It was the Great Scottish Run 10k & Half Marathon on Sunday 5th October. The stormy weather gave way to blue skies and a bit of a breeze for a great event. Excellent support and a new start at the top of St Vincent Street for a record field this year. We had around 100 Bellas running and marshalling! It was an early 10k start, but great running from our 6.2 milers, with our first 3’s being: Ross Horgan (32:35, 15th), Grant Murphy (33:10 PB, 20th), Ross Wood (44:44) – Lauren Rice (43:04), Rachel Fraser (44:41 PB), Alex Shaw (49:39). Then, it was the Half Marathon, where we had around 72 Bellas running. Some amazing PBs achieved and too many great runs to mention. Our top 3s were: Ruairi Barfoot (1:14:52 PB), Ross Gale (1:15:38), Jordan Davidson (1:16:05 PB) – Rebekah Russell (1:25:49, 3rd F35-39), Rhona Fraser (1:30:48, 1st F45-49), Cara Thom (1:31:56 PB). In addition, Al MacLachlan (1:33:56) was 1st M65-69. Elsewhere, Claire Wharton qualified for the British & Irish Masters Cross Country after trials at Tollcross Park! Lynn Stuart ran a brilliant PB at the Chester Marathon, Flora Henry was second lady at the Barry Buddon 10 Miler in Carnoustie, and Poppy Bowie was first lady at the Brisbane Road Runners 20k! Very well done ladies!!
half marathon
The Kelpies Half Marathon ran on Saturday 27th September. A start & finish at the Kelpies, with two crossings over the Forth at the Clackmannanshire Bridge and then back over the historic Kincardine Bridge. There were perfect conditions and plenty of Bella horsepower too, especially from the race winner, our Grant Murphy, in a PB and Course Record 1:12:15! Another outstanding effort following on from Grant winning the Girvan HM in July. Great running too by Gavin McGowan (1:39:14), Lauren Rice (1:41:53), Anne Campbell (1:44:13), Wallace Gray (1:49:14), Laura Henderson (1:49:52) & Louise Gray (2:08:19).
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.
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!!
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!
It was the Girvan Half Marathon on Sunday 13th July, one of our ‘long’ Club Championship events. It was 28°C with plenty of hills, but this didn’t deter Grant Murphy, who won the race in 1:16:13! A fantastic effort by Grant, bettering last year’s third place and continuing his return to fitness of late.
Congratulations to Flora Henry, who finished 4th lady, 2nd FSnr in 1:43:36, at the Isle of Harris HM on Saturday 5th July. A hilly course in wet and windy conditions. This meant that Flora completed the ‘Heb3 Race Series’ (3 from 5 minimum island HMs required) having previously raced the Stornoway & Skye HMs this year and fingers crossed, it looks like Flora was the ladies champ for this years Heb3! Well done too, to Oscar Coetzee, who ran 51:07 at the Eersteriver 15k in South Africa on the same day, to finish 7th overall, 2nd MV40. On Sunday 6th July, David Jarrett ran a brilliant Stonehaven HM in 1:24:40 to finish 4th overall, 1st MV40. A great results on a tough, hilly course.
It was very warm on Sunday 29th June 2025, for three of our members at events far and wide. At the Arran Half Marathon, Tomoyo Fujiwara ran 1:47:27 to take 1st FV50. Down at the Solway Coast Marathon, Lucy ‘Marathon’ MacKay done it again with a time of 4:54:45 in pretty challenging conditions to finish 2nd FV60. Lastly, Ruairi Barfoot completed the Larig Ghru 43k Hill Race in a fantastic 14th place with 3:46:55!. This one stretches from the police stations in Braemar and Aviemore, a Cat ‘C’ Hill Race with a high point of 835m! Well done to our top trio of hardy Bellas!
