We had three of our men away from Scotland over the weekend racing in events. Poland, Italy, England, in that order. First off, on Saturday 11th April, there was a nice performance from Piotr Kopec with 1:38:17 at the ArcelorMittol Poland Dabrowa Half Marathon. An excellent run by Piotr while home visiting family. Then we had our current reigning men’s club champion, Tony Connelly, in Italy, producing an outstanding run of 2:38:20 at the Milan Marathon on Sunday 12th. Tony just continues to perform at an excellent consistent effort and holds almost all of our club records! Lastly, we had Ross Gale (pictured) at the Boston Marathon (the English version!) on Sunday, recording an excellent PB performance with 2:44:55 to place 10th in the race!
marathon
Congratulations to Stuart Dougall, who ran the Moray marathon on Sunday 5th April 2026, finishing in 13th place with a fantastic PB time of 3:12:14. The Moray Marathon is an historial running event in Scotland. It was the oldest running marathon in Scotland until 2016 when it was cancelled. It was brought it back to life with an updated, improved route in 2024. The route itself begins and finishes at the Morriston Playing Field running track in Elgin. Here you line up to start on the river path to the side of the playing field. The route takes you onto Brumley Brae and out of Elgin before descending onto the flat and fast country roads towards Burghead at Mile 8. You then continue along the coastal road passing Cummingston, Hopeman and Covesea before running through the beautiful beach town of Lossiemouth at mile 15, running alongside the harbour and sea front. On leaving Lossiemouth, it’s on the road through Oakenhead with the forest on your left (mile 17-19), all the way down towards the A96 before cutting right onto the cycle path at Mile 23. The its Cooper Park, before the final mile to finish at Morriston a victory lap of the track. On the day, there was a real mixed bag of weather with wind and rain, permeated by glorious sunshine and blue skies. So, a great effort by Stuart on the back of his Neil McCover Half Marathon PB in late February!
On Sunday 1st March, Kenny Osborne ran an amazing PB of 2:40:58 to win the Meadows Marathon in Edinburgh! This was a tough race consisting of 18 laps of The Meadows. A mental, as well as a physical challenge for Kenny, who produced such a strong performance.
Seven super Bellas were in Spain recently to take on two of the most exciting marathons in Europe. First off, on Sunday 7th December , were four of our members who ran the Valencia Marathon on a warm, sunny day in Catalonia. There was brilliant running from Bruce Carmichael (2:42:25), Neil McSeveney (2:46:34), Bryan Mulgrew (2:47:14) and Sarah McSharry (3:36:02). Next was the Malaga Marathon on Sunday 14th December, where we had three Bellas running, in good conditions in Andalusia. Again, there were great performances from Brian Kerr (2:37:57, PB), Laurence Prior (2:55:50, PB) & Chic Forsyth (3:19:30). A fantastic run from Bryan in particular, who finished in 75th place from 17,500 participants. Bien hecho todos!
Congratulations to our very own Poppy Bowie who ran the Marathon at the Tokyo Deaflympics on Tuesday 25th November 2025. This was the centenary games for this wonderful event that takes place every four years. Poppy was selected after a great 2nd place finish at the Windemere Marathon earlier this year and is the first Scottish woman to represent Team GB in the marathon in games history. Unlike the Olympics and Paralympics, Deaflympics GB athletes need to fund themselves and in Poppy’s case, arrange for their own training and coaching regime. Thanks to some wonderful generosity, Poppy managed to raise the £4,000 required to participate! She will be eternally grateful to everyone who supported this fundraising effort including her BRR club members, Family, friends and the wider public in the UK and Australia where she has been based since the summer. So after training in a very warm Australian climate, it was a grey and wet Tokyo that greeted Poppy on the day itself. The course consisted of a 5km circuit to be completed eight times, a mentally tough challenge for anyone notwithstanding the marathon distance itself. Poppy was also the sole GB representative, male or female, in the race. However, Poppy ran a fantastic PB time of 3:06:52 in what was only her third competitive marathon. This meant that she also broke the GB ladies record for the event! So, what a two weeks in Japan, from Opening Ceremony to tea at the British Embassy with her team mates at the conclusion of the event. You can watch the highlights of Poppy’s marathon at the link below. Congratulations again Poppy, we are a very proud club. https://deaflympicsgb2025.co.uk/daily-highlights/tokyo25-deaflympics-day-11?wvideo=vrksxok47a
The 2025 Summer Deaflympics in Tokyo began on Saturday 15th November. Our Poppy Bowie arrived in Japan safe and sound from her base in Australia, for the opening ceremony where she proudly paraded with Team GB (far right in the above picture). Then, just to shake off the jetlag, she ran the Urayasushi Sogo Koen Parkrun and finished 1st lady in 19:34! It’s the marathon on 25th November so some final prep for Poppy over the next week or so! We’ll be tuned in on the big day! Good luck Poppy!
The latest Abbott World Major Marathon took place on Sunday 2nd November 2025 in New York City. Four Bellas travelled stateside to tackle this fantastic race that enjoyed great autumn weather. First home was Rhona Fraser, an age category qualifier, in an impressive 3:27:46, followed by Alex Sutherland in a PB of 3:46:47. Alex’ husband, David, also ran and finished in a brilliant 3:23:01! Next home was club legend, and former club president, Robert McEwan who ran with his son, Robert junior, both finishing in 4:31. Last, but by no means least, one of the nicest members of BRR, Robert Boag, completed the race, to be inducted into the Abbott Six Star Hall of Fame! What an achievement for Robert, who has completed Berlin (2018), London (2019), Boston (2022), Chicago (2024), Tokyo (2025), NYC (2025). A heroic effort by Robert, who dedicated his feat to his own hero, his late father. Well done everyone!
