Report from Sandy Four Bellas went through to the Pentlands last weekend for this long classic – me, Gordon, David and Grant. The race is 16 miles, 1890 metres of ascent and 16 hills. I had wanted to do this race for ages, but somehow despite this singularly failed to train for it. I think it is fair to say that the week before the race me and Gordon were quite scared – we kept looking at each other and whenever one of us mentioned the word ‘skyline’ the other would say ‘let’s not talk about it!’. This was my longest race and I wasn’t sure what it would be like. Gordon was worried about pacing, due to his tendency to race off like a maniac at the start and pay for it later. The race was very busy, with 257 people starting (not everyone finished…) meaning that the start was so congested there was no chance of anyone apart from the leaders racing off – we were all stuck doing a frustratingly slow walk / shuffle for the first 10 minutes. The race itself was lovely (if anything that involves so much pain and desperation can be called lovely). It was sunny but cool, perfect running weather, until we got to Carnethy, about a third of the way into the race, when the rain started pouring down (Gordon claims he didn’t experience any rain at all during the race, he must have been either moving too fast or running in his own world…). Due to a self inflicted nutrition failure the wheels came off my bus about 3 hours in, after trudging through some incredibly life force sapping deep mud on Black Hill. I experienced what I think must be my lowest, dignity free point ever in a race, when I fell on the downhill, got cramp in my leg, and had to beg a passing runner for a sook from her camelbak while rolling around on the ground. The passing runner happened to be someone who had made the mistake of following me at Ben Venue the previous weekend (obviously thinking that as I had a Bella vest on and it was a Bella race that she would be in safe navigational hands) and as a result taken the worst line ever off the hill. Despite this, she took pity on me rather than running off laughing. I then crawled (literally) up Bell’s Hill while belatedly trying to force some energy type things down my throat. I was so tired I actually contemplated just sitting down, but thought I had already embarrassed myself enough for one race. The race got much easier from here, and I managed to keep putting one foot in front of the other, even managing a vague sprint to the finish line (nearly knocking over one of the finish line posts in the process, I must have been a bit delirious and not running in a particularly straight line). Bella results: Grant finished in […]
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Results of todays relay race can be found here (click link). Big thanks to everyone who made the event possible.
This years Jimmy Irvine Achilles Heel Bella 10K race is filling up even quicker than it did last year! A big thanks to those who have already entered, we are absolutely delighted with the support so far. With three and a half weeks until race day and only 21 entries of the initial 500 entries allocated available we are happy to say we are releasing a further 100 places for the race. Please see all race details with entry details on the events page here. Preparations are in full flow and we are looking forward to a bigger and better experience for everyone taking part this year! See you all in November!
Report from Bruce. Before this race Geoffrey Mutai had announced his intentions to have a go at the world record – and with a flat course and a cold but sunny morning things were looking good. With the Siegessaule glinting in the sunshine and the motivational music pumping it was hard not to get sucked into the mood on the start line. A great start – 3.06 for the first km, and it didn’t even feel that hard. You’d better watch out Mutai! Oh no, wait, turns out that marker was way off as everyone’s GPS watch started beeping a minute later. Oh well, back to business. Plan A was to get under 2.40, plan B was sub 2:41.24 (i.e. a PB) and plan C was sub 2.45. Of course, there’d be no need for a plan D. All was going well, the crowds were out in force and although it was sunny there was plenty of shade along the route. Having km markers was great, they were just flying by, and I’d fallen in with a couple of guys who had non-committal “somewhere between 2.40 and 2.45” target times and we ran together, trying to eek out a wee bit of chat here and there. It was at about 11-12km that things started to get really tough. These legs did not feel like they were about to kick into another gear. I was still technically on track for plan A, but that was definitely slipping. By the time I got to halfway I was definitely onto plan B. I’d arranged to meet Nina just after halfway but hadn’t really counted on the pavements being about 10-deep with supporters. Oh-oh! Luckily we spotted each other, and a seamless handover of gel and a drink was executed. Buoyed by seeing a friendly face and some energy gel safely ingested it was only a matter of time before I would push on again. I hoped. Just another km, then I’ll start pushing…..OK, I’ll wait til the next one….. don’t worry about all these folk coming past, I’ll catch them in a minute….the legs won’t feel so tight and hobbly in a while…. It’s when things aren’t going well that the little things start to get to you. I wasn’t really enjoying the plastic cups of water – only filled to halfway, you spilled half of that when grabbing it from the aid station volunteer, and then had only a wee splash to try and get in your mouth, most of which just ended up being flung uncoordinatedly into your face/up your nose. I reckoned only one sixteenth of a cup was getting into my system each time. The injustice of it all! By the time I’d snapped out of that sort of ridiculous whiney thinking, I’d stopped looking at my splits altogether (I could sense it was not good news). I was definitely in plan D territory. What was plan D again? Oh dear….. OK then, I’ll get to 37km and it’s […]
