For the third straight year, we’re delighted to report that Scottish Athletics have just announced that the Bellahouston Road Runner Ladies team secured the Scottish Half Marathon Team Gold at this year’s Great Scottish Run. A huge congratulations to Cat MacDonald, Ann Robin and Katie Mathieson! Well done to Edinburgh AC who were just in 2nd place for Silver, with Garscube Harriers taking Bronze. We’re delighted for our Ladies, who’ve won this prestigious prize for the third straight year, and bringing it to an amazing five years on the podium. Congratulations too to Ann Robin, who also secured Silver in the W40! Well done to everybody who took part on the day. The club had an amazing 60 members complete the Half marathon, and 6 taking part in the 10k. On top of that, 40 club members volunteered over the course of the weekend to help make the event a huge success.
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This year’s Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k race will be held on Sunday 17 November starting at midday. It promises to be another popular event with entries already going quickly. We pride ourselves on our unique finisher’s t-shirt and our talented t-shirt designers have been busy again this year. Here is a sneak preview of the distinctive long-sleeved t-shirt that will be awaiting you at the finish. All runners and their supports are invited to our famous Bella post-race buffet for refreshments and a chat after the race. You can sign up now at https://www.entrycentral.com/bella10k. Full details of the race can be found at Bellahouston Road Runners Jimmy Irvine Bella 10K. Please get in touch if you have any questions. #seeyouattheJimmy
Well done to the 48 Bella members who competed in the second club 3k track race on Wednesday 24 April. Even though many of us are busy preparing for Spring marathons right now, there were some fantastic performances on the track in windy conditions. The runners were enthusiastically cheered on by fellow Bellas before everyone went inside for a post-race debrief over sandwiches and cake. We were delighted to welcome Jimmy Irvine at the event who, together with his wife Sandra, were awarded honorary life membership of the club. Jimmy remains as enthusiastic about running and generous in his support for the club as ever. Congratulations to all the runners who took part and a big thank you to everyone who helped with the organisation. Please let us know if you have any ideas for future club race evenings.
The membership of the club unanimously voted to introduce honorary Lifetime membership at the 2019 AGM, in order that it may recognise individuals who have made a significant and valuable contribution to the club, community and sport of athletics in Glasgow. We are absolutely delighted to welcome Jimmy and Sandra Irvine as our inaugural recipients of this award. We now have a dedicated page on our website for recipients, and are delighted to add their names to the list. A presentation was made to Jimmy, on behalf of them both, before the 2019 3k track race, details of which will be following shortly. Many congratulations, and many thanks, to Sandra and Jimmy, for all their hard work.
Around 50 Bellas turned up at last weekend’s (10th March, 2019) Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon, in pretty grim weather. As always, our ladies team won lots of medals with Louise Ross and Ann Robin finishing 2nd and 5th overall. Shona Donnelly and Emer Campbell placed 1st and 3rd in the V40 category with our ladies team of Louise, Ann and Shona finishing in 1st place overall. Congratulations everyone and well done to all who took part! Particularly if you managed to secure a PB in those conditions! We’ve loads of photographs over on our public Facebook page! There’s a specific album here too. Many thanks as ever to Gordon Goldie for turning out to take so many!
Club members have recently been sent formal notification of the club’s 2019 AGM, which will take place at 7.30pm (straight after training) at Glasgow Club Nethercraigs, on 20th March, 2019. As well as a few housekeeping items (the full agenda is here, on the members forum), and a presentation of the Trustees Annual Report, members will be invited to vote on a motion to create a new honorific of “Honorary life member”, in order that the club may recognise members who have made a lasting contribution or impact at the club. We will also be thanking a number of Trustees who are stepping down, and a motion will be presented to approve the new Board. If members are interested in getting involved, one or two roles are open, and details are also available on the members forum. We look forward to welcoming as many members as possible to the meeting. For any members unable to attend, apologies may be sent in advance to the secretary via email to info@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk. Thanks and Regards, Lynne Goldie (Secretary) Richard Leyton (Chair)
Bellahouston Mob Match 2019 – Road Runners triumph for the 3rd year in a row 🏆 Both clubs had a fantastic morning at Pollok parkrun with a magnificent 60 Bellahouston Road Runners and 56 Bellahouston Harriers taking part. It was the closest contest yet, with one runner making all the difference. Thanks to all who came along to run, volunteer and support both clubs, and also to everyone at Pollok parkrun for making us feel so welcome 💜💙 The full results for Pollok parkrun event #521 are available. You can read more about the rules and organisation of the Mob match on our post “Organising the Bellahouston Mob Match“, which has now been updated with the stats from the 2019 incarnation! The breakdown: 60 Road Runners v 56 Harriers, so a total of 116 members. So the Road Runners ‘won’ attendance. 1st, 2nd and 3rd males were Harriers, so the Harriers won the mens on a 3-to-count basis (Harriers 6pts vs RR 30pts). (This is using positions from the published parkrun results at 2.30pm) 1st female was visiting Jennifer Wetton from Central AC (who won the 2018 Jimmy Irvine 10k), The Harriers first female was 3rd overall female. The Road runner ladies were closely packed thereafter, so the Road runners won the ladies on a 3-to-count basis (Harriers 25pts vs RR 20pts, using Ladies finish positions). Ditto published results. Based on overall finishing position scoring for smallest club attendance (Harriers had 56, so 53 counting positions), the Road Runners ‘won’ (defended) bragging rights, and the main trophy. However it was by any measure the closest result yet, with just 24 point difference, which is really just a one runner difference in terms of points.
