bellablethafinal2 – Click here! How did Ann win Jimmy? Do you love the Bellalove? Where do you get a discount for 100 squats? Whose the pride of Scotland? What’s a PBPB? Why is Rose going donuts? Who drinks red wine in long socks? When did bellas sup southside soup? Read all about it and more in the Bletha – your News sheet for Bella Roadrunners. Hard copies continue to be available at club. Hope you enjoy reading it. If you have any stories for future issues please speak to Danny who is already panicking about the February issue.
Bletha Issue 2 – Now Online
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A fabulous morning at Pollok parkrun for the club’s festive fun run, raising a total of £420 for local charities. Taking place at the parkrun for the first time, club members turned up in fancy dress, tinsel, santa hats and outfits, posed for a few pics, ran the 5k, then back to our base at Glasgow club Nethercraigs for the draw (and some festive refreshments!). £210 was contributed by members for a charity draw, and their names drawn out of a hat. Sarah-Jane Kissock was the name out of the hat, and her choice of charity is the Glasgow City Mission. The club will match that amount and donate it to our charity of the year which is the Glasgow Humane Society. Congratulations too to Norman Boyle and Roz Wilson who won the best fancy dress competitions. Thanks to everybody who helped organise the event, turned up on the day, cheered and supported, or contributed to a fantastic day. Thanks too to Gordon Goldie and Kevin Queenan for the pics. Lots more on our Facebook page and groups.
Well done to everybody who completed the Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k today. Final results are available from Runbritain Rankings and a list of prize winners is shown in the table below. Thanks to everybody who helped or volunteered at today’s event, from registration, to catering, to marshals, to PA, to course setup/dismantling, and much more besides. Huge thanks to everybody, but special thank you to race director Henry for the huge effort he put in. Look forward to hearing about the PB’s, and seeing you along at training soon, or if you’re interested in joining us, find out more on our ‘Join us‘ page. Thanks to Chris Kay Photo for the start line picture. Some more pics from today available on flickr.
Big congratulations to Graeme Paterson, Andy Campbell, Greig Glendinning and Russell Whittington on their Mens Masters Bronze medals at the National XC relays in Cumbernauld on Saturday 22nd October 2016. Graeme ran a storming 1st leg in 13:21 to put the team in 2nd behind Corstorphine at the first changeover. Despite running 13:58, Andy lost a place to Cambuslang as Robert Gilroy ran the fastest M40 lap of the day (12:36) and overhauled Corstorphine too. A solid 3rd leg from Greig (14:18) maintained the gap to Corstorphine while extending the lead to 4th place Greenock Glenpark. Russell brought it home in 14:02, 9 seconds ahead of Greenock who’d left themselves too much to do on the last leg. Well done!
Peter posted this report after the Amsterdam marathon on Oct 16th 2016: It’s never ideal heading to a race feeling totally under prepared, especially when it is a marathon but that is exactly where I was when heading out to run the Amsterdam marathon on Sunday. Training had not gone so well with breathing issues, injury and several chest infections together with an inability to train with the club (due to work and family commitments) all playing their part in this scenario. This was quite easily the least prepared I have been for any marathon and my PW of 2:58 was in serious jeopardy! Luckily I have some really loyal and caring friends at the club including Moriarty, Weatherhead, Paterson and Glendinning who gave me their individual words of wisdom. ” Man the F*$@! up!”, “Grow a pair!” and “Stop Whinging” were just a few of the very technical coaching techniques they adopted to encourage me. The Sunday morning in Amsterdam was glorious with the sun splitting the sky and temperatures around 9 degrees. Perfect running conditions. The race set off from the Olympic Stadium at 9:30am. There was significant congestion as we headed out of the stadium and into the tight streets but I decided to settle in. The first 10k were pretty uneventful as we were taken firstly towards the city centre and then back out again through a park. All was fine as I reached 10k in 41:11. I knew this was faster than I had hoped for but was glad to have built up something to fall back on later in the race. I expected to pay for pace! The next 15kms of the race route were horrible as it ran along one side of a canal crossed a bridge and then back again. As we headed out towards half way I felt very tired and knew the faster than planned pace was starting to get to me. Luckily I saw a Portobello running vest in front of me so I ran up to it and started a conversation to try and take my mind off the tiredness. We ran together for a couple of miles chatting but he also felt poor and dropped back. Fortunately I felt better again and was able to push on. I managed to hit halfway at 1:27:17 and was delighted. I was still worried that I was feeling too tired for such an early point in the marathon and knew it was going to be tough but continued to push myself along. At mile 14 however I suddenly felt my breathing go. This is something I have been experiencing over the past months which manifests itself in short shallow breathes which I find difficult to change. This then results in a real weakness in the arms and the legs as I cannot get enough oxygen to my body. Cue the Wise Men’s comments and MTFU and Grow a pair rang around my head. I just focussed on a vest in […]
The Bletha Issue 1 The new look The Bletha – Bellahouston Road Runners News Sheet – is hot off the photocopier. Please click on link to read full 2 pages. Read all about: Marathon Beers, Running the World, Terry the Juice, Bellas Beastie Boys, Chief Coach Gerry’s Posh Bar Press Ups, BRR Scott on BBC Scot, Bella Bling, and a Bletha with Louise. Copies will be available to pick up at club over the next few club nights. Copies were available at Bella Road Runners 2016 Awards night. Unfortunately Bletha was made to promised that – awards aside – the entire night was ‘off the record’ 😉 Anyone who would like to help produce the next one – all comments, ideas for improvement, stories, practical support and salacious gossip – gratefully received 🙂 Speak to editor Danny Phillips. Hope you enjoy it.
