It was The Kyles 10 Miles on Saturday 13th September in Tighnabruaich, another ‘long’ championship event for us. And it was the Kyles for smiles with Bryan Mulgrew (58:44) winning, while the ever improving Cara Thom (1:11:47) was the winning lady. We also had Leanne McIntosh (1:15:36) finish a great 1st FV40, and the amazing Shirley Wieland (1:23:44) 1st FV60! A brilliant haul of prizes! There was also one of our ‘short’ championship races at the ‘Flat n’ Fast 5k’ in a wet Linlithgow on Saturday. Great running from Ross Horgan 15:37, Josh Evans 15:50, Bryan Kerr 16:25 PB, Jethro Browell 16:54, Bruce Carse 17:27, Jay Cowan 17:34, Jamie Robinson 17:44 PB, Jamie Wieland 18:31, Lewis Milligan 19:36, Cathy Wood 19:55 and Flora Henry 21:10. Well done everyone, including the returning Ross, who was 19th overall! On Sunday we had runners at the Cumbernauld 10k, with Triss Gabert running a nice 39:25, while at the ‘Kenny Phillips Round Cumbrae 10 Miler’, we had Josh Evans (57:39, 8th), John McKenzie (1:06:22), Ronnie Hart (1:06:28), Jamie Wieland (1:06:48 PB) Katie Blackett (1:11:24, 6th lady) and Brian Young (1:26:32). Sunday also had some international events including the Vilnius Marathon, Lithuania, where Ben Law (3:34:16) & Mark Worton (5:02:57) completed their marathons debuts! And at the Copenhagen Half Marathon, one of the ‘Super Half’ events, Andrew McCulloch (1:35:34) was our pick of the bunch.
10k
What a start to September! Such a busy race calendar across various terrains, distances and geography! The Ben Nevis Hill Race took place on Saturday 6th September, with our own Team MacDonald in attendance. Up and down Britain’s highest peak at 4,413ft! Cat was impressive as normal, finishing 4th lady, 3rd FSnr in 2:06:25, while Ally ran a brilliant 2:33:24. The Great North Run on Sunday 7th, saw a great run by Angus Gray in 1:18:43, even with a dodgy tummy and nice going too by Tommy Burridge and Lynn Cumming. At the Kilmacolm Half Marathon, undulating through Renfrewshire were Bruce Carse 1:21:40, Jamie Wieland 1:33:25 PB, Dave Ferguson 1:37:23, Katie Mathieson 1:39:58, Anna Whall 1:47:17 3rd FSnr, Alex Sutherland 1:47:32, Lynne Goldie 2:05:44. It was also the 24th Stirling 10k. A great Central Athletics race as usual brilliant running by Tony Connelly 32:00 (15th), Oscar Coetzee 32:38, 2nd MV40, Grant Murphy 33:49, Bryan Kerr 34:04, David Jarrett 35:29 PB, Sean Coyle 36:25, Jay Cowan 37:57, Sam Thompson 38:31, Alan Digweed 39:57, John McKenzie 40:41, Veronica Fusaro 45:45. Down in a not so sunny Saltcoats, it was the NAAC10k. Wet and blustery, but great going by Jordan Davidson 35:05, 3rd, Sarah McSharry 42:47 PB 1st lady, Marty Campbell 43:02, 3rd MV50, Kevin Queenan 45:07, Anne Campbell 47:24, 2nd FV40, Wallace Gray 49:19. A not too shabby start to the month then!!
There was a fantastic performance from Pauline Wright at the Reykjavik Marathon on Saturday 23rd August. Overcoming injury, on a tough course, in windy conditions, to produce a brilliant PB of 3:43:19! And great running too from Stewart Penny at the Dunoon Ultra to finish 10th overall in 4:32:41 covering 30.2 miles with 981m of ascent. Saturday also saw the latest running of the Tom Robb Memorial Trail Race, our final Off-Road Championship race this season. 7 miles through the picturesque Carron Valley Forest. A great showing with Alan Moss (47:38), Rebecca Croney (58:41, 2nd FSnr), Victoria Curley (58:45), Brian McQuade (1:03:16), Alice Howe (1:07:05), Sue Campbell Senior (1:09:35), Roz Wilson (1:09:44), Megan Parkinson (1:10:49), Fiona Birrell (1:11:02), Lynn Stuart (1:14:02), Rhoda Yarmahmoudi (1:16:14, 3rd FV60). In Glasgow FrontRunners OUTrun 5 Mile Race at Kelvingrove Park on Saturday, we had Benjamin Nurse (29:42, 3rd), Jamie Wieland (32:24, PB), Cathy Wood (35:10, 3rd FSnr) & Stef Boyle (42:21). On Sunday 24th, Poppy Bowie, tackled the 21.1k Surefoot Trail Race at Mt Coot-Tha, west of Brisbane. 1,112m of elevation to contend with, but a brilliant run to finish 3rd lady in 2:18:03. Great training for that Deaflympics marathon, which will hopefully be a wee bit flatter! Closer to home, Cathy Wood ran the Forth Bridge 10k in 43:13, taking 3rd FSnr.
