The Seven Hills of Edinburgh took place yesterday, described as: “a few hundred hardy individuals taking part in one of the most unusual running events in the country, The Seven Hills of Edinburgh — a combination of road-running, cross-country, hill-running, and urban orienteering… 14 miles in length and with 2200 feet of ascent/descent.” Brendan Moriarty and Jane Simpson took part, and sent in this cracking report: Yesterdays big race was not the Mens Health 10K but actually the “7 Hills of Edinburgh”. The race starts at Calton Hill and takes in Castle Hill, Costorphine Hill, Craiglockhart Hill, Blackford Hill, Braid Hill and Arthurs seat before returning to Calton hill to finish. There is no set course which means that you constantly see people running in all directions. Its a mental start, ploughing through throngs of tourists that were sightseeing early on the Sunday morning before taking to the streets for the first few miles as you make your way up to the castle swarming all over the royal mile like a plague. You clip your number at the bottom of the castle esplanade with the orienteering clip and and then from there it gets a bit more sane… well all apart from scrambling up near vertical hills, sliding down near vertical hills, jumping walls, jumping hedges on round abouts, scaling walls, wading through burns, jumping walls/ fences, ploughing through nettles and gorse, dodging traffic, getting covered in mud and ( if you are Jane Simpson) doing an impromptu forward roll down a hill in to the gorse and nearly whacking a fellow runner as you pretend to be a plane on a downhill“triple salco and somersault combination”. In total you do about 14 miles and about 2,200 ft of climbing. There is plenty of water juice and food stops along the way, which were great on such a hot day.. At the finish there is a feed to rival even the Bella 5K. A cracking race that is thoroughly recommended, not just for the cake.. Results below: Jane was 4th Lady home. 65 Brendan Moriarty 02:11:01 Bellahouston RR 66 Jane Simpson 02:11:03 F Bellahouston RR Well done both of you. Excellent performance, and great report!
Yearly archives: 2010
Oscar, one of the ‘B’ group coaches, was in London this year, supporting wife Jane and the rest of the Bella runners. He’s sent this report in of his exploits: As has become my norm over the last 4 years, since I ran my last London marathon in 2006, I made my way down to London to support Jane and the rest of the Bella team doing the Marathon. Arriving at the elite start just before 8 am the atmosphere was already starting to build and after saying a final good luck to Jane I headed to my first vantage point just after 12 miles. Having done this supporters role many times I have come to the decision that I can catch many more Bella runners if I limit myself to two points on the course, first one just before the turn to run over Tower Bridge then on to the Embankment. Getting the train back from Maze hill to London Bridge I ran down to my first stop and got a great position before it starts to get too busy. I’m there in plenty of time to see the wheelchair leaders and then the first Ladies come through followed shortly by the leading men’s pack less than 20 minutes behind. Lemonchello going well and he gets a good cheer from me. Then comes the first athlete I know Jethro Lennox from Shettleston closely followed by our own Kenny. The crowd had really grown by now and the atmosphere built up – the noise was incredible. Seeing Kenny got my excitement level up and then Bella’s are coming thick and fast, Colin, Russell, Scott, Al, Brian, Rebecca, Alastair, Stewart, Linda and Karlyn, Lucy and Jane all getting the full Oscar projection to encourage them along. I hung around for about 10 minutes after Jane went through with a hope of seeing other Bella’s but I had to go if I was to get the 4.5 miles to my next viewpoint in time to see everyone again. I find it easer to run this rather than try to fight my way through the crowds using the underground. I arrived at the embankment just before the 24 mile mark, at a point I am sure a few of the regular runners will expect me to be at, just missing the leading ladies group but in plenty of time to see the full list of those I saw at 12 miles. By this stage the runners really need a boost and I do try my best to give them a good shout. I don’t think many miss me though. Colin, Russell, Al, and Linda in particular looked like they were running really well as they came past me, then before I knew it a slightly emotional Jane came up the rise and I got a quick cuddle before she was off for her last two miles. Off I set running the last two miles to meet up at the finish which is a […]
Andy Birnie sent in the following report from last weekend’s Highland Fling ultra marathon. Saturday 24th April marked my first and very last ultra marathon. This unique experience started off really well in cool damp conditions. Upto 23 miles it was a breeze, hitting all splits bang on schedule, sitting as 4th Vet, even enjoying the scenery. Then suddenly somebody switched the lights out. Joe had warned me beforehand to expect some dark moments, but I did not expect the first dark moment to last 30 miles and another 6 hours. My running was reduced to something more akin to shuffling. If my wife Emma had been at Inversnaid (34 miles) I would have happily chucked it, but without a means to get a message to her, I had to go on. At Bein Glas farm (41 miles) I was met by the Bella posse. I knew there was no way I could chuck it now, so after my 6th Muller Rice and