(I’d thought of this title before acknowledging the third sport and watching the Cubs win the play-off, Go Cubs!) Chicago trip was off to a good start, sat behind Scott Overall on the plane (retrospective hats off to Scott for finishing 13th overall in 2:18). Electric atmosphere upon arrival, runners welcomed with open arms. Pre race preparations had been interesting, whilst training may not have gone to plan I’d nailed the carb loading; living off little other than rice & pasta since leaving home 5 years ago. Expo negotiated, secret service closed down the city for Obama’s arrival as we attempted to leave the convention centre, American efficiency at its finest. Race morning arrived, with the stunning Chicago skyline as the backdrop I lined up in Corral A alongside fellow Bella Michael Lancaster. Rendition of the National Anthem and the gun was fired, 52 seconds later the Bellas were off on their comprehensive tour of the Windy City. Through the loop and headed north to the zoo before returning downtown and completing the first half, surprising lack of congestion and through without issue in 1:32. Headed west and things started to become troublesome, cramps from ~15m put any ambitious hopes of GFA to bed. Worth a shot and still, this was a marathon debut in Chicago and absolutely nothing was going to spoil it. On we continued through little Italy and towards China town, heading south and through 20m. Came to a halt with hamstring cramp at 21m, soon back underway and the crowd density increased dramatically towards the finish. A 2.5m straight took us to 500m to go, up “Mount Roosevelt” (we should show them the Sherbrookes) and along the finishing straight with arms aloft, proud to be wearing a purple vest and bringing it home in 3:24. I’ve watched my parents run a lot of marathons and, with the exception of seeing Kev smashing it at the mighty Wrecsam Marathon, little compares to Chicago. Phenomenal race, thoroughly enjoyed and one for your bucket list. A heartfelt thank you to the club for the support, advise and reassurance over the summer months, especially to Louise. There’s nothing quite like running in a Bella vest. Post-race celebrations continued long into the week, taking in all the city had to offer. The thought of a marathon terrified me, now impatient for the next one. DH In the days leading up to the race I found this from @coachbennett on Instagram, one worth pondering: This was never about the Marathon. The true marathon was the journey to get here. Getting on those daily starting lines. To start another Recovery Run. Another Home Run. Another Speed Run. Another Long Run. Over and over again. Day after day and week after week. You don’t need a race to prove you are a Runner. You need a race to celebrate you are a Runner. So, enjoy your Party. I hear they’re going to shut down the streets of Chicago for you. And you deserve it. […]
We’re delighted to launch our new club member forum this week. Current club members will have received an invite via email on Monday evening with their signup details. If you’d prefer to sign up directly, visit https://forum.bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk to register or sign in. You can use your favourite social media platform to login now, and the new forum works really well with mobile devices, and will make signing up to races really very easy. Lots more detail on our club forum overview page. The forum is available to current club members only, so please ensure you’ve paid up or renewed on paysubs. More details on our joining page. The old forum remains accessible, but will be switched to a different address, and be made read-only soon.
Last Sunday saw a sea of purple descend on Glasgow with over 80 Bella’s in the Great Scottish Run. The Half Marathon was the Scottish Athletics Half Marathon Championships and we’re delighted for the following national medal winners: Debs Gray took Women’s Masters Bronze and Debs was joined by Louise Ross and Mhairi Hill to win Bronze Team medals. Very Well done! Many thanks to the 20 volunteers marshalling the start waves for the 10k and Half Marathon. And well done to everyone taking part including the 5 Bellas in the 10k and 57 in the HM. There were so many great personal performances as you can see from all the PB trophies in the results table below. NB if you’re missing a PB trophy do get in touch and we’ll get that added After all the activity, a number of runners and volunteers retired to West Brewery on Glasgow Green to recover.
