Saturday 10th August saw the 108th running of Elder park parkrun, in the heart of Govan. It also saw the latest Bellahouston Road Runners Club Championship ‘short’ race over the 5k distance covering four laps of the park. Elder Park itself is very important and special to the people of Govan, and has been since it was established in 1885 by Isabella Elder, as a memorial to her husband, the shipbuilding magnate, John Elder. The park was built on the site of Fairfield Farm and Mrs Elder later donated monies towards the building of the beautiful Elder Park Library that was opened in 1903 by no less that Scots-American philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (the library has recently reopened after refurbishment). Mrs Elder was a remarkable woman who through her philanthropic efforts fought for education for women and girls and secured access to medical training for women in what was to later become part of Glasgow University. It was a bright, blustery morning for the event itself which had 168 runners, including a fantastic 37 Bellas. 1st, 2nd & 3rd men and overall finishers were Ross Horgan (16:25), Grant Murphy (16:37) & Dave Jarrett (17:25). The first three Bella ladies (and women finishers) were Rhona Moran (19:55), Jen Conway (20:21) & Poppy Bowie (20:47). The best male age-grade in the event fell to our parkrun machine Al MacLachlan (20:21) representing 82.39% on his 578th parkrun. There was also another fantastic 5k PB of 23:55 for Shirley Wieland who PB’d on the previous Club Championship parkrun event at Linwood! We had numerous Elder Park parkrun PB’s too, so well done everyone, including our excellent Bella volunteers, Kevin Queenan, Roz Wilson & Hugh Brown. Special thanks of course to out wonderful hosts at Elder Park parkrun that continues to go from strength to strength. It’s a very friendly, compact, flat and well organised event. Thank you for having us, and hopefully see you all again next year! #monthebellas #elderparkparkrun https://www.entrycentral.com/jimmyirvinebella10k
Club Championship
The ‘Off Road’ Club Championship is rapidly coming to a conclusion with only a handful of events remaining this season. To complete this particular challenge, members need to complete any 3 from a dozen trail / hill races between April and September. The latest events were scheduled in close proximity in the calendar. First off, it was down to Ayrshire, on a lovely summers evening, for the Kilmaurs Gala 5k on Wednesday 31st July. Nine Bellas put in great performances with Paul McNairn finishing 8th in 16:56 and claiming first placed MV40 in the process. Claire Wharton also finished third FV50 in 21:36. In addition we had James McGreevy (20:03), Marty Campbell (20:58), Gavin McGowan (21:36), Anne Campbell (22:15), Joni Lindsay (22:54), Laura Wilkinson (23:33) & Caroline Munro (25:05, in her Giffnock North vest). Well done everyone! On Sunday 4th August, it was just north of the Forth to Kincardine for the latest Scurry event, this time around the lovely Devilla Forest. Seven Bellas mustered in the impressive grounds of the Scottish Police College before tackling the 10k run through the woods. A huge well done to Simon Wells who finished in second place, with Rhona Fraser finishing first lady. The next race in the challenge is the ‘Tom Robb Memorial 7 Mile Trail Race’ in the Carron Valley on 24th August. Good luck everyone! Put you in the mood for a race? Remember that the Bella Jimmy Irvine 10k takes place in Bellahouston Park on Sunday 10th November 2024. Places are available at Entry Central https://www.entrycentral.com/jimmyirvinebella10k
It was an island theme this week for racing, with some warmer weather contributing to some tough conditions on the west coast. Firstly, it was the beautiful Isle of Mull on Saturday 27th July, for the annual Mull Runners hosted Half Marathon, It was a tough undulating route, with the sun shining, and the course extending from Craignure to Salen, with great views over the Sound of Mull to Morvern. Very well done to Stuart Laurence (1:29:36, 10th), Gerry McDonnell (1:38:25) & Catherine Laurence (2:04:42) on finishing and completing another Club Championship ‘long’ qualifying race. The following day, Sunday 28th July, it was south to the Firth of Clyde for the Kenny Phillips 10 Mile Race around the Isle of Cumbrae. It was baking hot for the field of over 400 hardy runners. This too was a Club Championship ‘long’ qualifying race. Our Bellas stuck to it to register some great performances, viz Alan Moss (1:03:03, 15th), Ruairi Barfoot (1:03:17, 16th), Johnnie Felton (1:05:38, 23rd), Simon Wells (1:05:47, 24th), Grainne McGrath (1:08:18, 4th lady, 3rd FSnr), Christie Ford (1:10:57, 9th lady), Al MacLachlan (1:11:49, 1st MV60), Victoria Curley (1:14:11), Andy Tomlinson (1:16:05), Harris Millar (1:19:51), Hayley Drysdale (1:31:39) & Jamie Wieland (1:33:35). Really hot conditions, so well done all, especially our medallists, Grainne and Al.
