Aonach Mor Uphill 1/1/2014

I’ve been planning to do the Aonach Mor Uphill for a few years but have always been put off by bad weather or bad hangovers (or both). With renewed resolve I decided 2013 was going to be the year. I even recce’d the course from the car park on Hogmanay and seeing that the hill was snow-free up to 2000 feet, it had to be ‘Game on’ for the 1st Jan. My first error was not to have checked online – the race has been such a success in recent years that it’s now pre-registration only. I managed to convince the organisers to allow me to follow the race as long as I didn’t cross the finish line. Mental note for next year! At 9 quid including soup and a gondola ride (see later) it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. The race is classified AS, meaning short and steep (4k/610m), and is one of the 3 uphill-only races in Scotland. As far as I’m aware it is also the only hill race that starts at a cafe and finishes at a restaurant (Pine Marten at the bottom, Snow Goose at the top) which on the first of January is a major bonus. As 11am approached, only 3 out of 108 entrants failed to show – pretty impressive stuff given the date. A very brief briefing and we were off. The route follows the World Cup Downhill Mountain Bike course for about 90 percent of the way, avoiding gap jumps and drop offs but seemingly not much else. Anyone who’s ever ridden or spectated at the course will know that the bottom part of the track is fast and steep; mud, rocks and burns keep things interesting, but there’s no escaping from the relentless up hill slog. By now I was somewhere mid-pack, with most around me walk-running up the single track and not much overtaking going on. Half way up, the route emerges from the forest onto the open hill with a mixture of gravel paths and those slatted wooden bike tracks covered in chicken wire. The angle softens a bit here, with a few zig zags and traverses allowing some decent runnable sections. A chilly wind and patches of snow added to the fantastic mountain atmosphere. I was running with my son, and with no race numbers we could take the occasional breather. A nice bonus, as the views northwards across the snow-capped hills to Knoydart were amazing. A last push across the snow line and a sidestep past the finish marshals and we were heading to the Snowgoose for celebratory hot chocolates. For those officially registered, the entry fee includes soup and a roll, a cup of tea and the gondola ride down, a nice way to swap experiences with other runners. One competitor I spoke to was truly inspiring: having partied till 6:30 am, he got a couple of hours sleep before hitching to the start line. Impressive! Winner on the day was Robbie Simpson […]

Spurred on by a tough but thrilling hill debut on Ben Venue a few weeks ago, I decided to have a crack next at the short but steep Dumyat Dash. When Bella hill veteran David Stakes and I set off from Glasgow there was no sign of the forecasted high winds and rain, but then my fave weather app (weather pro HD) had confidently predicted that it wouldn’t appear till EXACTLY 12noon, after the race was over. Great! What could go wrong? Compared to triathlon, pre-race was refreshingly simple: sign the sheet, pay a fiver, read the warning, get your number (pin onto shorts) that’s it. With a jacket and old ski hat in my bumbag, I was all set. After a warm up around Menstrie and quick course recce, we lined up with around 90 hill runners for 11am. A brief briefing, then ‘Ready? Go!’ And we were off. The route kicks up steeply during the first mile, and as we crested the first ridge we got a breathtaking view across the forth valley. We also got a view of the serious-looking rain clouds scudding towards us. By now I was roughly mid-pack, and with the wind at our backs I was feeling good. A quick and hilarious descent through waist-deep bracken led to two burn crossings (I don’t know why I had bothered to try to keep my feet dry) before the climb up to the summit of Dumyat. By this stage the wind and rain were really getting going, and most people were reaching for their jackets (how could my app have got it a whole hour wrong?!) I’d now picked up a few more places, and got my head down for the slog/crawl/heave up the hill in increasingly wild weather. My concentration was broken by the sound of thunder which turned out not to be the weather but the leaders coming down the hill towards us at full pelt. I still can’t get my head round how fast some people descend. I felt a sudden stab of panic that they were so far ahead, which spurred me on to the top. Rounding the cairn with a cheery word from surely the hardiest marshal in Scotland (‘you’re 40th!’), I headed back down into the teeth of the gale. By this stage my woolly ski hat was sodden and had stretched to the size of a baggy jumper. Hurtling downhill, one hand holding it on, eyes half shut against the battering rain, it was only a matter of time before the inevitable, spectacular crash. Hard-won places on the way up were immediately lost. Darn! Back through the burns, followed by an ankle-testing traverse along a muddy sheep trod (cue several more comedic prat falls) and we were back in sight of the village and the sprint to the line. I finished in 64 mins/41st, while the legendary David Strakes (who ran most of it in his Bella vest!) grabbed a PB of 69mins/64th with fellow Bella Ronnie McGavock […]

