Please find provisional race results here. Enquires about the results should be sent to Email: captains@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk
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We’ve received a lot of entries, so we expect that parking will be tight in the Palace of Arts. If you’re not arriving via foot, bike or public transport, we’d encourage participants to consider parking along Mosspark Boulevard (plenty of free parking spaces available), and then walking or jogging the short distance across Bellahouston park, past the sports centre, to the Palace of Arts (by the hockey pitches) for registration. Directions available here (link). Details on getting to the park on the event page. Public transport details are also on our main club page (note though registration is in the Palace of Arts).
We are busy at Race HQ working on all the final arrangements for this Saturday’s race. We’re really looking forward to it, we hope you are to. On the day entry is available so if you haven’t managed to post an entry yet just come along on the day. See you all on Saturday!
An updated list of all entries received to the Jimmy Irvine Achilles Heel Bella 10k so far (7th November) is available here. If you’ve entered, please check your details are on the list, and get in touch by e-mailing info@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk if you’re not on the list as you’d expect. The event is filling up fast. See the event pages for entry details, and get your form in the post quickly
Update: Entries to 7th November have been posted here. A list of all entries received to the Jimmy Irvine Achilles Heel Bella 10k, so far (31st October, 2010) is available here. If you’ve entered, please check your details are on the list, and get in touch by e-mailing info@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk if you’re not on the list as you’d expect. If you’ve not entered yet, there’s still time, but the event is filling up fast. See the event pages for entry details, and get your form in the post. The course maps have been updated on the Events page also. If you have been studying the maps, you’ll now notice a slight change in some of the markers to reflect the fact that the course has now been accurately measured by an approved measurer. This resulted in a change of position for some markers, and a new finish point.
Elsie Downham ventured a bit further afield to our usual race reports… I thought I would write up my latest (and now not so recent) racing experience as it was a bit different and very fun. And muddy. On 18th September I went to Norway to run an off-road/x-country/hilly half marathon race. I have a friend living in Oslo who told me about the event and twisted my arm to enter it back in the spring when running in the Norwegian hills for 13.1 miles seemed like a good plan. The race is famous amongst Norwegians, and they are very proud that 8000 people run it each year (given that the Norwegian population stands at only about 7 million, I guess this is quite an achievement!)So, the race is called, take a deep breath, the Birkebeinerløpet and takes place just outside of Lillehammer (a 2.5 hour train journey north of Oslo). There is a website to visit which has information about the race I did, as well as other running events (on the same day there is the Halvbirken, 11km and the Ultrabirken, 73km) and cycling and skiing races which take part at the same location http://www.birkebeiner.no/ – you can translate the page to English if your Norwegian is a bit rusty I flew to Oslo on the Friday. We woke up very early on Saturday morning for porridge and sandwich making (Norway is super expensive so you always need to make sure you have a good food supply on you so as not to blow your credit card on a banana (£1.59 I paid for ONE banana on the morning of the race, not amused). We then got on a train (nice trains in Norway) to Lillehammer with lots of other runners. There was a very complex but well organised system for leaving your bags at the finish (the stadium in Lillehammer), and for dropping any extra layers just before the start which were then shipped back to the finish for you. We were then bussed up the mountain to the start at Sjusjøen, just less than 900m above sea level. It was cold when we got off the bus, and being a true northerner I’d already stripped down to my shorts. Lots of funny looks from sensible Norwegians in full length tights, long sleeves, hats and gloves. What a bunch of wusses! I was very glad to be sporting my new INOV8 Mudclaws – lots of boggy and muddy sections, very steep downhills, rocky and rooty singletrack, and some sneaky uphills too. I managed to more or less stick to a 5 minute kilometre pace and finished the race in 1hr48min28sec, which they seemed to think put me above average for my age group and I got a small silver cup (average finishing time for women aged 25-29 was 1hr59min02sec). There was a good spread for race finishers – soup, bread, cinnamon buns, bananas, and even showers!So, all in all a long way to go for a race, but I’d […]