Sunday 17th August was a busy Club Championship race day on the east and west coasts. First off was the Scottish Half Marathon on a warm morning! Very well done to our magnificent seven of Tony Connelly (1:11:22, 10th), Callum Dickson (1:22:20, PB), Lyle Robertson (1:24:40), Andy Hallam-Whitehill (1:43:58), Flora Henry (1:49:05), Claire Galloway (2:15:12) & Camilla Dyer (2:50:17). Tony was only a second outside of his PB, and only a minute from the 14 year old club record. There was a big PB from Callum too! In the west, it was another biggie at the Paisley 10k. The heat was building for this one, with a record 3,500 field participating. A brilliant 47 Bellas ran in these testing conditions so well done everyone! Our amazing top threes were (M) Oscar Coetzee (33:27, 3rd MV40), Grant Murphy (33:30), Bryan Kerr (34:34) (F) Deborah Gray (40:14, 1st FV40), Rhona Fraser (41:52), Lauren Rice (43:05). A great PB of 38:34 for Liam McNally too!
A fantastic 19 Bellas ran at the first ‘public’ Bill Elder 10k in Greenock on Sunday 10th August 2025. It was an excellent new event put on by Greenock Glenpark Harriers (GGH), with great organisation and they even supplied lovely weather! The event had an almost sold out 300 limit, with 231 starting on the day. There was ample parking space around the area, with a smooth registration process at the boat club, with toilet and changing facilities here too. It was a flat, out/in course from the boat club, east along the esplanade/quayside and back. It was a wee bit warm at 17 degrees with only a light westerly breeze, so pretty decent conditions. Most of us regularly run the Renfrewshire AAA 5 Miler in Greenock each February in the cold and wet, so this was a nice change! The start was on the esplanade just east of the boat club, with the starting gun going off at 1100hrs sharp. There was some congestion moving off, as with most sizeable events, but things eased out very quickly, while avoiding the benches and bins on the right side. It’s a flat one mile stretch right down the esplanade before some right, left turns around some of the quayside buildings, before hitting the quayside proper again past Customs House Quay, East India Quay and Virginia Quay, before a 180 degree turn just past Garvel Point. Then it was back in the opposite direction. On the return, the race winner, John Bell of Inverclyde AC, was opening a sizeable lead of almost 2 minutes from our Tony Connelly, with Josh Evans and Kenny Osborne (on home turf) following closely behind. Also showing strong were the vastly improved Jamie Wieland, with Rhona Fraser pushing on in the second half, and Cathy Wood, continuing her injury recovery, closely behind. It was again a full stretch of the esplanade to finish, into the breeze with only that very gentle incline towards the finish. Overall, we had great running from our contingent including: Tony Connelly – 32:15, 2nd Josh Evans – 33:51, 7th Kenny Osborne – 34:37, 8th, 1st MV40 Jamie Wieland – 39:01, PB Rhona Fraser – 42:25, 3rd Lady, 1st FV40 Cathy Wood – 44:05, 3rd FSnr Brian McQuade – 47:21, PB Shirley Wieland – 50:27, 2nd FV60 Brilliant efforts from our podium crew, and carrying on their fantastic recent form, big well done’s to Jamie and Brian with excellent PBs. We had 4 ladies (Rhona, Cathy, Katie Blackett & Louise Ross) in the top 10, and 3 gents (Tony, Josh & Kenny) likewise top ten finishers! GGH put on a great after race BBQ on the beach at the boat club too! A great new event and one to put in the diary for 2026. With thanks to GGH, the marshals, volunteers, officials and Protay Timing. See you all next year! Full Results: https://protay.co.uk/billelder10k2025/results.php
The Calderglen Harriers 10k Trail Race 2025 ran on Friday 27th June at Calderglen Country Park, East Kilbride, It was a fine evening, great conditions for this favourite in the local trail running calendar. Our fantastic four Bella fellas taking part enjoyed great results with Paul McNairn (42:09, 1st MV40), Simon Wells (44:56, 2nd MV40), Jim Robinson (50:33, 1st MV65), Hugh Brown (55:13, 3rd MV60). A great first trail run for Paul who was 6th overall! Our men also finished second placed team too!
