Distance: 15.5k Climb:870m The sight of blood running down the knees of the unlucky ones made me more determined to get down Fellow Bella Jamie Howie & myself ran up and down Arran’s highest along with another 200. During our voyage across from Ardrossan the waters were choppy with rain thrashing down on us – memories came flooding back to last years Bella Arran weekend – “Martie Pellow”. Stepping onto the Island and by some miracle the skies cleared and the rain shifted over to the mainland which brought a smile to all. Heading on foot over to the Ormidale Pavilion the atmosphere was building, jackets & layers getting stuffed into rucksacks leaving Goatfell with a blue background. Once dressed we decided to go for a little run around the grass field at the back of the Pavilion chatting to other runners with the main topic being “who’s going to finish in second place?”. You start with a lap on the grass with plenty of support from the sides then out onto the road for about a mile leading up onto forrest trails before you start to climb onto the hill. Trying my best to keep going the steepness really kicks in which brings you to hands on knees dance forward – most people do this. About mile 4 a tall bearded guy wearing a white vest with a blue band across it came flying towards me, this guy was motoring and was obviously in a hurry to get down – it was Finlay Wild – David Beckham of Hill Running. By then I realised I wasn’t going to win this race, I was 20mins away from the top. It gets tricky near the top with a little scrambling involved, however, the descent is bonkers, finding top gear comes easy but dangerous dodging folk that have still to summit. The sight of blood running down the knees of the unlucky ones made me more determined to get down before I got bitten by the Mountain Beast. Running down boulder fields allows only for nano-second decision making on foot landings, plays havoc on the brain especially when other runners are trying to overtake you. Eventually you hit the trail allowing to push a little harder and any luck over-take a few that went out too strong. The last section brings you back down through the forest onto the road for the last mile. Well marshalled throughout, you finish with a grass lap and plenty of shouts to run faster(I will next time) then over to a water station followed by tea,coffee and all the cake you can devour. Nobody really cares who finishes second, which is a shame. Finlay Wild 1hr 14mins “unofficial” giving him a 2min Pb on last years time. This race is well organised from top to bottom, with the Arran Mountain Rescue guys out on the mountain which brings a massive sense of security. Derek’s time 1hr 50min {unoffical} Jamie’s time 1hr 58min {unofficial} Look forward to […]
Racing
Well done ladies, an impressive turnout on a slightly soggy morning. Special congratulation to Debs Gray, who was 7th overall and 1st FV40! Let us know if you’re missing a PB trophy icon. Photo by Rose McRobert
Last night was the first of this years Polaroid 10k Series in Helensburgh. With the race added back into the Club Championship this year there was a great turn out of 30 Bellas. The Men’s team took 2nd place and Bruce took individual 6th place prizes. Results below, race report to follow. Full Results from Stuweb here Photo from Henry Merriweather
Some strong runs across the team from our bunch of Road Runner’s at the Whangie Whizz on Wednesday. Bob Reid in particular breathing down the neck of former Bella Kenny Richmond (Shettleston) at the finish, and Elaine Somerville losing out to Michelle Hetherington of Helensburgh and having to settle for 4th place female. Full results on Scottish Hill Racing website Photo by Danielle Glendinning
Given the weather during the week we were blessed on Saturday when the sun came out for Ben Lomond Hill Race. 166 runners took part and despite my pre-race nerves I was enjoying the relaxed atmosphere before the start until David (Stakes) mentioned times! Yikes! Had been thinking more along the lines of “I hope I get up and down this in one piece!”. My fear gave way to excitement as we set off and started snaking our way up the hill. The conditions were great with just a small amount of snow to contend with. It was hard work but I enjoyed every part of it to finish with a time of 1:40:07 (I’m convinced I would have been under the 1:40 if that dug hudnae stopped dead in front of me!) Well done to David who finished with a great time (PB I think) of 1:41:37. We even got to get some sunbathing in at Rowerdennan Hotel before the minibus took us back to Balmaha. A smashin’ race if you fancy something a wee bit different. by Elaine Photo croppped from original photo taken by Ian Dick – CC BY 2.0