After last year’s gale force winds, the weather gods were slightly kinder to the 95 runners at the Bella Ben Venue Hill Race today, with a torrential downpour on the start line and only 30mph winds on the ridge to contend with.But the weather did not stop some fast racing, with the lead changing hands many times between the top group before Matt Sullivan (Shettleston) & Peter Devenport (Bellahouston) used local knowledge for a good line on the final downhill on the open hillside from the ridge into Gleann Riabhach, and managed to pull away from the others. Matt held off Peter to win in a time of 1 hour 10 mins for the 8 mile course, but if Peter had not been forced to stop and tie a shoe lace in the run-in, the finish could have been even tighter. Finishing close behind this pair were the Shettleston duo, Tom Owens and Jethro Lennox.In the ladies competition, Jacqui Higginbottom (Carnethy) used her speed (& long legs) on the steep trail section to overcome Shona Robertson of Westies, while Ellie Homewood, also of Westies finished in third.In a tightly fought male vet race, the eventual winner was Bruce Smith (Carnethy) from Will Manners (Strathearn) and Alan Gilkison (Westerlands). In the ladies vet competition Fabienne Thompson of Carnegie held off the Carnethy pair, Joanne Anderson & Joan Wilson.The teams prizes were split to the east & west of the country, with Shettleston winning the men’s (Matt Sullivan, Tom Owens, Jethro Lennox) and Carnethy winning the ladies (Jacqui Higginbottom, Fiona McKinnon & Joanne Anderson).Being a new race, not everyone took the optimum route today, and I’m sure everyone knows of places where they can shave off a few seconds in the big race next year, but spare a thought for the runner who took a very non-optimum route, and ended up at Kinlochard, resulting in a 12 mile taxi ride back to the finish!Ben Venue is one of the SHR championship races in 2011, so with this being the first race over the full course, we are keen to learn from your experience, so please send any comments or suggestions for improvement to benvenue@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.ukThe race doubles as a fundraiser for the Lomond Mountain Rescue Team, so many thanks to all the runners, marshalls & helpers who helped raise £500 for team funds.Hope to see you all next year! Results available as either a PDF (link) or Excel (link)
Further details of the Jimmy Irvine Achilles Heel Bella 10K, taking place on Saturday 13th November, have been added to the Events page here. The race celebrates 10 years of both Bellahouston Road Runners and Achilles Heel. Please come along and help us celebrate. We’re looking forward to welcoming you on the day.
Sunday 8th August was a fine day for the Achilles Heel Bella 5k race, with the sun making a pleasant appearance for the first time in a while.152 runners took part in the event, 35 from the host club Bella Road Runners. Achilies Heel Bella 5k Results 2010Winning the mens race in fine style was Paul Sorrie from Shettleston Harriers in an excellent time of 14:59, a new course record. Eilis McKechanie from HBT won the womens’ race in an equally impressive time of 18 mins. Paul was followed by David Millar, Irvine AC who took the M40 prize and third was Bella’s own Kenny Richmond. In the ladies race Garscube Harriers runners Lesley Chisholm and Kirsty Husband took second and third place respectively and Lesley first FV35.First Male Team prize went to Bella Road Runners: Kenny Richmond, Ciaran Dougherty and Craig Ross. First Female Team was Garscube: Lesley Chisholm, Kirsty Husband and Jill O’Neil.A fine selection of food was on offer after the race in the Palace of Art for runners and helpers to savour and enjoy the excellent sunshine. Many thanks to all of the volunteers who helped provide such excellent support to the event. Photos will follow soon. Thanks to Gerry Scullion for the race report!
Chris Brotherston sent in this report of the recent Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon (12/13 June): For those of you who don’t know about the LAMM, it is a 2 day mountain marathon done in pairs with an overnight wild campsite. It is meant to be a challenge of hill fitness, orienteering and mountain self-sufficiency. This was my second time competing with my partner Robin Orr and it was my main motivation for joining Bella…….when I found out last year that I couldn’t run or navigate and was self-insufficient. One of the key elements is keeping your (carry) weight down and I knew I was in for a shock my first time round when Robin told me that I ‘shouldn’t’ bring boxer shorts as they were too heavy (!) and that I needed to drastically reduce my hill food (disaster for me!). This year I was better prepared with my underwear sorted, a post-it-note sized karrimat to sleep on, the foil removed from my painkillers and just enough food to continue to keep my B.M.I on the wrong side of normal. As usual with the LAMM the start location was kept a secret until two days beforehand to stop Bella type ‘reccies’…..and this year it was kindly close to Glasgow in Glen Fyne. We competed in the ‘C’ class which I had convinced myself stands for competent rather than c**p. We set off really early the first day covering the 25km/1700m of ascent in 5h 45min and were placed well enough at 19th from about 160. We would have done better but the heat took its toll on the umpteenth hill. Afterwards it was a surreal experience at mid-camp sitting with a crowd of glum England fans huddled round a car radio 1400 foot up a mountainside listening to England sadly draw with USA. Second day dawned with a sensory overload (the smell of latrines and the shrill piping of a lone bag piper). Thanks to my (partner’s) navigational skills we started well and picked up some places and were well placed until the final hill check point. I knew immediately we had a problem when Robin cursed past me muttering ’we’re on the wrong f*****g’ hill’ (Translated this actually meant – you need to improve on your navigation Chris because you had the task of marking the check points on the map and you couldn’t even get that simple navigational task right) Anyway we eventually finished 12th which was up from 30th last year – something which I can certainly attribute to the Bella sessions. Unfortunately I still need to work on my navigation, so if anyone sees me running round Bellahouston park in the middle of the night carrying a map and compass and wearing just a headtorch and my ‘sorted’ underwear, rest assured I am just trying to find the right f*****g’ hill’ If you fancy the LAMM, check out the website http://www.lamm.co.uk, I would recommend it!