It was a scorcher on the evening of Friday 20th June 2025, for this year’s Bellahouston Harriers ‘Brian Goodwin 10k’ at Pollok Park. The mercury was sitting around 27°C for this annual highlight, and our Harrier friends did not disappoint with a very well organised event from start to finish, with a brilliant atmosphere! It was the classic course starting at Cartha Rugby Club, through the main park thoroughfare before turning onto Haggs Road. Again, we enjoyed the benefits of the nearside lane closure all the way on Haggs and Dumbreck Roads, before turning back into the park at Cartha. Two laps to complete, and great support around the course too. Well done to the 33 Bellas who ran and to those who volunteered. Our top 3’s for this Club Championship race were: (M) Tony Connelly (33:10), Grant Murphy (34:22), Sean Coyle (35:06) – (F) Sarah McSharry (43:05 PB), Flora Henry (46:24), Kirsty MacFarlane (47:12). A great PB by the ever improving Sarah, and some great results for Stuart Macdougall (35:13, 2nd MV40), Paul McNairn (36:26, 3rd MV40), Terry Nimmo (1:08:41, 2nd FV60) and Gerry Scullion (42:17, 1st MV60). This was Gerry’s first outing in his new age category! It was then to Cartha for a burger and beer / soft drink, which given the heat was more than appreciated! Thankyou again to the Harriers, volunteers, officials and Perfect Timing Scotland. Full results at https://results.perfecttimingscotland.co.uk/Results.aspx?CId=20065&RId=1214
On Sunday 15th June 2025, the annual Glasgow Men’s & Women’s 10k races took place. Both races started at the Riverside Museum with a route through the city centre, finishing at Glasgow Green. We had around 25 club members helping at the start of the races and out on the course, as well as 10 members running. As usual, our volunteer members represented the club with aplomb and helped ensure another successful day of racing. Well done in particular to Al MacLachlan (41:58) 2nd MV65; Jordan Davidson & Callum Dickson with new PBs of 34:48 & 36:25 respectively; and a special well done to Alice Laing in her first ever race!
It was the annual Bella outing to the Killearn 10k Trail Race on Saturday 7th June. Fairly wet conditions to contend with this year, but sunshine performances from our purple posse who made up 12% of the field. Quite brilliant results: Bryan Mulgrew – 34:21, 2nd Colin Hughes – 41:52, 1st MV60 Rhona Fraser – 42:02, 2nd lady, 1st FV40 Jonny Moran – 42:36 Poppy Bowie – 43:02, 3rd lady, 2nd FSnr Ross Wood – 44:03 Kevin Queenan – 44:12, 1st MV50 Gavin McGowan – 44:18 Marty Campbell – 44:42, 2nd MV50 Claire Wharton – 45:38, 3rd FV50 Leanne McIntosh – 46:23, 3rd FV40 Kirsty Toms – 47:57 Kenny McDonald – 49:12, 3rd FV50 Anne Campbell – 49:12 Lynn Rennie – 49:23 Shirley Wieland – 51:09, 1st FV60 Wallace Gray – 51:09 Gary McIntosh – 51:31 Henry Merriweather – 55:49 Della Lansley – 58:55, 3rd FV60 Louise Gray – 59:57 SJ Kissock – 1:01:11 Terry Nimmo – 1:08:24 Nicola Barrington 1:09:47 On Sunday 8th June, it was the Strathearn Marathon up in Crieff, with decent weather conditions on an undulating and very scenic course. Very well done to Tomoyo Fujiwara (3:33:10, 1st FV50), Iain Watt (3:36:08), Guy Schmidt (3:57:14) and Lucy MacKay (4:34:50, 3rd FV60). A great category win for Tomoyo on her 40th marathon! Also on Sunday, was the Kilmarnock Roon the Toon 10k. Always a popular and well-organised race with nice conditions this year. Great running again from our Bellas: Stuart Macdougall – 34:49 Paul McNairn – 34:54, PB Josh Evans – 35:03 Jordan Davidson – 35:19, PB Bryan Kerr – 39:24 Alan Digweed – 40:23 Chic Forsyth – 40:11 Jamie Wieland – 40:47, PB Robert Smith – 41:00, PB Al MacLachlan – 42:15, 2nd MV60 Dave Ferguson – 43:11 Martin Murphy – 46:28 Katie Blackett – 47:48 Wallace Gray – 49:10 Claire Galloway – 53:20 Louise Gray – 57:16 Great to see Josh back in the saddle after an injury lay off and some amazing PBs too. Overall, a fantastic weekend. Well done everyone!
It was the third, and final, babcock 10k of this year’s series, at Helensburgh on Thursday 29th May. A humid evening, but another great night for BRR with 14 members competing. Results as follow: Oscar Coetzee – 32:40 (4th, 2nd MV40) Grant Murphy – 34:02 Ruairi Barfoot – 34:05 PB Stuart Macdougall – 34:27 Bryan Mulgrew – 34:34 Iain Murphy – 37:36 Robert Smith – 42:01 Ross Wood – 42:20 PB Jamie Wieland – 42:39 Cara Thom – 42:41 Lauren Rice- 42:46 PB Tom Thorne – 43:47 PB Rich Evans – 48:20 Graeme Pert – 57:13 Our first 3 men, Oscar, Grant, Ruairi, took the team prize, meaning we took the series Mens Team gold! Oscar was the series MV40 winner. Some great PBs achieved too! Another successful event for BRR with our stats for the series being: 51 runs by 32 members 7 completed the full series 13 PBs A 2nd placed man 3 x MV40 gongs 1st & 2nd placed mens teams, series win A 3rd placed ladies team Well done everyone!
