The 2018 Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k took place on 11 November 2018. The event was a sell out again! Many thanks to everybody who took part, to our amazing marshals and race team, our sponsors Achilles Heel, plus Tunnocks, Sainsbury’s for the bananas and water, and Glasgow City Council staff (Pollok park for the cones, Bellahouston park for the course and support), and Craigton Primary School for the race HQ venue. An amazing effort by everybody, for which we’re really very grateful. Thanks too to the donations for our Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice: We’ll update you on the total raised very soon. Final results from stuweb, our race timing provider, are available here, and a full race report for the day will follow in the next day or two. Congratulations to our winners: First Male: Stuart McGeachy (Cambeltown Running Club) in 33:23, 2nd Male: Gordon Robertson (Cambuslang Harriers) in 33:31, 3rd Male: Jonathan Roebuck (unattached), in 33:45 First Female: Jennifer Wetton (Central AC), in 37:03, 2nd Kirstian Macruary (Corstorphine AAC) in 38:11. 3rd: Emer Campbell (Bellahouston Road Runners) in 40:26 In the age category prizes, firstly sincere apologies for not having the Ladies results available at the awards ceremony: The explanation for this is the club decided some time back to equalise the age categories (ie. same age ranges for men and women), but the Ladies provisional results we were given were for V35, V45, V55 (ie. not correct). This also appeared on the timing slips and website for a while. We felt it was better to award them later when we were certain and they had been update. Prizes will be posted to the winners soon. First Male V40: Andy Campbell (Bellahouston Road Runners), in 35:24. First Ladies V40: Jennifer Macfarlane (East Fife Triathlon Club) in 42:31 First Male V50, and Peter Cunningham cup winner: Wattie Mackay (Strathearn Harriers), in 37:24 First Ladies V50: Pamela McCrossan (Clydesdale Harriers) in 42:23 First Male V60: Graham McGrattan (Greenock Glenpark Harriers) in 42:25 First Ladies V60: Erica Christie (Achilles Heel Run Club) in 43:29 In the very-important-to-local-clubs team prizes, the first Men’s team was Bellahouston Road Runners, and the first Female team was Bellahouston Harriers. Thanks again to everybody for making today a great success.
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Some great results in the last few weeks at the club that we wanted to highlight. 2018 John Lucas Round Strathaven 50 Mile Relay Huge congratulations to to Euan, Andy, Graeme, Russell and Craig (Euan, Andy and Graeme pictured) for winning the men’s relay event. Well done too to Ann who took part at the same event, in the mixed team event. Many thanks to Marc Bromwich for organising the men’s team entry, and was all set to run, but had to pull out because of injury. 2018 Paisley 10k A great clutch of results and individual runs from the always popular Paisley 10k, part of our annual club championships. Shona Donnelly was 1st female v50, Gerry Scullion 1st male v50, and Cat, Ann and were the 2nd female team home. Cross country training returning in September Our informal Saturday morning cross country focused training sessions resumes from 8th September in Bellahouston Park. More details on the club forum: Chi will be posting specific details in advance. Always a great way to start the weekend! Cross country and relays are a big part of the club’s autumn and winter focus, and pretty much all the races are included as part of our membership. Justensure your Scottish Athletics and club membership is up to date, and that you’re setup on the forum in order to get your name down when entries open! Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k entries open Entries to our popular 10k, the Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k, have now opened, and are already selling fast. Pop along to entrycentral.com/bella10k to sign up.
Earlier this month on 2nd June, the Killearn 10k Trail race took place, and Rhoda Yarmahmoudi wrote up a race report for members, available on the members forum: The down hill into the park and the big purple finish sign were a very welcome sight, as soon as I crossed the line a very concerned marshal said “sit down!” Three bottles of water later, and I began to feel human again, and realised that I’d probably been getting dehydrated out there!!! [The club] did very well, with Colin Hughes … the first V50 and 8th male over all, and Romy coming in as 2nd F. The Bella ladies won the ladies’ club title. I had hoped to be sub 60 mins and was delighted with 00:58:23! Well done to the prize winners, particularly in such hot conditions. Full results from the Killearn 10k available here. The next day 20 club members did the rescheduled Alloa Half Marathon in hot and humid conditions. Mark Wilson has put together a race report on the club forum”, [As I] approached the hill I heard everyone talk about before the race as i looked towards the top of thus hill I could see the incline of it with runners streaming up it ahead of me, as I started the incline my first thought was I am not stopping, further and further up the hill I power on through pace now down to something that felt like a brisk jog as I arched the crest of the hill I drove my arms to get me over the last little bit at last I was at the top thank god Well done Mark, and everybody else who took part! Full results are here. A hearty pat on the back (or should that be a nice cold drink!)to everybody who raced that weekend in hot conditions!
