Saturday 26th September was the Kelpies Half Marathon. Year 3 for this event which is becoming very popular with a good route from The Kelpies up and over the Clackmannanshire and Kincardine Bridges. Very well done in windy conditions to Martin McNulty 1:39:08, Lyndsay Kennedy 1:43:34 PB, Steff Boyle 1:53:14, Wallace Gray 1:58:43, Roz Wilson 2:00:02, Lynn Stuart 2:08:40, Louise Gray 2:22:06. Then, we had a couple of amazing Bellas down south tackling very tough events. Firstly, Ross Gale took on the GB Ultras ‘Cheshire Ring 100 Mile Ultra’. Actually 102 miles with a mix of trails knitting together the Bridgewater, Ashton, Rochdale, Peak Forest, Trent & Mersey and the Macclesfield Canals. What a performance by Ross clocking 16:54:37 for 3rd place. For context, roughly 4 back-to-back trail marathons averaging 4:14 each! It was also the 5 Valleys Ultra in the Lake District on Saturday. 58k with over 2,300m of ascent. A great performance from Luke Gall to finish in 10:02:05. On Sunday 27th, it was the ever popular Baxters Loch Ness Marathon. This was the 24th running of the event, with our Lucy MacKay having now run every edition among her now 83 marathons. What an achievement, and Lucy crossed the line (4:35:27) with Fiona Rennie, the only other person to have run all 24. Very well done too, to Ben Nurse 3:03:53 PB, Christophe Valtier 4:03:56, Isla Montgomery 4:44:25. Meanwhile, in Germany it was one of the World Marathon Majors in Berlin. A brilliant city for it, on a lovely morning. Fantastic performances by Bryan Kerr 2:41:00, Neil McSeveney 3:00:49 & Rhona Fraser 3:21:36. It was also the Linlithgow 10k on Sunday. Well done to Cathy Wood 40:02 who was 3rd lady.
ultra marathon
On Saturday 19th September, it was the ‘Flat n’ Fast 5k’ in a windy Linlithgow. The seventh event in this series, with a great turnout of 11 Bellas in Ross Horgan 15:38, Ross Gayle 16:38, Jordan Davidson 16:58, David Jarrett 17:07, Calum Brown 18:00 PB, Lewis Milligan 18:28, Cathy Wood 18:55 PB, Jen Conway-Evans 20:13, David Pattison 20:52, Frank Thielen 23:44, Katherine Wainwright 26:03. Very well done to Benji Scragg who ran the High Peak 40 in the Peak District on Saturday too. 40.5 mile hilly trail ultra starting and finishing in Buxton. An outstanding performance by Benji in his ultra debut, with an amazing who 5th place finish in 7:05:20. On Sunday 20th, it was a short ferry ride from Largs to the Isle of Cumbrae for the Kenny Phillips 10 Miler. A sunny, but blustery day, with great running by Stuart Macdougall 1:02:48 3rd MV40, Jonathan Wieland 1:03:06 PB, Sam Ramsay 1:03:08 PB, Jamie Wieland 1:07:26, Frans Roelofse 1:15:43, Keir Gowan 1:16:45, Brian Young 1:26:53. Well done to Tomoyo Fujiwara who was 3rd FV50, with 1:41:39 at the Dumfries Half Marathon on Sunday too.
The brilliant Cat MacDonald represented Team Scotland again in Italy on Saturday 5th September, at the ‘Vertical’ Trofeo Nasego International Mountain Race in Casto. From bottom to top, 1,000m of ascent up the 4.2k course in 56:04. Well done Cat! Well done too, to Simon Wells, who ran the Ben Nevis Race on Saturday. 14k with 1,345m of ascent to the summit, then back down. A brilliant effort in 1:31:40. Well done to the dynamic duo of Helen Winning & Caroline Munro, who ran the windy Tiree Ultra Relay on Sunday 6th September, completing 17 miles each! And then there were a couple of nice Half Marathon results too. Firstly, in Budapest there was great PB running by Gianluigi Re 1:38:13 & Laura Loddo 1:49:47. And there was a brilliant PB 1:26:15 and 2nd place finish for Michael Rice at the Run Nation Strathclyde Park HM.
Sunday 6th September was ‘Scilly Season’ as the amazing Jordan Davidson was in action in the most southerly part of the British Isles, for the Scilly 60k Ultra. Only 430 miles from Glasgow as the crow flies! This annual event is limited to 150 runners and takes place over 5 islands, with boat rides between each island. So, in order of the stages there is St Mary’s (17k), St Martin’s (10k), Tresco (11k), Bryher (8k), St Agnes (9k) and St Mary’s again (5k). Jordan just continues to impress each season with his performances and the variety of races he runs. In this instance, he finished in an incredible 6th place in 4:59:44! What an experience, and what a guy. Well done JDawg!
On Saturday 29th August 2026, it was the 18th edition of the Highland Fling 85k Ultra Trail Race. An epic run on the West Highland Way from Milngavie to Tyndrum. Over 2,300m of ascent on this route too, making it an even tougher challenge on what was a warm day. We had both Grant & Iain Murphy in action in this race with great performances as always. Grant finished in 10:02:00 while Iain wasn’t far behind in 10:48:01. Another ultra ticked off for our Mighty Murphys! Well done guys!