Report from Hamish. The VALT is the biggest triathlon in the country with 13,000 competitors taking part across two days, over distances from super sprint to Olympic plus, and in categories from elite to age groupers to corporate relays. It all happens around the ExCel centre in London’s Docklands, and with waves of athletes moving through every 30 minutes, some starting, some finishing, others mid transition, all in amongst an EXPO selling every conceivable piece of triathlon kit known to man, it’s an exciting atmosphere. It’s all about mass participation, and with a handful of celebs and even the Branson family in attendance there’s a real buzz in the air. My race was the Olympic distance (1500 swim/40k bike/10k run) for SVM age groupers. Having entered last year and found the swim a bit of a slog, I knew my big challenge would be to nail a better swim, setting me up for the bike and hopefully a strong finish. Our age group was first away on Sunday morning, start time 6.30am. Saturday had been a perfect sunny day, but there was definitely an autumn chill in the air when the doors of the Excel opened at 5.30am and around 100 of us shuffled in hoping the Costa would be open (it wasn’t). With over 20 waves of all types racing that day, the transition area is simply massive; row upon row of bikes, towels, shoes, drinks stretching seemingly for miles. As we sorted out our kit, the main topic of conversation was whether it would actually be light by 6.30, let alone sunny. By 6.15 we were all gathered at ‘swim despatch’, but with little sign of the dawn, the organisers decided to wait for another 20 minutes…not the best thing for jangling nerves! However, we were soon filing down the steps and leaping lemming-like into the black docklands water. I’ve done a few mass swims now but it’s still a bit daunting when 100 swimmers strike out en masse. You do get a bit of physical contact for the first few minutes, and a couple of kicks to the head followed by a lungful of Thames water certainly woke me up. After a few hundred metres I found some similar paced swimmers and we drafted along together, meaning the rest of the swim flew past, over 5 minutes quicker than last year. I’m pleased to say I also avoided swimming into a rescue canoe like last year – result! Transition is known as the ‘4th discipline’ and while I’ve always been a bit sceptical about the seriousness with which some take it (practising taking off your wetsuit seems a bit extreme to me) I have to admit it is pretty impressive just how fast some people can get out of their wetsuits and onto their bikes. As I fumbled with clips and velcro I made a mental note to be less sceptical next time… The bike leg is two laps on closed roads around London, taking in some […]
Report from Craig. For those of you who dont know, Dumfries is my home town and I have ran the half marathon twice before. They were both a disaster and resulted in two of my worst races, so I thought it was about time to go back and give it another go. With 42 miles in my legs from the previous weekend and a disappointing parkrun time the day before I settled into the front/middle of the pack on the start line. In my last couple of half marathons I have set off a bit quickly and felt like I suffered later in the race so today decided to go off at a steady pace, especially knowing the undulating nature of the course. By mile 3 I was sitting just outside the top 10. I was concerned about trying to race so quickly after such a long run the week before so thought this would be a good place to stay. Maybe it was my new trainers or maybe a moment of madness but I decided not to settle, to have a real go and see how close to the leaders I could get. The front three had set off at some pace and were nowhere to be seen. As I moved up to 8th I could see another group of three runners in the distance followed by the purple Bella vest of Brian Lamb in 7th. I knew Brian had ran well at the GSR so I would be doing well to get near him let alone those in front. Miles 4.5 – 6.5 are mainly uphill, some steep and some not so bad but I steadily chased down those in front. As they say, what goes up must come down and a nice 5:28 mile between 7-8 saw me move into 7th as one of the runners in the second pack dropped back. My legs felt really strong and any thoughts of fatigue from the River Ayr Way ultra were well out of my mind. By 9.5 miles Brian had caught up with the runners in 4th and 5th and I made an effort to move with him and we went by them together. At mile 10 I edged ahead of Brian. Having spent the whole race chasing other runners I suddenly found myself in 4th and became conscious that if I slowed slightly then those behind me were going strongly and I would drop back. Mile 10-11 had a few more uphill sections and I began to feel the first signs of tiredness. That soon disappeared though as I got my first glimpse of the runners in 2nd and 3rd – although they looked far too far ahead to catch. Mile 11 was a fast downhill mile, I could hear Brian’s footsteps behind me and knew I would have to push if I was to hold him off and take 4th place. Little did I realise we had both made up good time on the 2nd and […]