Brendan sent in another great race report from yesterday’s Lairig Ghru hill race: The 2010 Lairig Ghru race took place yesterday (Sunday 28/6/10). The race runs from Braemar to Aviemore across the Cairngorms and the Lairig Ghru pass. The route starts with a gentle rise out of Braemar along quiet road towards the stunning Mar Lodge, from there its on to landrover tracks for a few miles until you get to Derry lodge which is about 9 miles in. At this point you get on to a good mountain path which rises up and over the Lairig Ghru pass, its about another 7 miles before you get to the top of the pass and the boulder fields. The boulder field feels like it is massive, it stretches for about 2 miles, it has rocks that are considerably bigger than Jane Simpson, which was quite amusing, especially when she started to do a great impression of Muttley, couldn’t see her, could just hear her “shuggin, fuggin, stupid rocks, boulder field ar$e”. The rocks are also quite violent and frequently “jump” anyone that stops paying attention for any length of time… Cue a comedy fall where I end up headfirst down a banking on my back looking like a turtle trying to get myself the right way up. After the boulder field it’s a technical rocky downhill path for about. 2 miles to the top of the forest at Rothiemurchus, no sooner had we entered the forest than I got jumped by possibly the smallest bit of tree root in the Cairngorms, Jane did well to stifle her laughs as i face planted on the forest paths… thanks. Through the forest and on to Coylumbridge where you rejoin the main road and head for Aviemore police station and the finish. We had a nice strong finish averaging just over 7 mins a mile for the last 6 of the 28. We both finished in 4:35:38 (ish) More details of the route can be found at http://www.deesiderunners.com/dp/node/10, and the map at http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/Graphics/Maps/RA-0067-main.jpg A cracking race, stunning views of the cairngorms and really good mixed running ( although road shoes are fine for it). Well done to Jane on completing her first marathon somewhere in amongst the 28 miles that we covered yesterday. Special thanks to Peter Diender for the picture, and permission to use. Check out his other pictures from the event here.
We are very pleased to launch this years achilles heel Bella 5K. The race takes place in Bellahouston Park on Sunday 8th August starting at 11am. All the details are on the events page here. We are very pleased to launch this years achilles heel Bella 5K. The race takes place in Bellahouston Park on Sunday 8th August starting at 11am. All the details are on the events page here.
The Seven Hills of Edinburgh took place yesterday, described as: “a few hundred hardy individuals taking part in one of the most unusual running events in the country, The Seven Hills of Edinburgh — a combination of road-running, cross-country, hill-running, and urban orienteering… 14 miles in length and with 2200 feet of ascent/descent.” Brendan Moriarty and Jane Simpson took part, and sent in this cracking report: Yesterdays big race was not the Mens Health 10K but actually the “7 Hills of Edinburgh”. The race starts at Calton Hill and takes in Castle Hill, Costorphine Hill, Craiglockhart Hill, Blackford Hill, Braid Hill and Arthurs seat before returning to Calton hill to finish. There is no set course which means that you constantly see people running in all directions. Its a mental start, ploughing through throngs of tourists that were sightseeing early on the Sunday morning before taking to the streets for the first few miles as you make your way up to the castle swarming all over the royal mile like a plague. You clip your number at the bottom of the castle esplanade with the orienteering clip and and then from there it gets a bit more sane… well all apart from scrambling up near vertical hills, sliding down near vertical hills, jumping walls, jumping hedges on round abouts, scaling walls, wading through burns, jumping walls/ fences, ploughing through nettles and gorse, dodging traffic, getting covered in mud and ( if you are Jane Simpson) doing an impromptu forward roll down a hill in to the gorse and nearly whacking a fellow runner as you pretend to be a plane on a downhill“triple salco and somersault combination”. In total you do about 14 miles and about 2,200 ft of climbing. There is plenty of water juice and food stops along the way, which were great on such a hot day.. At the finish there is a feed to rival even the Bella 5K. A cracking race that is thoroughly recommended, not just for the cake.. Results below: Jane was 4th Lady home. 65 Brendan Moriarty 02:11:01 Bellahouston RR 66 Jane Simpson 02:11:03 F Bellahouston RR Well done both of you. Excellent performance, and great report!