Very well done to the dynamic duo of Christine Milligan 7:01:58 & Lynne Goldie 7:39:53 at the Breaking Strain 50k ‘Run the Borders Ultra’ from Melrose to Jedburgh on Saturday 22nd August. A fantastic effort on a lovely day. It was the brilliant 7 Mile Tom Robb Trail Race in the Carron Valley Forest on Saturday too. Well done to the brilliant contingent of Brian Mulgrew 46:21, Alice Howe 1:05:56, Fiona Birrell 1:06:50, Roz Wilson 1:07:23, Lynn Stuart 1:09:52. And on Sunday 23rd, it was the Scurry ‘Devilla Forest Trail Races’ on Sunday. In the Half Marathon, there was a brilliant run by the brilliant Jordan Davidson for 2nd place in c.1:24:39. In the 10k, the equally impressive Simon Wells finished 2nd in c.38:58.
It was another South African start to Saturday (18/07/2026) when our incredible Oscar Coetzee ran the 50k Cape Town Running Festival Ultra. And what a run too, placing 3rd, 1st Vet in an amazing 3:18:21. It was also the Highlander Back Yard Ultra at the Murthly Castle Estate in Perthshire on the same day. 4.167 mile loops to be completed, starting on the hour from midday. Very well done to Stephen McQuade who completed a PB 21 ‘yards’ totalling 89 miles, with Alan Digweed also racking up a PB 16 ‘yards’ for 67.5 miles.
It was the Breaking Strain ‘Run the Blades’ weekend begining on a warm, sunny Fair Friday night with the 10k. Brilliant running, and an upgrade from last year’s second place for Jordan Davidson 37:39 1st place, Simon Wells 38:06 2nd place, Jay Cowan 40:21, Alan Chalmers 41:37, Keir Gowan 41:38, Laura Henderson 51:18, Lynne Hamilton 57:09. In the 50k Ultra on Saturday, Jordan Davidson (yes, the same one) battled the heat to run a brilliant 4:19:34 finishing in 9th place. And on a warm Sunday morning, there were scorching performances from Ross Horgan 1:14:23 1st place, Veronica Fusaro 1:39:18 1st place lady, David Jarrett 1:45:32.
The weekend past was a great one for Grant Murphy, Ross Gale and Ruiari Barfoot! First off, Grant Murphy finished in 3rd place (35:52) at the Neilston pad race on Saturday 2nd May. Saturday was also the Blast Running Fife Pilgrim Way Ultra from North Queensferry to St Andrews Cathedral. 56 miles with 1,200m of elevation. A fantastic effort by Ross Gale, who finished in 4th place in 8:26:33. Then, on the same day, over at the most westerly point of the Inner Hebrides, there was a great performance by Ruairi Barfoot (36:20) in the Tiree 10k, to claim 2nd place. Well done gents, great running all round…literally!
Saturday 25th April saw the latest running of the 42 Mile ‘Devil o’ the Highlands’ Foot Race. Tyndrum to Fort William on the West Highland Way, and thankfully, the weather was good for our Bellas! Well done to Bryan Mulgrew 6:47:09, Ben Nurse 8:00:21 (Glasgow Frontrunners vest), Kenny Mcdonald PB 9:48:22 & Della Lansley 12:20:16. It was also the inaugural Beecraigs Backyard Ultra on the same day. As many 4.167 Mile laps as you can muster every 60 min until there’s only one person left. Stephen McQuade took this on and ran a sensational 20 Full Laps, 83.3 miles, cumulative time 17:58:48, just shy of 85 miles total, a PB. Wow!
Oscar Coetzee has been back home in South Africa of late, and still getting in those challenging races! After finishing first Male Vet (51:41) at the Ravensmead 15k in Cape Town last week, he took on the much tougher Two Oceans Ultra around Table Mountain National Park, Cape Town on Saturday 11th April. This 56k (35 mile) race is said to be the most beautiful of its kind in the world, sitting between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Oscar ran an incredible 3:58:53 to break the four hour mark. His first 30k saw him up with some of the best in the race, including the ladies eventual winner, Gerda Steyn (in the attached image, Oscar is on the far right with Steyn third from the left). So, he continues to go from strength to strength, and is a real credit to himself, his family and luckily, to his adopted Glasgow running club. Well done Oscar!
It was the 50k John Muir Ultra on Saturday 7th March, from Port Seton to Dunbar on the east coast. It was a perfect day for it, with some lovely spring sunshine, but given the wet weather of late, there were some tricky wet sections. especially on the second half of the route. Nevertheless, there was amazing running, pacing and endurance by our two Bella participants, Simon Wells (4:24:16, 50k PB) & Emma McCahill (4:41:53, 4th lady, 1st FSnr). Very well done you two, now get the feet up!
What a performance from Ross Gale at the Glen Ogle 33 Ultra on Saturday 1st November 2025! 33 miles from the start in Killin to finish in Strathyre, over a beautiful course with 3,000ft of climbing. And it was wet in the run up to this one, and on race day itself. Ross however triumphed to win in a quite incredible time of 3.54.01!
We had two Bellas running at the Glasgow to Edinburgh Ultra on Saturday 11th October. 57 miles from the Riverside Museum in Glasgow to the Edinburgh Athletics Track with the route largely follows the central belt’s canal network. Laurence Prior had an outstanding race to claim 10th place in an amazing 8hrs 25min! Lucy MacKay also had a great day, finishing on 12hrs 38min. The effort put into training for such events cant be underestimated, so congratulations to both!
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.