At the start of the week, a glance at the 5 day weather forecast suggested that the weather would have the final word on the 30th running of the Troon 10k. High winds and heavy rain don’t fill you with any sort of enthusiasm for being outside, much less dashing about in shorts. Thankfully though the weather forecast gradually improved over the week, and Wednesday evening was with cool and dry, if still a little windy. Not ideal, but certainly better than feared. The event proved immensely popular: sold out within a week of accepting entries. So despite being a championship event, only three Bellas got through. Results show 933 finishers, so a big field. A mixed bag for the Bella results: Rose was pleased with a solid 44:39, just a minute behind her 10k PB.Shona’s a regular participant at Troon, but didn’t feel too good on the day, so was pleased to get around and finish with a sub-45 time of 44:46. I somehow managed to take a full minute off my 10k PB at my first outing at Troon, finishing in 42:25. I fear I’ve been talking about it to anybody who’ll listen (and one or two folks who feigned disinterest…). A particular mention required for the Troon Tortoises who organised the event. Whilst it was my first time running this event, I was hugely impressed with the event, the course, the goodies at the end, but particularly the marshalling. A phased start was honoured by participants and worked, and friendly, supportive and effective marshal out on the course directing runners and traffic. The nice weather ensured a good turnout from the town too, so lots of high-fives to the children, and plenty of cheers on the return leg through the town. All in all, fantastic stuff and a great evening. I can see how this event’s proved popular over the years, and look forward to giving it a bash again in future years. Well done Troon for putting on a superb event, and to everybody who took part. Richard Photo by Richard Webb cc-by-sa
A number of Bellahouston Road Runners were in action at Spring Marathon’s in Rome, Brighton, Rotterdam, Manchester and London. Although not everyone achieved their goals, there were inspiring performances across the field. Well done everyone. Photo by David Lockhart
Silverknowes in Edinburgh seems a long way to go for a 5k, but this was a Club Championship race and also included the Scottish Athletics 5k Championships. Although it’s a pancake flat course with great views down by the Forth, the strength of the field was only exceeded by the strength of the wind. The strong field spurring runners round to good times, the strong wind holding them back. Not that this seemed to hamper winner Calum Hawkins, who broke the course record to finish in 14:17, nor Hayley McCrorie who took the Bella “Performance of the Day” award – demolishing her previous 5k PB by over a minute. Photo from Peter Gallanagh
I hadn’t ever thought about doing an ultra, until I saw the message from Grant: “the Fling is open, and will sell out by lunchtime”. Nine fellow Bellas quickly replied “I’m in”, and I got caught up in the moment. Suddenly I was “in” too. It took a couple of snowy trail runs for me to realise just what being “in” meant, including (but not limited to): a) running on trails is brilliant but utterly knackering b) everyone signed up is massively fitter, younger and stronger than me c) long trail runs take absolutely ages, something I haven’t yet broached with my family I wasn’t really sure I’d stick with it. One early training run from Milngavie to Balmaha over Connick hill was a real wakeup call – if I felt that bad after 19m, there’s no way I’d even make it half way. I overheard Matt Williamson at the club saying “you should still be pretty fresh when you get to Balmaha.” Fresh?! Cut to 4 months later, and it’s the morning of the Fling. I’m a ball of nerves sheltering from the rain at 5:30am in Milngavie train station with 750 other ultra runners who look calm and experienced. It’s an amazing thing, the Fling; John Duncan’s self-supported jaunt up the West Highland Way has grown from less than 20 people in 2006 to 1000 entries in this its 10th year, with full Scottish Ultra Championship status. None of which is making me feel any more relaxed. After the initial shock, training had gone ok with plenty of back-to-back long runs, but as the clock got nearer to 6am I couldn’t dislodge the fact that I’d never run further than 30 miles in training. As for a race plan, despite having set my sights on “just finishing it”, I’d secretly worked out that if all went well I might finish in around 10hrs 20’ – which Grant then posted on Facebook. So that was it then! A quick “Good luck” to fellow Bellas Tommy and Stuart and it was time to go. The hooter sounded and hundreds of us set off through Mugdock and out to the Beech Tree Inn. I’ve done this bit loads of times, so I got chatting to a guy who had come all the way from Devon. It’s a weird feeling chatting while ‘racing’, but it definitely helped to settle the nerves and keep the pace sensible, and we arrived at Drymen (CP0,12.6m), 10 mins ahead of ‘schedule’, to huge cheers from the Bella support crew. As the trail heads out towards Loch Lomond, the dreaded Connick Hill reared into view. With Matt’s words ringing in my ears I kept asking myself how ‘fresh’ I felt a I ran-walked up to the shoulder, passing a few runners whom had started too quickly. As we reached the summit, the clouds cleared and Loch Lomond sparkled into view – stunning! A quick smile for the camera and I was bounding down the other side and […]