An amazing turnout of 60 Bellas raced at today’s Renfrewshire AAA 5 mile Champs in Greenock and again we were in amongst the medals. Emer Campbell and Andy Campbell both won Gold in the V40 category while Shona Donnelly and Gerry Scullion won Gold and Silver respectively for the V50s. The ladies senior team of Emer, Shona and Claire Wharton also won the Bronze team medals. Congratulations to all our medal winners and the several members who earned a shiny new PB 👏👏
Whilst our training schedule, and the race calendar, form a large part of what we get up to, club members also organise and take part in a wide variety of informal and social runs, which are a great way to enjoy taking part, getting to know fellow club members better, and seeing parts of the city and region. We’ve a long-run group who head out at the crack of dawn around the south-side of Glasgow on Friday mornings, and another group that prefers a post-working day socially paced run. Members are also very regularly along at (or even organising) one of the many parkruns that now take place in and around Glasgow, as the consolidated results for the club show. The last couple of weeks a couple of different runs took place, which resulted in some great pictures and stories. Glasgow painted murals run Gordon Goldie devised the route, and members headed out last Saturday, around the centre of Glasgow to check out as many of the city centre murals as they could fit in. There’s plenty of details, and some fabulous pictures, on this post on our facebook page (facebook.com/bellahoustonroadrunners). A few of our favourite pictures from the run below. Gordon is already devising plans for the next themed tours of Glasgow for members! Dumgoyne and Earl’s seat hill run If hills and trails are more your thing, a group of members headed out into the snowy Campsie Fells on Saturday, and ran up Dumgoyne, and then onwards to Earl’s seat. It was a fantastic day for it, and the initial climb up Dumgoyne was soon a distant memory. A few pics from the morning on our facebook page. There’s already talk of the next run to Glen Loin in a few weeks time! Big thanks to Derek Rigmand for organising and leading the run.
Yesterday a group of club members took part in a festive run around the Glasgow subway stops, starting and finishing at Ibrox, and going anti-clockwise. We had great fun, in ideal conditions, and took loads of pictures, some selfies, and a few videos, a selection of which are below, and on our Facebook page. Running doesn’t have to always be serious or hard work: Having a laugh with friends is every bit as important as pushing for a PB, or tackling a personal challenge! Many thanks to Gordon Goldie for organising the run, and for the support he and Lynne Goldie provided along the way. During the first part of the run, we were accompanied by Colin Mearns, a photographer at the Evening Times, who was taking pictures to accompany an interview with club president Richard Leyton regarding the 10th anniversary of parkrun in Scotland, which he helped start. We’re delighted parkrun has grown so successfully since it first started in Glasgow in Pollok park: Many thanks to all the volunteers and core team members across Glasgow and Scotland for their brilliant efforts growing the footprint, bringing free, weekly, 5k timed events to their local communities. Amazingly, the pictures even made it on to the Front Page! A special mention to Colin, who seemed to pull off an impressive feat of endurance and logistics dashing around Glasgow to catch us, with a couple of large cameras around his necks, to capture some great pics. Catriona Stewart‘s article is on page 3 of today’s paper, and available online here: https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/17323393.glasgows-parkrun-founder-reflects-on-10-years-of-5k-phenomenon/ Wishing everybody a very happy Christmas and a brilliant and successful 2019!
An amazing turnout of 70 Bellas and their families came along to this morning’s Club Everyone Festive Fun Run at Pollok parkrun then back to the after party at Nethercraigs. Congratulations to Claire and Kenny Wharton who won the best dressed awards and to Jane McNeilly whose name was pulled out the hat and donated a fantastic £240 to the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity. Merry Christmas everyone!
This year’s Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k took place on the Armistice Day centenary. The runners paid their respects with a minute’s silence at the start line. But the club wanted to go bit further this year, and so invited race participants to make a small donation to a local good cause. Thanks to the generosity of our runners and volunteers we are delighted to announce that we have raised £597.58 for the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice which has just opened in Bellahouston Park. The beautiful new, purpose-built hospice will provide 21stcentury palliative care to the people of Glasgow in an innovative, peaceful setting in the park. Club President, Richard Leyton visited the new hospice to present a cheque and thank hospice staff personally for supporting this year’s event. “The club tries to give something back to the local community,” Richard said, “so we are all really chuffed that our runners and volunteers have been so generous, and that we have been able to use the race to raise funds for such a good cause.” “The hospice clapsticks proved very popular with some of the younger volunteers on the water station, bringing a smile to many a struggling runner’s face as they ran past!” Next year’s race will be held in November 2019. Subscribe to https://www.facebook.com/bellahoustonroadrunners/ for more details as soon as they are announced.