The weekend of Friday 19th – Sunday 21st July 2024, saw the annual ‘Run the Blades’ (RTB) races at Whitelee Windfarm. It’s a tough, undulating, exposed, but eerily beautiful place to run, with frequent unseasonable weather changes. The events are always really well organised by Breaking Strain. Begining with the 10k on a pleasant Friday evening, we had brilliant running from Claire Wharton who was 3rd lady home (47:03). Our men finished, Jethro Browell (39:00, 4th), Jordan Davidson (39:10, 5th), Simon Wells (40:43, 11th), Gerry McDonnell (46:00) & Andy Tomlinson (49:05). Great performances, especially given the challenging climbs towards the finish line. It was the big one for our on Saturday with the 50k Ultra Marathon on a cloudy, humid, then rainy day. Amazing running all round from Stephen McQuade (9th, 4:07:47), Jordan Davidson (11th, 4:13:36), Siobhann Dunn (18th, 5th lady, 4:27:27), Brendan McGuiness (4:44:23), Jamie Robinson (5:18:16), Jimmy McGreevy (5:18:18), Alan Digweed (5:51:17) & Cormack Smith (7:58:18). Great commitment and resilience to tackle this discipline, so a huge well done to all. To finish, it was the Half Marathon on Sunday morning. Again, a tough undulating course, starting off in chilly conditions, although not the stormy weather of 2023! It was an absolutely outstanding run from Ross Horgan in 1:15:15 to win and break the course record, while Fraser Kelly finished in a brilliant 3rd place with 1:23:34. Following on were Jordan Davidson (1:32:09, 13th), Alan Chalmers (1:32:40, 14th), David Vallance (1:49:55) & Gavin Elliott (2:02:45). Another great morning of running. And the recurring name in the three races was Jordan Davidson, running 10k, 50k and 21k RTB races in a single weekend. An epic starring role!
Linwood parkrun was the venue for the latest Bellahouston Road Runners Club Championship race. This was a ‘short course’ event and coincided with Linwood’s 8th parkrun birthday!! Almost 40 Bellas made the trip on a lovely summers morning, with some fantastic running across the board. Kenny Osborne, Jordan Davidson & Stuart Laurence finished 2nd, 3rd & 4th, with Paul McNairn also making it into the top ten. Grainne McGrath finished just outside the top ten claiming 2nd placed lady. Shirley Wieland kept up her recent run of form with another great 5k PB in 24:13! As always, we are thankful to the organisers, volunteers and fellow runners for making us welcome and it was great to be there to help celebrate eight fantastic years of parkrun at Linwood. Happy birthday!!
