Sunday 1st November, saw the return of the Antonine 10k Trail Race that has been resurrected from the old ATRX by Kirkintilloch Olympians, with a new route starting and finishing in Twechar. It was a stunning fresh morning for the event, with registration at the new Twechar Outdoor Pursuits Centre beside the Forth & Clyde Canal. The start was only a short walk away at Colliery Green. The race started promptly at 0930hrs, with an initial short flat section out onto the Main Street, before crossing the road to go straight into the long climb up towards Barhill Fort on a rough farm track. Then it was off left, up and over the fields before hitting another farm track down to Smithstone Road, and a manned crossing. And it was back ascending up Croy Hill, with some steep sections throughout before there was a good, technical downhill section, over large boulders and rough path. Thankfully it was dry, so not quite so tricky to negotiate. A sharp right to the water station, then along a rough path, back over Smithstone Road, before a long climb up the farm track towards Twechar. Finally it was down the track, and a sharp right onto the Main Street and back to Colliery Green to finish. Around 860ft of climbing on the route, so a challenging race, even in perfect conditions. The event was very well organised by the Olympians, with good safety measures at the road crossings (don’t listen to the marshal, then you’re disqualified). A very friendly and welcoming event, with a nice wooden coaster as a memento. As always, there was some fantastic Bella running with Grant Murphy 41:07 2nd, Jordan Davidson 42:11 3rd, Iain Murphy 42:48 5th, Tom Ferris 54:20, Joni Lindsay 1:05:44 and Alison Brown 1:10:05 2nd FV60.
fell running
There are just some days when it is good to be alive and Saturday was one of them. Blaenau Ffestiniog was the setting for this year’s first counter in the British Hill and Fell Running Championship: a ten mile race with an accumulative height of just under 9,000m. On Friday night I had rested in a trailer park in the Denbighshire flatlands. That left me with a short drive in the morning through the Conway valley into the unfolding drama of Snowdonia. Blaenau itself is a small former quarry town hemmed in by massive slate tips and the Jerusalem Congregational Church. After a few hellos to Glasgow runners (including Kenny Richmond, formerly of this parish), the race started in the main street to the sounds of a Welsh heavy metal band and cow bells. A sprint through the town led 360 souls to barge over the railway footbridge and in to the wilds. A combination of paths and quarrymen tracks weaved in and out of old workings. Further up, the ground shifted between being sound, brutal bog and slate surf. The beautiful sunshine didn’t prepare me for the strong winds cutting across the first peak at Moelwyn Mawr (770). The prize for getting out of the wind was jumping big drops and a scrambling round the ridge to Moelwyn Bach (710). That was absolute fun. The descent form the Bach was a steep one, and refreshments at Llyn Stwain Reservoir were a relief. Trouble with relief however is it makes you relax, and I then had to dig in and climb steadily up Craig Stwaln and Moel-yr-hydd (648). A few folk passed me at this point, and I clutched to the old hymnal for inspiration. The final descents were a chance to savour the echoes of industry and dreams of a nice bath. There were a few stubborn undulations to punish my lack of training near the end but nothing was going to stop me enjoying such a wonderful day. For the record, Finlay Wild of Lochaber secured a Scottish victory in 1.13, yours truly was 316th in 2.08. Durisdeer next. David Stakes Youtube Video by Huw Jenkins – read his report: Campbells Cottage – Huw Jenkins blog
As the day wore on, and the clouds got lower & lower, Bella emerged as top Scottish team (& 11th overall) in this years British Fell/Hill Relay Championships at Kirkland Leaps in West Cumbria on Sun 18th Oct. The championships are a 4 leg relay with legs 1 & 4 run as solo, and 2 & 3 run as pairs. Maps & checkpoints for Legs 1,2 & 4 were provided beforehand which allowed us to run the routes on the Saturday (in beautiful sunshine!) to find the best lines & identify some landmarks. Leg 3 is the navigation leg, with map supplied 500m after the leg start, so with 20 metre visibility adding to the joys of the deep bogs, high heather & tussocks it was a real test. In total 7 Scottish clubs entered teams making up a total field of 148 teams. The teams consisted of some of the top hill runners, road runners & triathletes in Britain. But fast runners don’t always know where they are going, resulting in drama at the end when the top 3 clubs were disqualified for missing a checkpoint on the last leg. But no such drama for the 2 Bella teams, as everyone climbed well, descended well & navigated (almost) flawlessly. The boys team are still kicking