Club Championship

At the start of the week, a glance at the 5 day weather forecast suggested that the weather would have the final word on the 30th running of the Troon 10k. High winds and heavy rain don’t fill you with any sort of enthusiasm for being outside, much less dashing about in shorts. Thankfully though the weather forecast gradually improved over the week, and Wednesday evening was with cool and dry, if still a little windy. Not ideal, but certainly better than feared. The event proved immensely popular: sold out within a week of accepting entries. So despite being a championship event, only three Bellas got through. Results show 933 finishers, so a big field. A mixed bag for the Bella results: Rose was pleased with a solid 44:39, just a minute behind her 10k PB.Shona’s a regular participant at Troon, but didn’t feel too good on the day, so was pleased to get around and finish with a sub-45 time of 44:46. I somehow managed to take a full minute off my 10k PB at my first outing at Troon, finishing in 42:25. I fear I’ve been talking about it to anybody who’ll listen (and one or two folks who feigned disinterest…). A particular mention required for the Troon Tortoises who organised the event. Whilst it was my first time running this event, I was hugely impressed with the event, the course, the goodies at the end, but particularly the marshalling. A phased start was honoured by participants and worked, and friendly, supportive and effective marshal out on the course directing runners and traffic. The nice weather ensured a good turnout from the town too, so lots of high-fives to the children, and plenty of cheers on the return leg through the town. All in all, fantastic stuff and a great evening. I can see how this event’s proved popular over the years, and look forward to giving it a bash again in future years. Well done Troon for putting on a superb event, and to everybody who took part. Richard Photo by Richard Webb cc-by-sa

A number of Bellahouston Road Runners were in action at Spring Marathon’s in Rome, Brighton, Rotterdam, Manchester and London. Although not everyone achieved their goals, there were inspiring performances across the field. Well done everyone. Photo by David Lockhart

Silverknowes in Edinburgh seems a long way to go for a 5k, but this was a Club Championship race and also included the Scottish Athletics 5k Championships. Although it’s a pancake flat course with great views down by the Forth, the strength of the field was only exceeded by the strength of the wind. The strong field spurring runners round to good times, the strong wind holding them back. Not that this seemed to hamper winner Calum Hawkins, who broke the course record to finish in 14:17, nor Hayley McCrorie who took the Bella “Performance of the Day” award – demolishing her previous 5k PB by over a minute. Photo from Peter Gallanagh

There was a great turnout of 25 from the Club completing the Tom Scott Memorial 10 mile Road Race on Sunday. Well done to everyone who took part – the results are shown below. Let us know if you’re missing a PB () trophy: Full results are available here: Tom Scott 10 Mile race – full results Photo by Graeme Paterson

Attribution: Photo copyright Crispin Walsh used with permission

The sun was shining for the Clydebank 5k on Saturday, and together with a strong field from across Scotland, conditions were perfect resulting in strong performances across the board. This fast, flat 5k always produces a host a PBs and this year’s race did not disappoint. Thanks to all the supporters who turned up to cheer and all who took part. Full results can be found here: Clydebank 5k 2015 – full results

There was a cracking turnout of 30 Bellas today at the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon. Conditions were pretty much perfect, so ideal for some good racing and some fast times. The Bella crew did not disappoint: Louise Ross won the prize for 4th Female Mary Senior won the prize for 2nd FV40 Louise, Romy and Mary won 1st female team prize Coach Paterson got the prize for 5th Male (as well an awesome London Marathon ‘Championship Start’ sub-75 qualifying time) The first three Bella men were also awarded 2nd team prize – woohoo! But on closer inspection, Greenock Glenpark were clearly 2nd and we were 3rd. Doh! Most importantly though was a whole raft of PBs today, which is always great to see all that hard work in training paying off. Asterisks have been dished out below, but let us know if you’ve been missed out from the PB hall of fame….. Well done everyone, you did yourselves and your club proud. Bruce Carse Men’s Captain Full results are available here: Full Balloch Clydeank Half Marathon Results Race website is here: Balloch-Clydebank HM website Photo by Oscar Wild