The Scottish Veteran Harriers Club 5k ran in Clydebank on Wednesday 26th June on a cloudy but warm evening. Whilst not the most scenic of courses, it’s a great well-organised event on a flat and fast loop. There was some great running from our Bellas as always with, in finishing order; Oscar Coetzee (15:50, 2nd place), Calum Borthwick (16:09, 5th place), Paul McNairn (16:51), Alan Moss (17:59), Kelly Taylor (18:03, 2nd lady), Al MacLachlan (20:06), Calum Sinclair (20:51), Andy Tomlinson (22:18), Joni Lindsay (24:13), Robert Macleod (27:20). This was another short course Club Championship race completed. Congratulations to Oscar on his second place finish, and Kelly on second female placing! Great return performances too from Joni and Andy who were both recovering from injury and illness. Well done everyone! The latest Off-Road Championship race followed on Friday 28th June with the Calderglen Harriers 10k. Calderglen Country Park provides a tough challenge, with the course undulating through the woods and with having to bat away the midgies! Seven hardy Bellas ran with, in finish order: Simon Wells (46:41), Rhona Fraser (47:49, 4th lady), Anne Campbell (55:32), Stevie McIntyre (56:37), Charlotte Parkinson (58:01), Henry Merriweather (59:10) & Laura Wilkinson (60:20). Congratulations to Rhona, Anne & Charlotte who made up the third place ladies team. If this puts you in the mood for a great 10k run later this year then check out our very own at https://www.entrycentral.com/jimmyirvinebella10k
It was a busy race weekend in the midst of 10k season with over 60 Road Runners competing around the country. Firstly, it was the excellent Brian Goodwin Memorial 10k on Friday 7th June, hosted by our Bellahouston Harrier friends. Although there was some sunshine, it was a cold blustery evening around Pollok Park. Some 25 Road Runners tackled the course with an incredibly strong field, headed by local Olympian, Callum Hawkins, who won the race in 29:45. Tony Connelly (32:26, 10th), Calum Borthwick (33:25) & Kenny Osborne (34:39) led our gents home. Katie Blackett (44:23), Kirsty MacFarlane (44:42, PB ) & Charlotte Parkinson (47:48) were our top three ladies. A great run by Lucy Mackay (54:43) saw her take 1st V55. There were numerous PBs for our members too who celebrated with the traditional Goodwin burger and beer. On Sunday 9th June, the 10k racing moved to a sunny Kilmarnock for the increasingly popular ‘Roon the Toon‘ event. Over 1,800 started the race with 22 Bellas among them. Our top 3 gents were Paul McNairn (35:59, 3rd V40), Craig Ross (36:30) & Mark Young (36:38). For the ladies it was Deborah Gray (39:16, 1st V50), Emer Campbell (39:22, 3rd V40, PB) & Anne Campbell (46:03). This meant that our gents and ladies both took silver in the team competition! Connoisseurs of the longer events were out in force too with the ever impressive Colin Hughes putting in another great performance to win V60 (1:27:37) at the Isle of Skye Half Marathon on Saturday 8th June, finishing 17th overall and beating all of the V50s in the process! At the Strathearn Marathon on Sunday, Poppy Bowie, making her marathon debut, had an outstanding performance on a challenging course, to finish 7th lady in 3:35:43. And finally, with all this 10k racing on the go, remember that our own Jimmy Irvine 10k will run at Bellahouston Park on Sunday 10th November. Entries are now open at https://www.entrycentral.com/jimmyirvinebella10k
Saturday saw the annual BRR pilgrimage to the Killearn 10k Trail Race (including the beer festival cool down!). It was a beautiful warm first day of summer for this tough, multi-terrain route from Killearn village out to the Dumgoyne foothills and back. Brilliant running by our 22 Bellas who made up 12% of the field, with our amazing top 3 ladies being Rhona Fraser 42:50 (1st lady), Deborah Gray 44:54 (2nd lady) & Claire Wharton 46:22 (7th lady, 1st FV50). A fantastic run too by Shirley Wieland in 53:05. For the gents it was Craig Ross 40:26 (6th), Alan Chalmers 42:02 (10th) & Colin Hughes 44:13 (15th). Colin and Shirley would normally have won their respective V60 categories, but Killearn was structured slightly differently this year. Nevertheless, brilliant runs and a great event as always. Well done everyone!
