Hot off the press: Read all about our GOLDEN Bellas; our yellow Bellas, our saltire Bellas; our green Bellas, Our Royal Bella; our Blistering Bella and our improved Bellas! All in your Bletha 6! Read on line or pick up your very own copy at the club!
member news
7 posts
Just a note to remind members that this autumn/winter, the club will be meeting at a different venue on alternate Wednesdays, starting 17th October (full list of dates below). Full details of the background for this training variation on the member’s forum. All other dates continue at Glasgow Club Nethercraigs, as usual. We will be meeting from 6.15pm at St Francis Community Centre, Cumberland Street, G5 0SE. We’ll then proceed to a session on Glasgow Green at 6.30pm, after announcements, for a structure training session. The training venue, and specific session, is always indicated on the front of our website, so it’s easy to check in advance. We have recently started a Whatsapp club announcement group which we will publicise this on (as well as any training cancellations or urgent news). Please sign up if you’ve not already done so. Details on how to do so are on the forum. Please speak to a member of the board, or coaching group, if you’ve questions or concerns!
Back at our February AGM, our membership voted to adopt a new membership fee structure, and we’re delighted we’ve now invited our existing members to renew their membership under the new structure. Members should check their email (be sure to check your spam folder too), and follow the instructions. We’re still updating our website to reflect it everywhere, but we’ve replaced the old cash based system with a modern and, we think, excellent value for money setup that’s easier for members, and us. We’re also delighted that we can offer concessionary rates at last. The fees can be paid for annually or monthly, and we’re encouraging members to pay by direct debit (although we also support payment by card and bank transfer for annual membership). The total fee is made up of membership (equivalent to £20 per year), and a training/racing fee – which members select based on how often they train with us (or take part in our subsidised races), which broadly seeks to cover the core operational costs of our club. Our fees for 2018/19 therefore are: £65 (or £5.62 per month), for regular training/racing (3 or more times a month) £45 (or £3.95 per month), for occasional training/racing (2 or less a month) £35 (or £3.12 per month), is our concessionary rate for members in full-time education, low-income/unemployed, or senior (60+ years). £25 (annual charge only) for Basic membership, for members who aren’t training with us just now. This doesn’t include a club vest or club subsidised races. Except for the Basic membership, all the new membership fees are entirely inclusive, and include all our training sessions, support of our awesome coaches, access to our club forum and social media groups, all the cross country races you can handle, a discount to the best club organised 10k in Glasgow, super social events through the year, all for between £3 and £6 a month! You’re also helping support us as we grow and develop the club into our charitable status, aiming to be a substantive part of our community. Existing members just need to follow the link they were sent as part of the renewal process at the end of July 2018, before the end of August when existing memberships run to. If you’re a current member, and have not received your renewal note, please get in touch with us so we can check your email address. Once you’ve signed up to the new setup, you can also stop popping a £1 coin in the tin! If you’re stuck, we’ve a guide/FAQ on our club forum. If you’re looking to join us, or are you a lapsed member considering a return, your first four sessions are free, so come along and check we’re right for you before signing up (we just need your emergency contact details on file). You can have a read about what’s involved at our training nights on our ‘Join Us’ page too. Once you’re happy, pop over to our membership page at bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk/membership and sign […]
This month’s Bletha is now online! Copies are available at club. Stories include: Gold run, Shona & Ann for Scotland, Jimmy T, Haddayaway man. four do thirty, pool and beer, Same a keeper. Coach mark, on the Terry bus. And much much more! Read it here!
On Saturday I headed through to Holyrood Park and Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh to compete in the Great Winter Run 5k and then watch a feast of top quality Cross Country action with Kenenisa Bekele topping the bill. The 5k started on the road next to Arthur’s Seat went uphill for two kilometers, levelled out for one and then back downhill for two. The first kilometre was sheltered and I found myself out in front. We were then met by a fairly strong headwind and I held onto the lead until two kilometres. At that point Adam Priestley from Corstorphine AAC and Sean Gaffney from Inverclyde AC both came past me and then got about 50 metres ahead. I was feeling tired, but dug in and hoped for the best. At about 3.5k I caught Sean and moved back into second place. At 4k I passed Adam and had the amazing feeling of only having the pace car and 1k of running between me and a win. I managed to hold on and for the first time in my life had the incredible feeling of breaking the tape at a race. Neil Thin of Edinburgh AC came through to take second place. My split times should give a flavour of how hilly the course was. The first mile was run in 6:03, the second in 5:52 the third in 4:49 and the last 0.1 mile in 4:52 pace. The third mile was the first time that I have broken five minutes for the mile. After the race I met up with Stewart Roberston and Bryan Burnett to watch the cross country. It was very entertaining and we witnessed the race event of Bekele being outshone in a cross country. To finish of the perfect day after the races had finished we headed to The Royal Mile for a few beers. Report from Russell
Last night’s AGM saw a new committee elected for the next year. We’d all like to thank committee members who were standing down for all their help and dedication over the last few years, particularly Scott Kennedy and Club president Emma Birnie who’d both served for a long time and given so much to the club. We’d like to wish the new committee all the very best over the next year, which next year will see the club’s tenth anniversary. The new committee is: Club President:: Robert McEwan Club Secretary:: Carla Deans Membership secretary:: Maddie Smillie Treasurer:: Peter Gallanagh PR officer:: Alistair Kell Womens captain:: Jane Wild Men’s captain:: Brian O’Donnell Social convenor:: Lucy Mackay Ordinary member 1:: Jim O’Hara Ordinary member 2:: Julie Fitzpatrick
Huge congratulations from the club to member Gavin, who completed the UK Ironman. Gavin wrote a superb summary of his experience: First of all, thanks for all the support over the last few months. I managed to complete my first triathlon in 13:53:29. I took 1:32:59 to cover the 2.4 mile swim; 7:22:30 for the 112 mile bike and 4:32:19 for the marathon, with the other few minutes in transition changing and sorting myself out! The swim start was delayed unitl 6:30 due to the overcast and dark conditions, visability above water was very low and underwater you could see about 6 inches. So the mass start of 1500 swimmers all thrashing about and jockeying for position means that you get punched, kicked, pushed and prodded a fair bit for the first mile or so. I had planned to take it easy on the swim and expected to come out the water at the back of the crowd. Safely through the swim it was onto the bike for 3 laps of a undulating and windy course. The feed stations every 12 miles never came quick enough, there were 3 big hills on each loop, and a fun fast downhill section reaching speed of upto 48mph!!. After 112 miles of physical and mental highs and lows it was a quick descent back to the transition area. After another changes of clothes and liberal application of vaseline I was on the run course. This was a very hilly figure of 8 loop that you ran three times. The first mile was a surprisingly easy 9 min/mile which set the pace for the first loop. On the second loop, things where getting tough, so I took full advantage of the aid stations, positioned every 1.5-2 miles. Which had Gatorade, power gels, pretzels, water, bananas and flat coke, I stuffed myself with everything except the coke and walked through them. By the 3rd and last lap my speed was getting seriously slow and I figured that unless I puled my finger out I would be over the 14 hour mark. So now I took onboard the flat coke and my last 4 miles was done in under 32 minutes (fast for me!). So running along the final 100m in my ancient Bella vest in the dark towards the finishing chute was a proud moment.