Report from Craig. All week at work I had been looking forward to a long lie in my bed so on Saturday 15th September when my alarm went off at 5am I was less then happy. Maybe the people at work were right, maybe I was mad. After all how else could I explain getting up at that time on a Saturday morning to go for a 41 mile run?! I dragged myself out of bed and after a quick shower and forcing down some food I headed down to the Citadel in Ayr. I collected my race number and boarded the bus along with another 80 or so runners which would take us to the start of the race. Eventually we arrived at Glenbuck and it felt like we had been dropped in the middle of nowhere. At 9 oclock the horn went and the race started. The first 5 miles or so were into a strong headwind along trail paths. I decided to set off at a steady pace and see how long I could hold it for. There were two runners just in front but I decided not to try and keep up with them and quickly I was on my own as the runners behind me were already a good bit back. I passed the first checkpoint with ease and felt great. I had been full of the cold a couple of weeks before and I felt like the extra time off was really going to benefit me. By 7 miles I had almost caught up with the two leaders, I could see them not too far in the distance but a wrong turn followed by a quarter of a mile scrambling through nettles, long grass and a burn that I could hear but not see due to the long grass (I know it was there as I fell in it a couple of times) meant that soon they were out of sight again! Miles 8 – 18 were almost like cross country underfoot. There was plenty of running through fields with mud up to my ankles and splashing through puddles. By mile 18 though I could see 2nd place again and passed him as we went through the checkpoint on a good road section at 19 miles. By mile 23 my legs were feeling heavy and I was beginning to struggle a bit. My times were still steady and I caught the race leader who was also struggling. I ran with him for a couple of miles but he was really struggling by this time and as as we ran/walked together we were overtaken by the eventual race winner. By mile 28 after negotiating my way through a section of bushes where the path had been washed away by a landslide, I decided that I had to run my own race and left the runner I had been with for the last few miles, his hip was in a bad way and to be honest […]
Report from Hamish Despite sounding like something out of the Channel4 sitcom ‘Father Ted’, the Craggy Island Triathlon is a tough but entertaining, sprint distance off-road triathlon set on the small island of Kerrera, just off the west coast of Scotland near Oban. Launched last year by Durty events (www.durtyevents.com, inventors of the now legendary ‘Celtman’ race) it was voted ‘Most Enjoyable Event’ in 2011 and sold out so fast this year that the organisers obligingly decided to host two races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Having accidentally (ok, stupidly) entered on both days, I figured that if the ground was wet then the course would be easier on day 1, so Saturday it was. (Only Grant or Brendan would have done both days ) I duly turned up on the pier at Gallanach with supportive wife, all my triathlon stuff (technical term) and a broad range of other competitors, to catch the tiny ferry across to the island. The crossing takes the same route as the impending swim, and the excited tri-related chat dried up somewhat as the boat butted through the grey waves, taking much longer to cross than imagined. With slightly wobbly legs we arrived at Kerrera, registered at the tent and made our way to ‘transition’, in a big grassy field. The banter was soon flowing thick and fast again as we applied lube and struggled into wetsuits in the rain, and fought with the wind to lay out our kit in some sort of order (ok, heap). With wetsuits on, it was time to get the boat back to the mainland for the start of the race. The combination of the landing-craft style ferry and the apprehension in the air was reminiscent of the start of “saving Private Ryan”, but I’m pleased to say that the briefing and heckling on the pier was great and in no time we were in the sea warming up. (“16 degrees” the organiser said. “Farenheit?” came the reply.) With a blast of the hooter we were off, 170 blue caps churning our way back to the island. I hauled myself out of the water and up the jetty after about 11mins in 35th position – thankfully without any jellyfish encounters – and raced off towards transition. There is a granny gear on my bike so embarrassingly low that I feel I really shouldn’t use it, in case I get spotted by some ‘real’ Mountain bikers. By the first Km marker I think I had already used it about dozen times. A combination of muddy foot paths, quad tracks, open hillside and loose land rover tracks may sound like a playground to some, but it was a pretty stiff challenge for my non-cycle specific legs and tragic lack of mtb skills. Several climbs were so steep I had to get off and run, the descents an hilarious mix from untracked hillside to fast-as-you-dare farm track. The description of the ride on the website is “go out as fast […]