The 2012 President’s cup took place on Wednesday 27th June. It’s a handicap 5k, using the Bella 5k course, taking the place of training on that night. Provisional results (complete with Oscar’s spelling) are available here: http://bit.ly/QlJJj7 Ladies cup winner: Judith McGregor Gents cup winner: Scott Johston First 3 ladies (by time) 1. 20:17 – Anne Robin 2. 20:23 – Emma Bryson 3. 20:45 – Elsie D First 3 Gents (by time) 1. 16:50 – Bruce Carmichael 2. 16:58 – Bruce Carse 3. 17.03 – Craig Reid Well done to all club members who took part, and thanks to everybody who helped organise the event.
This afternoon saw the first running of a new addition to the Scottish marathon scene, the Meadows Marathon in Edinburgh. The idea of two Edinburgh students to raise funds for charitable causes, there has a been a fun run and a half marathon in previous years. However this year included the 26.2 miles for the first time. Organised by students from the University, the course ran alongside the half marathon, 7 laps of the Meadows park & Bistro Square for the 13.1 milers & 15 laps of the same route for the marathoners. Registration was held at the ‘Potterrow Dome’ in the southside of the city, & was well organised and efficient. At 1225, after a pre-race gentle aerobic workout, the races commenced. My first Scottish marathon was underway. I ran this event as a long training run prior to the Madrid Marathon next month. The 15 laps were easy to follow, with stewards from the Uni giving noisy encouragement to the participants as well as directing the runners. However there was a sting in the tail. The laps in the park were straightforward enough, but the cobblestones up to Bistro Square & back down again, 2 per lap, were a real shock to the system. And painful too. Throughout the course, a real effort was made to add to the atmosphere, with live music in the square, and the Uni blasting out songs from their PA system. Also, loads of encouragement from the crowds of spectators. There was also live music in the park, though the performers did a runner during a hailstorm. 15 laps sounds rather repetitive, but I quite enjoyed it! There was no hidden surprises (apart from the cobblestones) and you knew what to expect in the latter stages. The only other grumble was the distance of the race. 26.87 miles is the longest marathon I’ve ever ran. I was led to believe 26.2 miles was the norm. To be fair, the organisers did say this in an e-mail issued, due to the logistics of the course. I ran the event in 3:34:55/8 minutes per mile, so in summary a good workout. No medal to the finishers. Just a cerificate and an awful ‘goodie bag’ full of leaflets. I would recommend this event. It is excellent preparation for the London or Edinburgh marathons, and its good to run the distance psychologically prior to these events. However, it is essential the organisers sort out the distance aspect. Why not put the finish line in the park? On a lighter note, why not tarmac over those cobblestones? Report from Mark
Six Bellas braved the brutal conditions in Kilmarnock to take part in the Scottish National Masters cross country event on Saturday 4 February. First things first, I have run in many cross country events over the years and conditions here were amongst the most challenging I have experienced. Rarely have I heard so many runners on the starting line question why they were taking part and rarely have I seen so many folk shivering so much half an hour after the race in the shelter of St Joseph’s Academy where hot food and drink were available. The soup and hot food were just what was required to provide some warmth. I hope this doesn’t deter folk from taking part in the future as rarely do you get such conditions, witness the following day at the Renfrew Road Race when we had fine spring conditions with the sun emerging for parts of the race. Back to the event itself, we had Julia Harris running in the ladies 6k event. She got around a muddy and slippy course and finished a creditable 19th position out of 58 finishers. We’re sorry that we couldn’t give Julia more support on her way round but the cold, sleet and windy conditions made you only want to take some shelter where you could. Unfortunately we didn’t have a full ladies team this time around so here’s hoping for next year. In the men’s event over 8km, our team was 7th position out of over 50 teams. Greig Glendinning had a fine run finishing in 14th position, with Russell Whittington in 34th, Gerry Scullion in 60th, Robert McEwan in 104th and Ewan McDonald in 167th positions of 178 finishers. Well done to all who took part, all deserve credit for bearing up to the conditions. If nothing else it is character building. What sort of character I am not sure! Results are on the Scottish Athletics website. Report from Gerry