My first Cross Country encounter… Location:Darrock Park / Gourock Race Type:Cross Country – Individual Distance: 6miles gents / 4miles ladies Start Time 13:40pm for both When Captain Bruce Carse posted on the Forum there was a xc race in Gourock I was interested as the location & start time was appealing. However my race started early Sunday morning at 11.30am at the Bella Ski Centre car park – I’ll explain later. With this being my first xc race, I needed shoes that would over see mud!!! After some intense research I decided to take a trip over to the well stock Achillies Heel and take advantage of the 15% discount card I won / well I always tell myself that I win these cards despite everyone getting them for taking part in certain races. Stephan the shop manager as usual was giving me the best of advice in choosing the appropriate footwear. After trying on several brands inov-8 came up trumps so I eventually went for the Mud Claw 265 size 8.5 – I must point out I did try Spikes, however, felt it was too much of a transition from only ever experiencing Road / Trail Shoes. So I paid for my new xc shoes skipping out the door along Great Western Road down towards Byres Road for a well earned coffee break. I stumbled across Patisserie Francoise, a bakers’ shop serving a selection of bakery products including bread, confectionery and pastries – got lucky and managed to obtain the window seat tucking my new found friends {inov-8 shoes} under the table that will see me eat up the Gourock Mud & anything else it has to throw at me. Feeling like a King sitting on his throne with the best seat in the house watching the Byres Road commuters go about their Saturday afternoon business, my mind started to drift and think about the race which was less than 24 hours away, suddenly my day dreaming was over with a gentle voice with a hint of a French accent looking to take my order. I decided to go for a lovely looking crepe sandwich thing from the menu that had tons of green oils as part of the side food{s} and a grande Cappachino. My heart beating faster as I noticed a guy running by which brought my thoughts back to Gourock.!!! Food and hot drink gone I decided to head home. Once home I took off my Timberlands followed by thick Mountain Socks and decided to wear my new Mud Eating Machines in and around the house with a pair of Inov-8 Trail Socks to break them in – the start of my Tsunami – shoes were too big, it was too late to call the shop, I panicked.!!! After a sleepless night, worrying what I was going to do, I resigned to the fact that I would have to run in my La Sportiva Wildcat 2.0 Trail Shoes and there was no way I was going […]

Saturday saw a impressive squad of 14 guys and 14 ladies from the club made the journey down to Kilmarnock to take part in this in cross country race. It was hosted by Kilmarnock Harriers and registration and changing was at the impressive looking new Ayrshire Athletics Arena.The writing was on the wall for what the course would have in store for us when we saw the state of some of the junior runners who had finished the race, with one or two of them cake head to toe in mud. And one of them doubled over spewing after his race. This was going to be REAL cross country! The ladies were first to experience the mud-fest, with the main highlight(?) being the knee-deep swamp section. It was pretty interesting the first time you negotiated it as you had no idea how deep it was or what was at the bottom. Thankfully there were no nasty surprises lurking in the depths (abandoned shopping trolleys, etc) although the swamp monster did help itself to one of Julia’s shoes. I guess on the plus side, a least there weren’t too many hills. Everyone successfully got round the challenging course, complete with bemused looks from the sheep who’d had to give up their field for the day. And all of you regular race report readers will be happy to hear that Derek Rigmand had taken delivery of his new XC shoes – probably not looking quite so new now though! Bella superstars on the day were Ally Ewen (18th place) and Carla Molinaro (10th place). And yet again the club showed its great strength in depth with a fantastic performance in the team competition with both men’s and ladies team picking up bronze medals against some top class competition. Counters for the ladies: Carla, Romy, Elsie and Louise Ross Counters for the men: Ally, Greig, Ciaran, Bruce, Liam, Grant Well done to everyone who took part, there were some great runs and your captains are proud of your efforts! Next XC race is the big one – the National Championships in Falkirk on Saturday 22nd Feb – so get the date in your diaries. Big thanks to Brian for all his help with transporting and set up of the gazebo. Cheers, Bruce   UPDATE: Carla Molinaro has indeed qualified for the Inter-District XC in Edinburgh on Jan 11th. Scottish Athletics confirmed this today.Nice one Carla, we’ll maybe see you on TV!

Thanks to everyone who took park in todays event, whether that was running or helping.  Provisional results are available here. Any queries on the results should be sent to races@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk  

For all entrants to the Jimmy Irvine Bella 10K, bib numbers and desk collection information is available here. Any queries should be sent to races@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk    

This years Jimmy Irvine Bella 10K, taking place on Saturday 9th November, is now sold out.  Many thanks to all those who have entered, we look forward to seeing you in November. We will operate a waiting list through Entry Central until Wednesday 6th November when the entrant list will be finalised.  If we become aware of entries becoming available we will allocate these to those on the waiting list.  If you have an entry you do not wish to use, please get in touch at races@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk There will be no ‘on the day’ entry.