ourselves, missing out on a top 10 spot, with slight navigation errors on legs 3 & 4. But thats what will have us going back for another shot next year, in the Lomonds of Fife. A final mention for the best sprint finish of the day has to go to Stuart on the last leg for the Mixed Team, after flying down the final steep descent, crossing the field and lunging for the electronic dipper box on the line. The photo evidence shows the monumental effort – and the Race Face Award for 2009/10 is already closed! I cannot recommend these events highly enough, the sense of team spirit is 2nd to none, and the bad weather only added to the fun and to the decibel level of the supporting Bella team members. The Devils Burden Hill Relay at the end of January uses a similar format, and your next chance to come along to an event like this, go on, you know you want to…. Representing Bella were: Bella Boys Team (11th) – 1. Matt, 2. Mark/Marcos, 3. Andy/Dougal, 4. Kenny Bella Mixed Team (73rd) – 1. Katie, 2. Brendan/Davie, 3. Emma/Dave, 4. Stuart Full results here: http://www.sportident.co.uk/results/2009/BritishFellRelay/BritishFell&HillRelay2009Results.pdf Cheers to Andy Birnie for the Race Report
Results for the Bellahouston Road Runners first ever hill race, the Ben Venue Challenge, are now available. Click here for the results (PDF). Please report any result corrections to Andy Birnie via benvenue@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk. Feel free to send any comments or suggestions via e-mail, or in the comment section below. Drop us a note too if you have any pictures from the event. The gusting 80mph wind forced a course change, but nothing could dampen the friendly atmosphere or the competitive racing for Bellahouston Road Runners’ inaugural Ben Venue race. The race had a bit of everything – fast forest paths, muddy bogs, open hillside & a quick taste of the gales at the cairn but more importantly there were lots of smiling faces and plenty of homebaking at the finish! Matt Williamson (Bellahouston Road Runners) was eventual winner of the 6 mile race (1800 feet of ascent) in a time of 51 mins 17secs, having led for most of the way. He held off newcomer Peter Devenport (Unattached) and Matthew Sullivan (Shettleston Harriers) during the fast descent through Gleann Riabhach. In the girl’s race, Fiona Maxwell (Shettleston Harriers) had a slightly greater winning margin, winning in 59 mins 22 secs from Ellie Homewood (Westerlands) and Lyndsey Munro (Bellahouston Road Runners). The boys from the east coast cleared up the vet prizes with Carnethy boys taking the vet40 prizes in order of Adrian Davis, Bruce Smith & Steve Fallon. Gordon Pryde (Lomond) collected the V50 prize while Keith Burns (Carnethy) was 1st in the competitive group of V60s. The ladies vet prizes were better spread around Scotland, with Jo Schreiber (Lochaber), Joanne Anderson (Carnethy) & Caroline Strain (Wee County Runners) collecting the V40 prizes and Helen MacPherson (Westerlands) taking the V50 prize. Both team prizes went to the home club with counting runners Matt Williamson, Mark Johnston & Marcos Sans Gomez for the guys and Lyndsey Munro, Pauline Wright & Katie Padgham for the girls. Many thanks to the 83 runners who ignored the weather forecast and turned up today, and helped raise over £400 for the Lomond Mountain Rescue Team. This was Bella’s first hill race, so we’d love to hear your suggestions for how to improve things for next year. And there will be a next year, since we want to run the full advertised course, because we are so confident you will just love it! Please email any comments to benvenue@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk
Emma has sent this excellent race report from the The Inter-Counties Fell, on Saturday 23rd May at Hutton Roof Crags near Kendal: Bella was represented by Kenny Richmond, Iona Robertson and Emma Birnie all running for the Scotland West team. The course was a tough 7 mile slog up to Hutton Roof crags then a long undulating cross country course to the near vertical acsent up Farlton Knot and back for a fast grassy descent back to Hutton Roof village. The West teams led the way in the Scottish stakes with the West girls team (Fiona Maxwell (Shettleston), Iona and Emma) bringing home bronze medals for third place and the mens west team (Matthew Gillespie & Tom Owens (both Shettleston) & Kenny Richmond the 3 counters) securing 4th place overall. Other Scottish team results are as follows: Women – Scotland East 4th (just beating Greater Manchester on first-team-home), and Scotland Central in 8th. Among the men’s teams, the honours were in the same order with Scotland West 4th, Scotland East 6th and Scotland Central 9th. The Scotland North teams were incomplete. A great day out with fabulous cakes on offer at the village fete afterwards! Full results are here: http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2009/hutton.htm