The Kingdom of Fife, in general, doesn’t have much to offer the running community, a few nice hills, some pretty bridges and a few roads that take you out of Fife are among the highlights. Its generally a cold, lacklustre and soulless place where it is acceptable for people to enjoy dressing up in plus fours and tweed whilst wasting a nice walk following a small projectile round a well manicured garden. On Saturday the 21st of January, we bade a tearful farewell not only to one of the few decent things that Fife has to offer, but, also to one of the last bastions of running tradition. For years the Devils Burdens Cake Raffle has grown in stature and status in Bella folklore and this year it was cruelly snatched from us… The story of the fabled Cake raffle began with Helen Palmer (now of Bella’s Norway branch) having partaken in the Burdens race returned victorious with Carrot cake held aloft like an exalted hero. Helen told of iced carbohydrate riches beyond compare. In the years that followed legions of Bella’s followed in Helen’s legendary footsteps we all pretended that we were there for the race, but this was just a charade, we were all really there for the cake. Team Bella in the last years have fared well in the raffle largely due to spending more money than is required to bail out Greece on raffle tickets. Each year when our first victorious raffle winning warrior went forth to claim their prize the calls of “CAKE…. CAKE” could be heard in the hall. It was not uncommon for a Bella to forego a bottle of Champagne or spirits in order to satisfy their cake habit. Once all the cakes had been won we only then turned our attention to the wine, spirits, slankets and left over/unwanted Christmas presents. The cake raffle made no appearance on Saturday, there was no mention and then it was all over. Some Bella’s were stunned, the others just shocked that something so loved could be taken from us without even a whimper. The side show that was the Devils Burdens race was attended by one Bella Ladies and 3 Bella Mens teams. The Ladies team was: Leg 1: Ciara Baxter and Romy Beard, Leg 2: Jackie McGuire, Leg 3: Elsie Downham and Sandy Brindley, Leg 4: Emma Birnie. Who completed the course in 3:37.28 and were 12th Senior ladies team. The Mens A team consisted of Leg1: Grant McDonald and Craig Reid, Leg 2: Mark Johnston, leg 3 Matt Williamson and David Weatherhead, Leg 4 Russell Whittington. They were 17th overall in a time of: 2:44.02 The Mens B team consisted of: Leg 1: Bryan Lamb and Brendan Moriarty, Leg 2: Stuart Mathieson, Leg 3: Robbie Hayman and Andy Birnie, Leg 4: Nea MacInnes who were 30th overall in: 2:54.25 The Mens C team was : Gordon Clements and Alex lawther, Barry Edwards, leg 3: Steven Gilligan and Chris Brotherstone and leg 4: […]
A great turnout at yesterdays Jack Crawford 10k. A total of 29 Bella’s taking part, and some good performances in less than ideal conditions. A stiff and chilly wind, plenty of mud and puddles, and the infamous canal path. With a much bigger field this year (347 participants, compared to 262 last year) meant passing on this narrow course was more important than ever, and no doubt frustrated a few ambitions for pushing PB’s or gaining positions. Certainly a great set of results at the front of the pack from Andy, Greig, Alasdair, Liam and Bryan, but no details as yet on whether a team prize was taken. Norman, Ian and Tom certainly continue to battle it out in the vets championship, with a complete mirror of positions from their Nigel Barge results. Tom took the well deserved honours this week, leading the group throughout. A surge from Norman in the last stretch of the course just wasn’t quite enough. Special mention also to Lynne Andrew. Great to see her back running again after her operation last year, and I’m sure I speak for everybody in saying we look forward to seeing you back at the club again soon! See also: Full results at Springburn Harriers website here. Danielle’s pics.