Our Poppy Bowie will run in the marathon for Team GB at the Deaflympics in Tokyo in late November 2025! Poppy relocated to Brisbane, Australia, earlier this year and we have been keeping an eye on her training and progress as she builds towards Tokyo. The first bit of good news is that Poppy reached her funding goal in late September with the help of some of her new Australian friends and colleagues. This was fantastic news and means she can hopefully have a fantastic experience in Japan without financial worries. Many thanks on behalf of Poppy to everyone who has contributed towards her funding, it is greatly appreciated. As the temperatures rise in eastern Australia at this time of year, so has the intensity of Poppy’s training. She continues to build upon her regular interval training, mirroring the Bellahouston Road Runners programme, together with long base and mixed pace runs. Poppy has been networking with the Brisbane running community, including with Caine Batten, who is an Australian Deaflympian! Poppy and Caine recently competed in the Brisbane Road Runners Club (BRRC) 20k Road Race. Poppy was 3rd overall, and first lady, while Caine won the race! So with only 5 weeks or so before the big race on 25th November, Poppy has finalised her travel plans. She travels to Japan on 14th November for the Deaflympics opening ceremony and will return to Brisbane on 27th November, following the closing ceremony. We are very proud of Poppy and will be watching Poppy’s progress as the race draws closer!
On Sunday 19th October, it was the latest Amsterdam Marathon. There was a great turn out of Bellas and some fantastic performances too! Very well done to Ruairi Barfoot (2:42:05), Stuart Laurence (2:54:49), Oscar Wainwright (4:08:52), Gayle McKay (4:25:31), Mandy Morgan (4:35:51), Katherine Wainwright (4:43:57) and Pauline Bradley (4:58:39). On the same day, it was Yorkshire Marathon. A start and finish at the University of York and outstanding performances by Grant Murphy 15th place in 2:35:49, David Jarrett PB 2:49:46 and Sue Campbell Senior PB 4:21:17. Well done folks! It was also a great performance at the Yorkshire 10 Miler by Veronica Fusaro in 1:13:40.
What an event for Bellahouston Road Runners at this year’s very scenic Loch Rannoch Marathon! A beautiful day on Sunday 12th October for the event, with three Bellas participating. And it was success for all three! Jordan Davidson, carrying on his excellent form this year, finished in a PB of 2:44:29 to finish second in the race, first Male Senior! Then there was Tomoyo Fujiwara, in 3:34:52 to finish 3rd placed lady, first FV50! Lastly, Ian Watt ran 3:38:20 to claim first MV55! A brilliant treble of prizes for our brilliant Bellas!
On Sunday 28th, it was the ever popular Baxters Loch Ness Marathon 2025. A spectacular point to point route from the banks of Loch Ness to the finish in Inverness. Great weather conditions this year, and a new course record of 2:15:46. Not too shabby from our Bellas either with Oscar Coetzee (2:32:21 6th, 1st MV40), Bryan Mulgrew (2:43:38, 20th), Debbi Scott (3:34:46), Lucy MacKay (4:33:20). Lucy completed her 80th marathon including every Loch Ness event to date! Oscar retained his MV40 title too taking 8 mins off last years time.
The 2025 Highland Fling Ultra took place on Saturday 20th September. A point-to-point trail ultramarathon along the southern 53 miles of the West Highland Way, from Milngavie to Tyndrum, with 2,300m of ascent. Congratulations to our fab four of Stewart Penny (9:12:34, 26th), Jordan Davidson (9:42:07), Ross McGeoch (11:50:23) & Della Lansley (DNF but a brilliant effort running for over 14 hours). Sunday 21st September was the BMW Berlin Marathon. One of the world major marathon events in this fantastic city which was tackled by Kenny Osborne (2:51:12), Paul McNairn (3:02:55) and Chic Forsyth (3:21:28). Great running on what was a very warm day.
As you may know, from our previous updates, Poppy Bowie has been selected to represent Team GB in the Marathon at the Deaflympics in Tokyo in November 2025! This is a fantastic achievement for Poppy who was selected after an excellent performance at the challenging Windemere Marathon earlier this year, notwithstanding any other of her impressive performances. Poppy’s selection coincided with her plans to relocate from Scotland to Australia for a year. She left for the southern hemisphere in early August, landing in Brisbane, eastern Australia. Poppy wasted no time in finding her bearings, maintaining her running and training momentum with regular long runs mixed in with shorter interval sessions and strength workouts. She quickly hit the 20 mile mark, and has been averaging weekly miles in the high 40’s. The highlight of her running journey to date in Australia was when she took part in the ‘Surefoot Trail Race’ west of Brisbane on 24th August. A very tough 13+miles, with 3,800 feet of elevation, at Mount Coot-Tha, however an excellent performance saw her claim 3rd placed female! Poppy said “I was a little worried because I didn’t taper for it, and the elevation profile! Also one of the things on the mandatory kit list was a bandage for snake bites! But I loved it. It was mostly on mountain bike track. Trails are always fun but the hills were no joke, and with the downhills so steep, I’d have fallen if I walked, so I had to sprint down them and hope for the best! But no falls thankfully“. So, it’s onto September and a build on miles and intensity. Only 86 days until the start line in Tokyo on 25th November! Poppy has to fund her Deaflympics adventure herself, so thankyou for donating to her ‘Go Fund Me’ page, she very much appreciates this and all the kind words too. You can still donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/poppybowie Tune in next month for another ‘Poppy Post’ update!
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.
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!