conditions couldn’t have been better for the annual Renfrewshire AAA 5mile road race at Battery Park in Gourock today. A flat calm and bright sunshine are unheard of for this race as anyone who took part in 2016 will tell you! The Purple Posse had a bumper turnout, and carried home a good haul medals with Cat MacDonald, Claire Wharton and Shona Donnelly 2nd overall ladies team, with Claire 1st FV40 and Shona 1st FV50. In the men’s race it was a Bella clean sweep in the MV50 category with Colin Hughes 1st, Gerry Scullion 2nd and Al McLachlan 3rd. Congratulations to them, and to all who took part, and many thanks to the great support out on the course! Pics from the day courtesy of Caroline Turner are available on our facebook page. A copy of the provisional results were sent through to us, and available here (please direct any queries at the organisers)
BELLA MEN WIN SCOTTISH VETERAN HARRIERS ROAD RELAYS! LADIES FINISH THIRD! The men’s team of Bruce Carse, Bruce Carmichael, Graeme Paterson and Andy Campbell ran out of their skins to become Scottish Champions at the SVHC Road Relays, beating 51 other teams to the trophy. Our ladies team of Romy Beard, Emer Campbell and Claire Wharton won a fantastic bronze medal! Congratulations to you all, the club are very proud of you! Well done to everybody who took part and supported our members on the day. Well done!
Many thanks to everybody who took part today, or helped volunteer to make the event such a success. We hope everybody enjoyed their day out in Glasgow’s south-side! Provisional results are now available at our timing provider at stuweb.co.uk/race/1J2/. For the small number of runners who didn’t have a technical t-shirt available in their size, we should have taken a note of your details so we can post one to you in a few weeks time. If we didn’t take a note of your details today, please get in touch with us via races@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk by 16th November. Prizes We’d like to express our thanks and gratitude to our sponsor Achilles Heel for their support, providing the prizes and goody bags. Overall winner prizes Male 1st, Robert Gilroy, Cambuslang Harriers, 00:32:28 2nd, Jozsef Farkas, Stirling University Athletics Club, 00:32:32 3rd, Alasdair Campbell, Cambuslang Harriers, 00:32:45 Female 1st, Claire Moffett, Falkirk Victoria Harriers, 00:37:21 2nd, Katie Bain, Edinburgh Athletics Club, 00:38:36 3rd, Laura Wallace, Ayr Seaforth AAC, 00:38:46 Age Category Prizes 1st Male V40, Cris Walsh, 00:35:10 1st Female V40, Ann Robin, 00:38:56 1st Male V50, Chris Upson, 00:36:50 1st Female V50, Jacqui Thomson, 00:41:58 1st Male V60, Brian Hughes, 00:39:07 1st Female V60, Linda Selman, 00:51:22 Team Prizes Male: Bellahouston Harriers (Jack Arnold, David Mackintosh, Darren Mackintosh) Female: Bellahouston Harriers (Janine Dickie, Kristina Greig, Clair McCormick) Most runners were present to collect their prize, but we’ll be in touch with participants who couldn’t make it along to Nethercraigs.