2024 was the 6th running of the 3 race babcock 10k Series, formerly the Polaroid Series. 12th May saw the first race at the Shettleston 10k, Glasgow Green. Over 20 Bellas ran on a lovely warm morning on a fast, flat course. Our first three gents were Tony Connelly 33:01 (6th), Oscar Coetzee 33:36 (10th, 1st V40) & Kenny Osborne 34:58 (11th) with the gents also taking a fantastic mens team gold! For our ladies it was the top trio of Rebekah Russell 37:23 (3rd FSnr), Grainne McGrath 40:20 (11th FSen) & Cathy Wood 43:41 (19th FSen). A great morning of running for all of our Bellas. Next up was Dumbarton on Thursday 23rd May, in entirely different conditions with heavy rain on a more undulating suburban route. 22 hardy Bellas raced, with the top three gents being Oscar Coetzee 32:58 (8th, 1st MV40), Calum Borthwick 33:05 (10th) & Bryan Kerr 34:34 (20th). So two straight MV40 wins for Oscar to help the gents team take bronze! Our ladies first three were Rebekah Russell 36:32 (4th FSen), Poppy Bowie 42:05 (14th FSen) & Alice Howe 51:02 (33rd FSen). So it was onto Helensburgh on Thursday 30th May for the final race of the series. What a contrast in weather from Dumbarton, with lovely Spring sunshine although a brisk headwind for the first half. 23 Bellas ran with our top three gents being Oscar Coetzee 33:15 (8th, 1st MV40), Ross Horgan 33:24 (9th) & Kenny Osborne 34:29 (14th). A clean sweep of MV40 golds for Oscar and team bronze for the gents! Our top three ladies were the formidable Rebekah Russell 36:48 (3rd FSen), Kelly Taylor 39:13 (7th FSen) & Cara Thom 45:11 (22nd FSen). Brilliant running from our ladies to also take team bronze! Helensburgh also served as the Scottish Athletics West District 10k Championship with the team competition rising to four members. With Bryan Mulgrew 35:23 (22nd) our gents were West District team runners-up. Lyndsay Kennedy 48:39 (30th FSnr) was our number four lady meaning West District ladies team 3rd. Congratulations to the outstanding Oscar Coetzee, the overall series and West District MV40 winner, 3rd placed gent overall and 3 team awards. The amazing Rebekah Russell had a fantastic series too, finishing ladies runner-up with two 3rd place FSen finishes as well as Helensburgh team bronze and corresponding West District awards! 11 members completed the full 3 race series with fantastic performances throughout from all of our Bellas. A real purple patch in another great babcock series. Well done everyone! https://babcock10kseries.co.uk/ Images courtesy of Daren Borzynsky
What a night at Bellahouston Park on Wednesday 15th May for our President’s Cup 5k Race. A fantastic 74 members ran in this annual ‘handicap’ event with each individuals start time calculated against their recent 5k /10k race performances. This ensures that everyone has a chance of winning, and also involves a very busy finish line! It was fantastic to be holding the event in Bellahouston Park again after a couple of years at Rouken Glen, although a fine substitute. We were blessed with a fine spring evening, with good running conditions on a reasonably flat course. Congratulations to our champions on the night, Graeme Pert & Sarah-Jane Kissock, who were cheered on by our army of volunteers and supporters. Overall, there was some fantastic running and several PBs, with 44 members finishing within 30 seconds of their predicted finish times. Testament indeed to the hard work put in by our stats team. Our President, Emer Campbell, commented “This was another superb night for the club. Huge thanks everyone who helped organise this event, the volunteers, supporters and of course congratulations to Graeme and Sarah-Jane”
The club recently got together for one of its biggest, and certainly most anticipated, awards night! Every year we celebrate the performances, achievements and accomplishments of our memberships over the preceding twelve months. Last year we held it virtually, but we were delighted to be able to hold a traditional evening at Sloan’s again for the first time since 2019. Full details on our members forum, and over on our Facebook members group you can catch a copy of the premier of the celebratory video of the last year, as well as a collection of photographs from the evening. A huge part of our club year is the Club championship, so a huge well done to everybody who completed the criteria, and – of course – to the many winners of the categories! A particular shout out to the banner award winners! Member of the Year: Kevin Queenan Most Improved Female 2021: Siobhann Dunn Most Improved Male 2021: Alan Moss Ladies Club Champion 2021: Rebekah Russell Gents Club Champion 2021: Tony Connelly Many thanks to everybody who helped made the event possible! Particular shout out to Kevin for his epic organisation, Susan for handing out the awards, Richard for hosting, and Craig for the photos!
Bellahouston Road Runners, Bellahouston Harriers and West End Road Runners got together last night, for a fantastic evening of one mile track races at Hutchesons’ Grammar School track. The conditions were ideal which helped produce several great performances and many personal bests. Just as importantly, everyone had a great time running in a real race and socialising afterwards. Thanks to the organisers, all the volunteers and supporters, and of course the runners. Well done everyone! A few pics over on our facebook page post (thanks again to Kevin Queenan for the pics). We’ll update this post with a link to the results in due course. With racing and competition opportunities very limited, we’re excited to be able to showcase the benefits of being in a club, and clubs working together. Hopefully more events like this in near future.