with my support team in tow, I was off shuffling again, eventually getting to Tyndrum (53 miles) and a heartwarming Bella reception, in just under 10 hours. I was outside my target time, but to be honest, after Rowardenan it stopped being a race and then became a challenge just to complete the distance. I want to take this opportunity to say thanks: for support on the day – Emma, Dougal, Matt, Robert, Joe, Peter (& Daniel), Louise (& Anna), Neil, Danielle & the relay teams for my chaperones for the last 12 miles – Craig & Brendan for a life-saving massage after the event – Matt for company on my long training runs – Emma, Stuart, Dougal, Brendan, Davie, Greig, Peter & Jackie for advice from the ultra gurus – Robert, Joe & Stuart And of course, well done to the relay teams: the ladies (Emma (the other one), Jane, Lynsey & Jackie) successfully defending the trophy the boys (Brendan, Marcos, Dougal & Greig) for beating Bella’s course record but being robbed of the trophy by some mob of interlopers from south of the border on a cross-border pot hunting raid. P.S. Huge respect to the guys in the club who have completed and are obviously good at ultras
A massive shout out and very well done to our very own Tracey Murphy who completed the Marathon Des Sables at the weekend. Tracey finished the 6 day, 151 mile race in 204th position overall, and 12th female. Described as the toughest footrace on earth, competitors have to carry everything they will need for the duration (except tent) on their backs. Mid day temperatures reach 120°F and the running or walking is on uneven rocky, stony ground as well as 15-20% of the distance being in sand dunes! Tracey was raising funds for the Motor Neurone Disease charity.
Congratulations to Kenny Richmond who broke two club records at recent races. At the Balloch To Clydebank Half Marathon Kenny improved his PB and the club record at that distance finishing in a time of 1:10:27. Following on from that, Kenny also broke the club record and set another PB for 10 miles at the Tom Scott Memorial Road Race at Strathclyde Park finishing in a time of 53:06. Well done Kenny, any more to come we wonder?
Well done to the Bellahouston Road Runners Men’s team who finished in 7th place in the National Road Relay’s held in Livingston on Saturday 3rd April. This was an improvement of two places from the previous year. The Bella ‘A’ Team was made up of Alasdair McLeod, Mark Johnston, Matt Williamson, Russell Whittington, Scott Kennedy and Colin McGill. Well done boys.
The club has – as usual – been asked to provide start area marshals for the forthcoming Ignis Asset Management Women’s 10k on 9th May, 2010. Gent’s from the club, and ladies who aren’t running, can sign up to help out on the club forum. The MHFS 10k for men, on 20th June is also on the lookout for volunteers. The event – the only men-only 10k in the country – is run by a small charity, so is dependent on lots of volunteers coming forward. Find out more, and sign up, on their website. This year all members wishing to complete the club’s championship criteria need to volunteer at at least one running event.
Well done to everyone who ran at the National Cross Country Championships at Callendar Park, Falkirk today. We managed to find the coldest place in the park for changing but it didn’t rain and the sun shone. Underfoot it was frosty limiting the amount of mud on the challenging Falkirk course. Bellahouston Road Runners emerged in 7th place overall in the Senior Men’s race, up one place up from last year. Well done boys! In the Senior Ladies race the girls team finished in 14th place. Many of the team were running at the National’s for the first time so well done to you, and everyone else. Full Results Here
Training Camp will be at Dunolly House in Aberfeldy, on the weekend of 5th, 6th and 7th March 2010. Cost £50.00, please bring along a £20 non-refundable deposit to the club to reserve a place!There will be a range of runs catering for all levels, and is great fun, and a great chance to get to know your fellow club members!
Well done to the men and the ladies teams for winning gold medals at the Renfrewshire AAA Road Race at Battery Park, Greenock. There was a great turnout from the club with the purple vest dominating the senior races. Individual medals went to Shona Donnelly for 3rd lady overall, and Linda Kennedy for 1st vet. Well done everyone!
Bellahouston Road Runners were well represented at the Scottish 4K Cross Country Championships taking place on our home turf of Bellahouston Park on Sunday 31st January. In terms of entries we had the highest number of runners entered of all clubs in the senior races. On the day numbers were slightly down due to illness and injury but we still faired well. We’re all looking forward to our next cross country challenge at the Scottish National Championships in Falkirk on Saturday 20th February when the club should have 30 plus athletes out in force.
Bellahouston Road Runners sent seven full teams (a total of 42 runners!) to the Devil’s Burdens Relay Race on Saturday 23rd January. The top male team and the top female team both scooped 2nd open prize. Well done all! Another success for us road runners up on the hills!
We’ve had a number of enquiries about whether the club is meeting in the current cold conditions. We can confirm that the club is meeting as usual: sessions take full account of the conditions and are always enjoyable! More details on the club forum. If you don’t have an account, please get in touch. See the forum tab for more information on getting an account.