Thursday 22nd May was the Dumbarton 10k, and the second babcock series race this season. It was another warm one with 18 Bellas in the field of almost 450. Brilliant running again from our contingent and podium finishes too! Ross Horgan ran a PB of 31:53 to finish second while Oscar Coetzee, 32:20, finished fourth overall, first MV40. Together with Grant Murphy, 33:42, they took second mens team! Our ladies produced great runs too with Kelly Taylor 38:11, Cara Thom 42:11, and Katie Mathieson 44:02 to finish third ladies team. Kelly and Cara also PB’d! Congratulations too, to Emma Queenan on her first 10k! Our full results were: Ross Horgan – 31:53, PB, 2nd Place Oscar Coetzee – 32:20, 1st MV40 Grant Murphy – 33:42 Stuart Macdougall – 34:43 Iain Murphy – 35:35 Bruce Carse – 35:44 Kelly Taylor – 38:11, PB Bryan Kerr – 40:03 Robert Smith – 41:26, PB Cara Thom – 42:11, PB Katie Mathieson – 44:02 Tom Thorne – 44:20 Frans Roelofse – 45:47 Lyndsay Kennedy – 47:47 Emma Queenan – 48:53, PB Kevin Queenan – 48:53 Sue Campbell Senior – 54:46 Graeme Pert – 57:36
The first babcock 10k of this year’s series took place on Sunday 11th May at the Shettleston 10k at Glasgow Green. It doubled as the Scottish Athletics West District 10k Road Race Championship. It was a beautiful morning and another great event, as always, being very well organised. Incredibly, the course records for men and women both fell in a very strong field of athletes from all over the UK. It was another great club turnout, with some brilliant PBs for Bryan Mulgrew (33:39), Callum Dickson (36:37), Emma Peters (42:48) and another great MV40 win by our ever consistent Oscar Coetzee (33:34), taking the top category spot by one second. Well done everyone! Best of luck at race number two in the babcock series, the Dumbarton 10k on Thursday 22nd May!
It was one of our favourite annual races on Wednesday 7th May, at the 38th Troon 10k. It was a glorious night in Ayrshire for the 17 Bellas who ran in what is one of the most popular 10ks in the calendar. Great running from Kenny Crawford (41:35), Al Maclachlan (42:57 1st MV60), Claire Wharton (43:05 1st FV50), Kevin Queenan (44:38), Ruth McKelvie (45:42), Lyndsay Kennedy (47:45), Anne Campbell (47:50), Shirley Wieland (49:12, 3rd FV60 PB), Alice Howe (49:24), Lynn Rennie (51:00), Babs Wilson (51:04), Catherine Laurence (53:49), Robert Boag (1:00:09), Louise Nimmo (1:01:50), Terry Nimmo (1:03:40), Nicola Barrington (1:05:02), Carla Telfer (1:09:32). Another great event by Troon Tortoises who even laid on the weather! We are looking forward to number 39 next year!
Entries are now open for this years Jimmy Irvine Bella 10K race, at Bellahouston Park at 1200hrs on Sunday 9th November 2025. We have 800 places this year and it’s a changed route now that works within the park are complete. And the good news is that it’s flatter! We also have a new venue at the Glasgow Club, Bellahouston Sport Centre for registration and hospitality afterwards. Again, the good news is that this is directly beside the start / finish of the race! You will be able to enter at Entry Central https://www.entrycentral.com/jimmy2025
Easter Sunday 20th April 2025, saw the latest Run Lanarkshire Monklands Half Marathon & 10k, after a break in 2024. The course start / finish was at St Ambrose High School, Coatbridge, and featured an extended undulating route around and through Drumpellier Country Park. The weather fine and cool. It was a successful day for our Bellas, with Oscar Coetzee winning the HM in a fantastic time of 1:13:10, while Stuart Macdougall took third place in 1:19:07! Both Oscar and Stuart raced in the MV40 category. The amazing Deborah Gray goes from strength to strength, and was the first lady to finish in 1:30:31. Deborah raced in the FV50 category. Great performances too from Sandy MacDonald (1:31:01), Martin McNulty (1:36:04), Claire Galloway (1:59:32), Andy Tomlinson (2:00:01) and in the 10k, Ben Lamont (49:38). Very well done everyone!