💜 Bellahouston Mob Match 2021 💙 💜 Road Runners Champs again!! 💜 We’re delighted to announce that we have won the Bellahouston Harriers v Bellahouston Road Runners Mob Match for the 5th time in a row. 132 members of both clubs ran a virtual 5k at the weekend. 77 competed for us while our friendly local rivals had a commendable 55 members taking part, along with the fastest male and female placings. There were some fantastic performances from both clubs and it’s great to see so many getting involved. Hopefully we can race for real in Mob Match 2022!! *photo from the 2020 mob match 💜💙 THE MOB MATCH 2021 BELLAHOUSTON ROAD RUNNERS V BELLAHOUSTON HARRIERS This was the 5th annual mob match between the two clubs. An idea proposed by Richard Leyton, President of Bellahouston Road Runners and warmly embraced by members of both clubs. It was traditionally run at the Pollok parkrun, with tea and coffee afterwards at the Harriers’ base at Cartha Rugby club. It was agreed between the clubs that we would run it a bit later in the year and it took place over the weekend of the 20th and 21st of March 2021. The clubs roughly followed the guidance supplied by Scottish Athletics for virtual runs. The planning teams led by Kevin Queenan and Mark Matheson made it possible for the event to take place. Members gathered and ran in pairs, singly and small groups all over the South side of Glasgow in Parks, roads, railway tracks and lochs. Members who reside out with Glasgow were encouraged to run. Some members who are currently residing in Spain, USA stepped up to the plate and ran. It was an unexpected bonus that members in far flung places could compete. Bellahouston Road Runners have embraced virtual running this winter and have consistently been the largest club by participation in Scottish Athletics virtual running events. Bellahouston Harriers have had significantly fewer competitors who have embraced virtual running. A key task of the clubs was to encourage members to participate within Government guidelines and regulations through promoting the event on Facebook pages, forums and videos. The number of participants speaks for itself with 77 Bellahouston Road Runners and 55 Bellahouston Harriers making a total of 132. The competition was won by Bellahouston Road Runners for the 5th year in a row. The first male finisher was Miguel Delgado (BH) in a time of 15.41. The first female was Kristina Greig (BH) in a time of 19.25. Of the first six males, 3 were from BRR and 3 from BH. For females, 4 were from BRR and 2 from BH. Richard Leyton, Chair of Bellahouston Road Runners and Tom Keenan, President of Bellahouston Harriers said that the numbers who participated demonstrated the commitment and desire of members to support the mob run. It posed challenges for the planning team which they overcome. If other Scottish clubs wish to participate in this type of event both clubs would be happy […]
Well done to all 52 Bellas who took part in the Scottish Athletics / Bella club champs 10k virtual event over the weekend!! Another great turnout from members making us the highest participating club again There were some very impressive times recorded by club members over the weekend of racing, however a special shout out to our very own Grant Murphy who WON the event finishing in an amazing time of 32.47!!! Fantastic effort – well done Grant!!! The club is very proud of you!!!!!!!! A big shout out also to Tony Connelly and Steven Lamb taking the 3rd and 4th spot on the leaderboard and securing the team title for Bella! Well done guys!! Thanks once again to everyone for getting involved and representing our amazing club!!! Full results on Scottish Athletics Website: https://www.scottishathletics.org.uk/62638-2/ – Well done to everybody who took part, particularly the other podium placed teams at Greenock Glenpark Harriers (2nd) and Garioch Road Runners (3rd)!
A fantastic 72 Bellas ran their socks off in the Scottish Athletics’ 5 Mile Challenge held at the weekend, which also formed part of our club championship 🏆 The full results are on the Scottish Athletics website, but we’re pleased to see we’ve held on to our crown of being the largest participating club again!. Well done Bellas!! Of course, we never let these weekends go without taking part in an activity! This time we asked members to post their treasured running photos, we put them together and came up with this little video – Our favourite memories