Report from Peter B. The day started early with an early morning text message from Australia to wish me luck, at 6:30am, it was appreciated but not necessarily the greatest timing. Although I have done various races in different locations, the Great North Run will always be special to me, since it is in my “home” city. Once the car was parked and bag dropped on the bus, I made my way down towards the muster points, still an hour until the race starts at this point. I stood and watched our very own Bryan Burnett interviewing various celebrities and Olympic athletes, Mo Farah was a notable high point, although he may need some development if he wants to excel as a motivational speaker! With half an hour to go before the race I was in my muster pen, soaking up the atmosphere and watching nearly 40,000 people doing the Mo-bot during the warm up. The elite runners were announced and set off and it was only a matter of time… Usually these race reports talk about being at the front of the race and judging pace well and managing to overtake the leader in the last half a mile. My race was similar to that, but in a way different. My pace was all over the place, as I was through 8 miles the leaders were already finished and even a third rate X Factor winner beat me. That said the reason I was there was not to win, I decided to do this race so that I could enjoy the atmosphere and run a steady race and still have something left at the end to produce a finishing burst, whilst enjoying the whole occasion. I got part of what I aimed for. The atmosphere was fantastic, and I made sure that I was always aware of the crowd around me and watching the faces of people shouting my name all the way down the course, I watched the red arrows fly over-head at 3.5 miles and I even chatted to a couple of Premiership referees, both wearing Newcastle United vests… First celebrity spot was Sian Williams from BBC Breakfast, closely followed by Sophie Rayworth, also from Breakfast. You will notice I have not mentioned the race or the running much thus far, I think the medical term is selective forgetfulness. I made good progress up until 10 miles, despite the undulating course and wet weather and I was still on target for a sub 1hr 40 time, however, at 10 miles someone had built a rather large wall, which it appears only I ran into. The next 3 miles were torture, I actually felt like I was running backwards. I fell in behind Iwan Thomas and tried to match his stride pattern, which I did for a mile and a half, but still things were not going well. The last 3 miles were probably at the right pace for 1hour 50 minutes or slower, but thankfully the first […]
Report from Grant Apologies in advance, this race report may be a bit on the long side. Since the race I have been putting my feet up resting a temperamental IT band so if I can’t run I might as well type about running. However if your time is precious the short version is- I ran around for 24 hours, it hurt quite a bit, it was surprisingly good fun. Long Version: (warning contains more toilet detail than really neccesary) I entered this race on a whim back in January after chickening out on entering the West Highland Way race. The idea of running for 24 hours seemed slightly ridiculous but the idea got stuck in my head and I figured why not give it a go- I’m not getting any younger. Cut to September the 1st and the idea didn’t seem any less ridiculous but at least I had had a pretty solid 8 months training including a pretty pleasing run at the Lakeland50 in July. Despite this I couldn’t get past the nagging thought that my longest run to date was under 9 hours and couldn’t really fathom how I would manage another 15. So I thought best not to think about it too much and just run. Elsie and I headed up to Inverness on friday night where we had a bit of a slap up meal courtesey of Elsie’s sister, and then a short drive over to Aviemore for the race on saturday morning. Pre race was was a bit hectic, getting weighed, prodded and various bodily fluids extracted for the research study that was being conducted at the race, so I was a bit flustered on the start line and it was a bit of a relief to finally get going. I set off at what I hoped was a comfortable pace chatting for a bit with Mike who I figured would be one of the front runners. However about halfway round the lap I had to drop back as my stomach started gurgling with the warning signs of an imminent bottom explosion. Fortunately there were portaloos at the end of the lap which saved me having to fertilise the beautiful Glenmore forest. Unfortunately the stomach problems didn’t end there and for a while I thought Ada might be counting my toilet visits as well as my laps. (4 poos in 4 laps, possibly a course record?). After the 4th lap things settled down and I managed to get into a nice rhythm. The course itself was lovely and varied. The 1st mile being a nice undulating twisty bit of single track which opens out into an open forest track for a mile, before turning on to a longish climb which was perfect for taking on food and then a nice descent back to the start. Plenty of variety meaning I never felt bored on the loop. About 6 hours in I caught back up with Mike and found myself in the slightly uncomfortable position of […]
Big thanks to everyone who made todays event possible. Full results can be found by clicking here. Any queries please send them to races@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk
