Bryan Burnett

bring parkrun to Scotland for the first time in Pollok Park in 2008, and several members now serve as senior organisers at the weekly parkrun gatherings at the Pollok event, as well as at Queen’s Park, Drumchapel and, for juniors, at Rouken Glen.

‘The club was a big part of helping parkrun start in Scotland, through members turning up to practice events and volunteering,’ he added.

‘It is also something that feeds into membership. There was a fear that parkrun would undermine club running but actually we see it has the opposite effect.’

‘Bella Road Runners have become adept at staging larger events too, from Renfrewshire AAA cross country events, to its own flagship 10k road race – named after stalwart of Scottish distance running and founding member Jimmy Irvine. The race regularly attracts more than 600 runners each November.

Recent years have also brought success in competition for the club.

Coach Louise Ross said: ‘Our Women’s team has been crowned Scottish half marathon champions three times in recent years, and the women’s vets team has been on the top of the podium at the national cross country championships in both 2017 and 2019, winning bronze the year in between. There have been a few selections for the British and Irish Masters cross country championships too over the years.

‘We are also seeing newer talent develop. Catriona Macdonald has represented the West district in recent events, and recorded an excellent seventh-placed finish at the British Cross Challenge in Stirling in January – she really glides over the mud.’

The many successes of Bellahouston Road Runners, and its contribution to local life in Glasgow, was acknowledged in a recent motion submitted to the Scottish Parliament by Glasgow MSP Johann Lamont shortly before the club’s 20th birthday celebrations.

The club’s immediate focus now, though, is on the future and finding a new home. Talks are ongoing which could result in the club moving in to an unused former bowling club pavilion inside Bellahouston park.

When someone starts running and asks me how to get better, I tell them: ‘Join a club’.’ Bryan Burnett

We all eventually find our tribe – the people who make us comfortable and allow us to be our true selves.

‘Folk with similar interests, new friends who feel like old friends, who provide support, encouragement and most of all – acceptance: ‘You are one of us.’

‘Maybe that didn’t come at school, at university or in the workplace but it came to many of us when we found our running club.

‘I found mine in Bellahouston Road Runners and it’s wonderful to see the club celebrate a milestone birthday this year.

‘I joined Bella about a year into their existence and being at the club felt like slipping on a pair of favourite running shoes. It was just like my shoes - comfortable, provided great support and made me a whole lot faster.

‘I didn’t actually mean to join the Road Runners. I’d actually intended to join another local club, but had been putting it off for weeks. I was way too nervous to turn up thinking everyone would be faster, fitter and way more experienced than me. Proper runners.

‘Then one day, out for a run in Pollok Park, I bumped into Bella’s founder members, Jimmy and Sandra Irvine. Jimmy had a habit of talking to random strangers about running and sure enough he got talking to me and chatted at length about their new club. ‘Jimmy’s enthusiasm, his welcoming tone and his determination to get all kinds of people out running spoke powerfully to me. I joined the next night and never looked back.

‘Within only a few weeks I was hooked. I got picked for a team for the first time in my life! At school I was always last to get chosen for team sports: ‘Suppose we’d better take Burnett then!’. This was so different.

‘When someone who has just started running asks me how they can get better I always tell them it’s not about the shoes, the diet or religiously following the training schedules in the latest issue of Runners World. It’s about finding a club and getting stuck in.

‘It’s amazing to think that we have over 150 affiliated clubs in Scotland. Whether you are a hardcore track nut or someone who just wants to get out for a run twice a week with like-minded individuals, it’s good to know there are others who share your common purpose.

‘As scottishathletics members will know, being in a club is not just about what happens on training nights. It’s the group runs at weekends, the team-mates cheering you on at races and the lifelong friendships that are made during the toughest of sessions.

‘Our clubs are often referred to as the backbone of our sport. They are the glue that holds the sport together. Whether your club is celebrating the 20th or 120th anniversary it’s well worthy of celebration.