31 Bella’s headed to Kilmarnock on Saturday for the popular West District cross country event, and the recent rain ensured it was a properly muddy affair, so a real test of resolve for everybody who took part. We’re delighted to report that our Ladies did another amazing job, securing overall team bronze, and the Masters team Gold! There are some cracking photos available from Scottish Athletics, courtesy of Bobby Gavin, and plenty from members, a selection of which are on our facebook page and instagram (@bellaroadrunner) Overall team bronze medal counters were Cat Macdonald, Ann Robin, Romy Beard and Louise Ross. Well done too to Cat who was 7th home overall. Our Gold masters women were Ann (4th master home), Louise (9th) and Claire Wharton (11th). Some standout performances from the men too, well done to Bryan Mulgrew who was the first Bella gent home. Huge congratulations and thanks to all our runners and supporters for making the race one to remember, and helping work up a thirst for our Christmas night out, which followed later in the evening! Lots of pics from the day on our members facebook group, courtesy of Gordon Goldie. Provisional results area available from Scottish Athletics race report. Huge thank you too to Kilmarnock Harriers for hosting, to all the marshals and officials who made the event and races happen, and a huge well done to everybody who took part.
The club was delighted to hear that members Romy Beard and Louise Ross were recently selected to represent Scotland at the British and Irish Masters XC International, in Swansea on 17th November. A fantastic achievement in itself, they returned from the event with bronze team medals in the W35 (Romy) and W40 (Louise) categories. A huge congratulations to them both, from everybody at the club! Well done to everybody who took part, at what sounds like a great event. Romy also sent in a great race report, which we’re delighted to share here: The team bus leaves Glasgow at 9am. Everybody is chatting. The journey is fine until we go cross-country through the Welsh mountains. In the dark. The bus becomes quiet. One lady is very sick. By the time we arrive it’s nearly 8pm. We wonder how Swansea can be so far away. We have dinner at the hotel with some other ladies including our rivals from Giffnock North. We decide to be friends for the weekend. Not much sleep much because they’re working right outside the hotel and in the morning the seagulls are loud. Some people report music and shouting, which I missed, so I must have slept after all. We put our Scotland shorts and vest on, and tie the tartan ribbons in our hair. The excitement begins! Short bus ride to Singleton park. The sun comes out just in time for the Scotland team photo. We do an easy jog of the course. It’s 3 laps of 2k. The second part of the lap is up and down one big slope. It doesn’t seem too bad. Photos. More warm up stuff. Getting very, very excited now. Lining up with all the other Scottish, Irish, Northern Irish, English and Welsh runners in our race (ladies plus the 65+ men). I feel fantastic on the first lap. I am running for Scotland. Hurrah! I can’t stop smiling. I’m also going too fast. I can see Mary McCutcheon from Giffnock North in front and know that I am too close to her. Fuck it. I am running for Scotland! It’s only 3 laps. The hill is worse than I thought. I get a stitch at the start of the second lap. I pull back a little. Only two laps to go. The hill is a killer on the second lap. I’m just looking at the piece of grass in front of me and keep putting one foot in front of the other. Whenever someone shouts Scotland I smile. I tell myself that I am strong and that I can do this. Third lap. I don’t care what race this is I just want it to end. Louise goes past just before the hill. I have nothing left to chase her. I lap a lady in the 70+ group and shout a well done to her. She is amazing. I feel a bit sick when I get over the hill for the last time. Down the hill and then around […]
The club held a very successful training day on Saturday 17th November, for club members. A jam packed schedule, devised by our lead coach Gerry Scullion, included: Cross Country training session, led by Graeme Paterson. 6, 2, 2, 4, 2, 2, 6 minute efforts, with a 1 minute recovery. ‘Nutrition for Runners’, by Emma Birnie, a Dietitian and Sports Nutritionist Tips and discussions on good running form, and the club’s training sessions, with Gerry ‘Marathon Training’, by club member Bruce Carse, who went from a 3:44 marathon at his first attempt, to 2:35! ‘Running and Injury’, by Matt Williamson, outlining injuries, and how to reduce the risk of them, and how to aid recovery. Yoga session, led by club member and yoga instructor, Kelly Ludwig And we’ve not even mentioned the free lunch! We were ‘live streaming’ a few pics on our twitter feed @bellaroadrunner, some pics and tweets attached below from the day. We’re really very grateful to everybody involved in making the day happen, particularly for those who led and spoke during the day. Many thanks to the 50 or so members that made it along through the course of the day, and we hope you found it useful and informative. All of the presentations are now available to members via the club forum. Club training day in full swing @Glasgowclub Nethercraigs. XC session earlier this morning. Now Gerry is talking about good (and bad!) running form. pic.twitter.com/n7Dj58hChB — Bella Road Runners (@bellaroadrunner) November 17, 2018 Now former club president Emma is talking about sports nutrition pic.twitter.com/76r2Knqntk — Bella Road Runners (@bellaroadrunner) November 17, 2018