Fantastic news today from the Kilbarchan AAC’s George Cummings Road Relays today: the Bella ‘A’ team consisting of Russell Whittington, Andy Campbell, Greig Glendinning, and Graeme Paterson were the first Vets (V40) team home and scooped the vets team prize. The club had a total of ten runners taking part today, so huge well done to everybody who managed to get around in far from ideal conditions. Wet and windy all afternoon, with a particularly tough headwind to battle through in the last half mile or so. Another bit of great news today from the club is Russell Whittington has been selected to represent Scotland in the Great British & Irish Master XC race in Glasgow’s Tollcross park later this year. Results will follow when available. Thanks to Daniella Glendinning for the photo.
Online entry is now open for this years Jimmy Irvine Bella 10K. The race will take place on Sunday 13th November 2016 starting at 12pm. More details and sign-up at Entry Central.
Bruce Carmichael sent in this race report… After missing out on London earlier this year with hamstring problems I randomly decided to enter the Reykjavik marathon to give me a goal once my injuries had cleared up. Little did I know that I would be beset by injuries all year and so I headed off to Reykjavik on Thursday with only 4 rather meager long runs and a couple of MP sessions behind me, all crammed in over the previous 3 weeks. I had also managed to re-activate my hamstring trouble the week before the race with an ill judged parkrun. After spending a relaxing Friday at the Blue Lagoon (not the chippy) followed by the most expensive plate of pasta I’ve ever eaten, race morning came and the signs were promising. It was an early start, 8.40, and it was bright and sunny with little wind to speak of. As I made my way to the start I thought I better come up with some kind of race strategy. I was definitely not going for a PB but I figured I would be able to go through halfway in 1.22 and try and hang on for 2.45, although I fully expected the wheels to come off due to the lack of miles in my legs. Both the half and the marathon set off at the same time and I soon found myself in a group of 4 who were ambling along at just the right pace, unfortunately they were all doing the half and after 11.5 miles the course split and I headed off myself, almost literally. I passed one runner after 12 miles and made it to halfway in 1.21, feeling not too bad. Over the next 5 miles there was no one in sight and I at times I thought I’d gone the wrong way, fortunately the odd high viz vest came into view which eased my concerns and let me focus on my pace, which was definitely getting faster, despite numerous vocal attempts to slow myself down. At the 17 mile point I finally caught another 2 runners and hoped to hang on to the back of them and get a breather, but they were slowing slightly so I just pushed on and attracted the attentions of a steward on a bike who led me home for the last 9 miles. Around this stage I had fully expected to be struggling and I was concerned about the distinct lack of runners to keep me going, it really was feeling like a very hard training run. Once I got to 20 miles I was still managing to hold roughly 6 min miles and I tried to use a spot of amateur psychology to get me through the remainder of the race. The race was 22 miles, only 2 to go, stay strong, don’t disappoint the cyclist by slowing down. I made it through the first section in one piece, now the race was 24 miles, only 2 […]
With no other major sporting events on today (right?), 10 Bellas headed down the coast for the 2016 Girvan Half Marathon, part of our 2015/16 club championship. Less than ideal conditions awaited, but a fantastic friendly welcome as usual from Girvan Athletic club. Fantastically well marshalled and supported out on the course: we’re very grateful as ever for staging the event. The half marathon course is a challenging one (600ft of ascent, details on the Strava segment), and a light drizzle which picked up to heavier rain at points, with a small headwind after the turnaround point at Dailly made it tougher than usual. But despite that, and whilst we await full/final results, we’re pleased to report at least one PB (well done Marc!), and a successful defence of the male (Bruce Carmichael, Marc Bromwich and Gerry Scullion), and female team prizes (Debs Gray, Jackie McGuire and Alison Brown), from last year. Well done to Bruce and Debs for taking 2nd male and 2nd female prizes too. Full results available on runbritainrankings.com
A fantastic turnout of 46 club members, with a few past and present club members also volunteering, meant there was a big Bella presence at the 385th Pollok parkrun. After an epic downpour earlier in the morning, there were great conditions for the run itself. Some super performances, including first male (Russell Whittington, 17:14) and female (Ann Robin, 19:40), and an impressive 10 course PB’s too. Bella results below. Full results for the event available on the Pollok parkrun results page. The next event in the club championship is the Girvan Half marathon (10th July). The next short distance event is the Irvine 5 mile road race (17th July).