Many thanks to everyone who took part in todays race, as well as all those who assisted staging the event. Provisional results are available here. Any queries should be sent to races@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk  

Many many thanks to everyone who made todays events possible.  A full race report will be along in due course, for now please see the links for provisional race results below. Bella 5K (click on link)                  Bella 10K (click on link) Please send any results queries to races@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk

Report from Bruce Carse. During our recent holiday to South Korea, Nina and I thought it might be fun to see if there was any races happening while we were there, and sure enough there was – the Jeju Marathon Festival with 10K, half and full marathon options. We thought it best just stick to the 10k, because we all know that 10ks are ‘easy’, right!? Getting our race packs posted out was a bit of a problem, so we ended up picking them up a couple of days before the race at their office. This turned out to be an excellent plan, as the race organisers asked us to come along to a huge banquet dinner at a posh hotel the night before the race, so we obliged and went along and listened to some important people giving speeches and then stuff ourselves with free food. They also gave us a very nice souvenir book of Jeju Island stamps!? Anyway, the race itself started at the Guwja Life Sports stadium, and there was a great atmosphere with plenty of music, sunshine, lots of free food and plenty of supporters. It was pretty warm and humid, but it was by the seaside so a bit of a breeze took the edge off the heat. The 10K race set off 10 mins after the full and half marathons. As it followed the same out-and-back route, this meant overtaking hoards of runners on the way out, and then battling head-on back through them on the way back (plus all the 10K runners) which made life interesting. Especially when they starting trying to high-5 me. I was in the lead at the 5km turn point, and although I wasn’t feeling particularly fast thought I’d better try and hang on. Pouring a cup of sports drink over my head (thought it was water!) didn’t really help matters. Despite a killer last km straight into the wind I managed to keep the pace up to come 1st in the unlikely winning time of 36.34. Turns out South Korea is the place to win a race. There was a proper podium presentation from one of the ‘important people’ who spoke at the previous evening’s dinner, a wreath of olive leaves to wear on my head, a certificate mounted in a leather folder, a big glass trophy, and 300,000 Won of department store vouchers! The best bit of post-race entertainment was the comedy red-stiletto-dash which involved tired 10k runners putting on high heels and trying to outsprint each other. One for next year’s B-in-the-park perhaps? They also had some quality giant animal heads for some of the other races (see picture). I reckon the committee should invest in some of these for Bella race days. All in all, this was a pretty memorable race. And goes to show it’s definitely worth taking your trainers on holiday. A few photos here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bellarr/

Report from Lucy. The good thing about this race was the fine and early start, 9am. Last time I ran Belfast(in 2003) I started 20 minutes late. On Monday I rose at 5:30 for my porridge and was relieved to make it to the start line, in front of the grand city hall, with 20 minutes to spare. I was hoping to run a negative split so I set off slowly, trying to think metronome, easy pace, steady does it. Just felt joyful to be running again, had not ran for a week. Was trying just to think of it as an ordinary long run (with a wee bonus bit at the end). We headed out of the city centre, along Falls Rd, Shankhill Rd, through housing estates with flags a flying. Ran past some folk out on their front steps, dressing gowns on, having a cup of tea or a fag, watching us with mild curiosity. I was glad to get to the Antrim Rd and lovely Cave hill(I like a nice hill to admire during a run) on our left. There were a few supporters on Antrim Rd, wee kids gleefully giving high 5s and offering sweeties. I couldn’t get a song out of my head, wind the bobbin up kept going through my head (is it called an ear worm?), mental torture. Felt as if I was going really slowly but knew I would feel better in the last few miles if I stuck to a steady pace early on. The water was in wee paper cups so I managed to slosh it all over myself, not being very good at this drinking and running business. By midday the sun was out so getting a wee soaking at the water stations was a blessed relief. There were not a huge amount of marathon runners(less than 3000), but almost 17000 runners altogether, so a lot doing the relay, marathon walk and fun run. The places where the relay runners changed over were great, lots of loud supporters, great cheers(‘Fair play to yis!’). We ran along a cycle path, I could see the harbour and the Stena line boat I’d be on later that day, was thinking of how happy I’d feel to be on that boat, cup of tea, feet up, running over for the day. Ran with a friendly relay runner for a few miles, he was doing the last 2 legs of the relay. Was feeling somewhat weary by this point but he gave me a real boost when he said to me ‘you look like a proper marathon runner.’ Just lifted my spirits & kept me going(the kindness of other runners so touching). Tried to speed up after half way. Had 4 or 5 sweets, sips of water. Had to dig deep, find my inner strength, thought about the long journey to my spring marathons. Thought about all the long runs through the winter with my Bella pals, leaving the house sometimes when it was […]