It was another outstanding run by Colin Hughes at the Skye Half Marathon on Saturday 14th June, finishing in 1:28:49 to take 1st MV60. Colin was actually faster than the MV50s too, which is quite a feat on a tough, undulating course in warm conditions. The following day, Sunday 15th June, saw the amazing Poppy Bowie run her latest marathon at Lake Windermere. Another tough hilly course, but nonetheless an outstanding run again by Poppy, and a brilliant PB performance in 3:23:42, to finish 2nd lady overall and 1st FSnr! Lastly, Iain Murphy ran in an amazing event on Sunday too. The (Broloppet) Bridge Race 2025, a Half Marathon of 40,000 runners that started in Tårnby, Denmark, going through the 4k tunnel, 22m below sea level, over the artificial island of Peberholm, then up onto the 57m high Øresund Bridge, finishing near Malmo, Sweden. This was the first time that the bridge has been open to pedestrians in its 25 year existence. As usual, Iain ran a great race, despite a strong headwind, to finish in 1:20:27. Not bad considering his second place finish at Malmo parkrun on Saturday!!
It was another big one in Edinburgh for the Marathon Festival on Sunday 25th May. There was a punishing wind and a four seasons day to contend with for our Bellas for bother the half and full marathon. Mark Young was our sole Bella in the HM and ran a great 1:24:51, made more impressive as he continues his recovery from recent injury. In the marathon, there were brilliant efforts in by Neil McSeveney (2:44:03 PB), Bryan Mulgrew (2:44:32) Angus Gray (2:47:03), Sean Coyle (2:47:08), Alan Moss (3:20:54), Ronnie Hart (3:38:38), Hayley Drysdsle (4:29:09), Anton Soderqvist (4:30:17) and Ewen Cameron (4:39:28). Special mention to Alan, who completed the marathon in his globe costume, representing and fundraising for Worldwide Cancer Research. https://www.justgiving.com/page/alan-moss-globe-marathon-run
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!
The British Masters Athletics Federation Cross Country Championship ran at Tollcross Park on Saturday 15th March 2025, where Jen Conway was the sole Bella on duty for the 6k course on lovely sunny, spring day. Jen ran another brilliant XC race, as she has all season, with 23:41 to finish 3rd FV35. Hot on the heels of the Inverness HM last weekend, was the 41st Alloa HM on Sunday 16th March. It was a large field with 1864 finishers, and was well organised as always. 39 Bellas ran in near perfect conditions in the shadow of the Ochils. There were great results again, with a large number of fantastic PBs and 5 men in the top 50, with just about the same for our ladies. Our top 3 finishers were (M) Sean Coyle (1:14:37 PB), Bryan Mulgrew (1:15:11), Kenny Osborne (1:17:18) (F) Christie Lamb (1:30:49), Rhona Fraser (1:30:52), Poppy Bowie (1:32:09 PB). Full event results are at https://live.sportsystems.co.uk/Results.aspx?CId=20246&RId=15172 Huge congratulations to Bryan Kerr, who ran a fantastic PB of 2:40:32 at the Barcelona Marathon on Sunday too. Bryan’s impressive training regime clearly paying off again.
It was the 40th Inverness Half Marathon on Sunday 9th March 2025, that also served as the Scottish Athletics Half marathon Championship. It was also one of our ‘long’ club championship events. The event was as popular as ever, and this year was blessed with fine, warm weather making it a greater challenge for the runners on what is a tough, undulating course. There was an incredibly close finish to the race with the first three men finishing within 3 seconds of each other in just over 65 minutes! Thirteen Bellas competed and acquitted themselves with aplomb. Ross Horgan finished in a fantastic 22nd place, registering a PB of 1:10:19, agonisingly only 2 seconds from equalling our 14 year old club record! Our remaining athletes also done very well, namely: Calum Borthwick (1:13:02), Angus Gray (1:14:18, PB), Ruairi Barfoot (1:15:16, PB), Kelly MacDonald (1:25:34, 24th lady, PB), Ben Law (1:28:40), Jonnie Felton (1:39:06), Flora Henry (1:41:16, PB), Victoria Curley (1:43:40), Joni Lindsay (1:50:37), Martin Murphy (1:51:42), Mark Worton (2:04:03), Megan Parkinson (2:10:36). Well done everyone!