There are just some days when it is good to be alive and Saturday was one of them. Blaenau Ffestiniog was the setting for this year’s first counter in the British Hill and Fell Running Championship: a ten mile race with an accumulative height of just under 9,000m. On Friday night I had rested in a trailer park in the Denbighshire flatlands. That left me with a short drive in the morning through the Conway valley into the unfolding drama of Snowdonia. Blaenau itself is a small former quarry town hemmed in by massive slate tips and the Jerusalem Congregational Church. After a few hellos to Glasgow runners (including Kenny Richmond, formerly of this parish), the race started in the main street to the sounds of a Welsh heavy metal band and cow bells. A sprint through the town led 360 souls to barge over the railway footbridge and in to the wilds. A combination of paths and quarrymen tracks weaved in and out of old workings. Further up, the ground shifted between being sound, brutal bog and slate surf. The beautiful sunshine didn’t prepare me for the strong winds cutting across the first peak at Moelwyn Mawr (770). The prize for getting out of the wind was jumping big drops and a scrambling round the ridge to Moelwyn Bach (710). That was absolute fun. The descent form the Bach was a steep one, and refreshments at Llyn Stwain Reservoir were a relief. Trouble with relief however is it makes you relax, and I then had to dig in and climb steadily up Craig Stwaln and Moel-yr-hydd (648). A few folk passed me at this point, and I clutched to the old hymnal for inspiration. The final descents were a chance to savour the echoes of industry and dreams of a nice bath. There were a few stubborn undulations to punish my lack of training near the end but nothing was going to stop me enjoying such a wonderful day. For the record, Finlay Wild of Lochaber secured a Scottish victory in 1.13, yours truly was 316th in 2.08. Durisdeer next. David Stakes Youtube Video by Huw Jenkins – read his report: Campbells Cottage – Huw Jenkins blog
There was a great turnout of 25 from the Club completing the Tom Scott Memorial 10 mile Road Race on Sunday. Well done to everyone who took part – the results are shown below. Let us know if you’re missing a PB () trophy: Full results are available here: Tom Scott 10 Mile race – full results Photo by Graeme Paterson
The sun was shining for the Clydebank 5k on Saturday, and together with a strong field from across Scotland, conditions were perfect resulting in strong performances across the board. This fast, flat 5k always produces a host a PBs and this year’s race did not disappoint. Thanks to all the supporters who turned up to cheer and all who took part. Full results can be found here: Clydebank 5k 2015 – full results
Well done to everyone from the club who took park in the race yesterday. Conditions were pretty good & there was plenty of support out on the course. Special mention to Bruce Carmichael for storming round well under 75 minutes (1.14.08) Sorry I didn’t get the chance to see everyone at the finish but from the size of some of the smiles I saw it looked like quite a few people had a brilliant race (clock the number of PB in the Bella results table below – Ed). Highlight of the day for me was seeing the smile on Alison Brown’s face at the finish. I think she might have won the lottery. It was also good to catch up with the Terminator from Conundrum. Last time I saw him he was mumbling something about how he’d be back so nice to see he was true to his word. Keep up the good work. Graeme Personal Best: Season Best : Full Results can be found here: Alloa Half Marathon – Full results
There was a cracking turnout of 30 Bellas today at the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon. Conditions were pretty much perfect, so ideal for some good racing and some fast times. The Bella crew did not disappoint: Louise Ross won the prize for 4th Female Mary Senior won the prize for 2nd FV40 Louise, Romy and Mary won 1st female team prize Coach Paterson got the prize for 5th Male (as well an awesome London Marathon ‘Championship Start’ sub-75 qualifying time) The first three Bella men were also awarded 2nd team prize – woohoo! But on closer inspection, Greenock Glenpark were clearly 2nd and we were 3rd. Doh! Most importantly though was a whole raft of PBs today, which is always great to see all that hard work in training paying off. Asterisks have been dished out below, but let us know if you’ve been missed out from the PB hall of fame….. Well done everyone, you did yourselves and your club proud. Bruce Carse Men’s Captain Full results are available here: Full Balloch Clydeank Half Marathon Results Race website is here: Balloch-Clydebank HM website Photo by Oscar Wild