Report from Greig The challenge is to complete at least three of the five Western Isles Half Marathons – Stornoway, Harris, Benbecula, Barra or Skye in any one year. This is the longest running series of half marathons in Scotland and 2012 saw the 23rd event. It is a hugely popular race series, with increasing entries every year. In particular, the Barra race, which is only able to support limited numbers, sells out the day entry is opened every year. The series starts with the Stornoway half marathon and ends with the Harris half marathon, which traditionally involves post race celebrations, both locally and on the ferry! 3 Bella runners completed at least the minimum 3 races Myself, Nea MacInnes, John Sandbach. First up for the Bella challenge was the 2nd race in Benbecula. Despite it being a circular route it had the usual stiff headwind for about 12 miles (always described as “perfect running conditions” in the local press) and talk of a strong challenge from the Heb 3 host club Stornoway, I did enough to grind out my 3rd Benbecula Half win followed by Nea clinching 2nd with a fine PB after a good race with a couple of runners from the previously mentioned local club. John Sandbach picked up a “Heb PB” for his first counter and the bravest run of the day was from Sandra Houldsworth who with a couple of miles still to run had a nasty fall and despite the blood oozing from numerous wounds still managed to finish and was then promptly whisked to hospital where she discovered she’d also broken 3 toes. 7 days later in Skye it was the heat that took its toll on the runners, I finished 3rd followed by Nea 4th and Robbie Hayman 5th to win us the Skye team prize and John in 85th adding another time towards the series. Next it was onto Barra where Nea and John were joined by Louise Gray. Nea had another fine race on Barras famously brutal undulations, battling so hard with a runner for 2nd place to his surprise he almost caught the leader finishing just 10 seconds behind. Louse also ran well coming in 3rd v40. Finally it was to Harris for the fifth and final race in the series. Nea was series leader having already completed his 3 races, I had to finish my final counter in under 1.27 to overtake him and at last win the thing after being runner up 3 times in the previous four years. And with John Sandbach (like Nea) having already completed his 3 races we were also in with a chance for a first ever Bella series team win breaking the usual Edinburgh stranglehold (Portobello, HBT, Corstorphine). On the day it was pretty grim. You get taken on a fleet of buses out to Borve and run back the 13.1 miles in an easterly direction back to Tarbet. The theory is despite the first 10 miles being almost constant climbs, […]
Report from Nea The 4Th race of the Hebridean half marathon series took place in the scenic island of Barra on Sat 30th June. 4 Bellas made the journey, myself, John Sandbach, Sandra Houldsworth and Louise Gray. With Sandra being the cheerleader after nursing 2 broken toes in a fall during the Benbecula half. The weather was a bit damp for the start with a light wind (which in the Hebrides is usually around 50mph!). The race was started by Father John Paul MacKinnon from the island Parish TV series, he gave a rousing speech and wished everyone luck!! He should have thrown in a couple of prayers for good measure knowing about the poor souls that were about to tackle the 340ft hill at the 11.5 mile mark! A local girl held the Olympic Torch for the start, I thought about grabbing it and taking it round the island but decided against it as this route is bad enough without the extra baggage! The race started on the West side of the island in Castlebay and followed a clockwise route round the island. Andrew Laycock from Kinross Road Runners settled into the lead after the 1st mile followed by myself and Joshua Low. The first 4 miles are fairly flat for the Heb series, passing some of the most beautiful beaches in the Hebrides, then the route turns to the east into the wind and the hills! At the 5 mile mark there is a steady climb of 170ft, with the leader in sight and still hearing Joshua Low’s footsteps behind me, I wondered if I had went off too fast as I could see the local coastguard jeep being used as the lead vehicle, I have only ever seen a lead vehicle upto the 1st mile!! I was keeping a close eye on my pace as the hard bit was still to come, having experienced THE hill in the previous year on which I lost my heart and soul and struggled to conquer it!! With the beaches left behind and the hills beginning, the leader was only a couple of minutes ahead but I still hadn’t shaken off Joshua Low in 3rd. So onto the hill, in the previous year I had been given good advice – “To leave a good bit in the tank for the hill”!! I felt OK at the bottom of it as I started the climb, my legs started to feel heavy as soon as I took the 1st step of the 340ft climb and I had a quick look behind me to see Mr Low bearing down on me having closed the gap significantly. The baby steps I was taking on the climb were hurting and they hurt even more when I slipped back into 3rd position. With a position lost the head went down just as well as I didn’t want to see how much of the hill I had to go!! The end of the climb was in sight and […]
The 2012 President’s cup took place on Wednesday 27th June. It’s a handicap 5k, using the Bella 5k course, taking the place of training on that night. Provisional results (complete with Oscar’s spelling) are available here: http://bit.ly/QlJJj7 Ladies cup winner: Judith McGregor Gents cup winner: Scott Johston First 3 ladies (by time) 1. 20:17 – Anne Robin 2. 20:23 – Emma Bryson 3. 20:45 – Elsie D First 3 Gents (by time) 1. 16:50 – Bruce Carmichael 2. 16:58 – Bruce Carse 3. 17.03 – Craig Reid Well done to all club members who took part, and thanks to everybody who helped organise the event.