The Kirkintilloch Olympians Neil McCover Memorial Half Marathon ran on Sunday 9th February, in damp, chilly weather, but this didn’t stop our Bella contingent on what is a tough, undulating course. This was our first Club Championship ‘long’ race of the season. Bryan Kerr was 3rd in a fantastic PB time of 1:15:58. Poppy Bowie finished 2nd lady in 1:35:17, proving that her recent 2nd place finish at the Buchlyvie 10k was no fluke. Our remaining finishers produced fantastic results too: Grant Murphy (1:16:16, 4th), David Jarrett (1:26:36), Cathy Wood (1:38:23, 3rd FSnr), Veronica Fusaro (1:40:17, 2nd FV40, PB), Tomoyo Fujiwara (1:42:32, 1st FV50), Pauline Wright (1:45:05), Andy Tomlinson (1:47:15), Wallace Gray (2:10:52) & Louise Gray (2:13:43). Our top three of Poppy, Cathy and Veronica won ladies team prize and similarly, it appears that Bryan, Grant and David took the mens team prize. Very well done everyone! It was also simultaneously the Kirkintilloch Olympians 12.5k race, with Stuart Macdougall (45:16), Brendan McGuiness (50:35), Anne Campbell (1:00:20) & Kirsteen Waddell (1:22:32) all running. Another great outing for our athletes!
The AJ Bell Great Scottish Run 2024 took place over the weekend of 5th – 6th October in Glasgow. Around 40 Bella members volunteered to marshal the various events over both days. Many thanks to them, and all the other volunteers and emergency service personnel who helped contribute towards another fantastic GSR! On Sunday 6th October, 16 members ran in the 10k. It was an early start with good weather conditions. Our first 3 gents finishers were Sean McAnallen (35:03), James Gray (37:37) & Harris Millar (41:30). For our ladies, it was Jane McNeilly (41:00), Cara Thom (42:59) & Carla Dunn (49:37). An incredible 75 members started the HM with fantastic efforts across the board, and numerous PBs recorded! Our top ten gents were: Tony Connelly (1:11:49, 14th overall), Josh Evans (1:13:35), Grant Murphy (1:16:02), Lewis Roberts (1:16:32), Neil McSeveney (1:16:53, PB), Paul McNairn (1:17:27, PB), Mark Young (1:17:47, PB), Ruairi Barfoot (1:17:51, PB), Kenny Osborne (1:18:15) & Jethro Browell (1:18:49). Our ladies top 10 were: Deborah Gray (1:25:53, 25th lady), Grainne McGrath (1:27:27), Christie Lamb (1:27:31, PB), Emer Campbell (1:28:49, PB), Debi Scott (1:30:28, PB, in her Giffnock North vest), Jen Conway (1:34:12), Cathy Wood (1:37:59), Katie Blackett (1:38:49), Victoria Curley (1:41:02) & Anne Campbell (1:43:14). Brilliant 1:30 pacing duties too by Ross Horgan We also had several members running elsewhere over the weekend. On Saturday, three intrepid Bellas ran the Glasgow to Edinburgh 57 Mile Ultra with outstanding efforts by Tom Thorne (11:48:30), Liam McNally (12:59:03) & Lucy MacKay (14:00:40). On Sunday, Bryan Kerr ran the Chester Marathon in a fantastic 2:52:06 while Jonnie Felton ran in his home town at the Cardiff Half Marathon in a brilliant 1:21:48. What a weekend, well done everyone! If you’ve been inspired to get involved after seeing all those runners in the GSR, remember that our very own Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k race takes place at Bellahouston Park on Sunday 10th November 2024. Enter here at: https://www.entrycentral.com/jimmyirvinebella10k #greatscottishrun #jimmyirvine10k