Oscar, one of the ‘B’ group coaches, was in London this year, supporting wife Jane and the rest of the Bella runners. He’s sent this report in of his exploits: As has become my norm over the last 4 years, since I ran my last London marathon in 2006, I made my way down to London to support Jane and the rest of the Bella team doing the Marathon. Arriving at the elite start just before 8 am the atmosphere was already starting to build and after saying a final good luck to Jane I headed to my first vantage point just after 12 miles. Having done this supporters role many times I have come to the decision that I can catch many more Bella runners if I limit myself to two points on the course, first one just before the turn to run over Tower Bridge then on to the Embankment. Getting the train back from Maze hill to London Bridge I ran down to my first stop and got a great position before it starts to get too busy. I’m there in plenty of time to see the wheelchair leaders and then the first Ladies come through followed shortly by the leading men’s pack less than 20 minutes behind. Lemonchello going well and he gets a good cheer from me. Then comes the first athlete I know Jethro Lennox from Shettleston closely followed by our own Kenny. The crowd had really grown by now and the atmosphere built up – the noise was incredible. Seeing Kenny got my excitement level up and then Bella’s are coming thick and fast, Colin, Russell, Scott, Al, Brian, Rebecca, Alastair, Stewart, Linda and Karlyn, Lucy and Jane all getting the full Oscar projection to encourage them along. I hung around for about 10 minutes after Jane went through with a hope of seeing other Bella’s but I had to go if I was to get the 4.5 miles to my next viewpoint in time to see everyone again. I find it easer to run this rather than try to fight my way through the crowds using the underground. I arrived at the embankment just before the 24 mile mark, at a point I am sure a few of the regular runners will expect me to be at, just missing the leading ladies group but in plenty of time to see the full list of those I saw at 12 miles. By this stage the runners really need a boost and I do try my best to give them a good shout. I don’t think many miss me though. Colin, Russell, Al, and Linda in particular looked like they were running really well as they came past me, then before I knew it a slightly emotional Jane came up the rise and I got a quick cuddle before she was off for her last two miles. Off I set running the last two miles to meet up at the finish which is a […]
Andy Birnie sent in the following report from last weekend’s Highland Fling ultra marathon. Saturday 24th April marked my first and very last ultra marathon. This unique experience started off really well in cool damp conditions. Upto 23 miles it was a breeze, hitting all splits bang on schedule, sitting as 4th Vet, even enjoying the scenery. Then suddenly somebody switched the lights out. Joe had warned me beforehand to expect some dark moments, but I did not expect the first dark moment to last 30 miles and another 6 hours. My running was reduced to something more akin to shuffling. If my wife Emma had been at Inversnaid (34 miles) I would have happily chucked it, but without a means to get a message to her, I had to go on. At Bein Glas farm (41 miles) I was met by the Bella posse. I knew there was no way I could chuck it now, so after my 6th Muller Rice and with my support team in tow, I was off shuffling again, eventually getting to Tyndrum (53 miles) and a heartwarming Bella reception, in just under 10 hours. I was outside my target time, but to be honest, after Rowardenan it stopped being a race and then became a challenge just to complete the distance. I want to take this opportunity to say thanks: for support on the day – Emma, Dougal, Matt, Robert, Joe, Peter (& Daniel), Louise (& Anna), Neil, Danielle & the relay teams for my chaperones for the last 12 miles – Craig & Brendan for a life-saving massage after the event – Matt for company on my long training runs – Emma, Stuart, Dougal, Brendan, Davie, Greig, Peter & Jackie for advice from the ultra gurus – Robert, Joe & Stuart And of course, well done to the relay teams: the ladies (Emma (the other one), Jane, Lynsey & Jackie) successfully defending the trophy the boys (Brendan, Marcos, Dougal & Greig) for beating Bella’s course record but being robbed of the trophy by some mob of interlopers from south of the border on a cross-border pot hunting raid. P.S. Huge respect to the guys in the club who have completed and are obviously good at ultras