The Alloa Half Marathon is always a popular event among Central members, and the 42nd running on Sunday 22 March 2026 was no exception. The race followed its usual route, starting and finishing at Lornshill Academy, running down into Alloa before climbing steadily through Sauchie to Fishcross and dropping down to Tillicoultry to turn west through Alva to Menstrie then turning south to climb Menstrie Brae to Tullibody and back to the start. The Central contingent arrived at the race from a variety of contexts: for some it was a chance to assess their preparations for a full marathon, for others the opportunity to feel their way back from injury and for a few their first venture at this distance.
It was Craig Baillie who was the first Central runner home in 10th place in a time of 1:12:54 with Jack Honeyman not far behind in 29th (1:16:06). Jennifer Wetton, who has made this race her own over the last 15 years, picked up another medal as she finished in a tight pack and was just pushed down to third in the women’s race (1:19:40). Colin McCreadie was our next home in 1:25:56 gaining 37th in the MV40-49 and Ewan Jack led a Central group home in 1:32:01 followed by Tony Disley moving up the distances from his track career in 1:33:55, Louise Torr picking up 23rd place in the women’s race in 1:34:55 and Donald Shaw enjoying his home fixture in 1:34:58.
Gordon Appelbe was very fleet of foot in a good age group personal best of 1:37:39 and was followed by a rapid-fire group of club finishers: Stuart Watson (1:40:30) finishing 8th in the fiercely competitive MV60-69 category, Gordon Luke running with Fergus George as his guide runner in 1:40:57, Sally Gallagher working well in 1:42:11 and a delighted Finuala Bell setting a personal best of 1:42:53. Hugh Buchanan, who last ran this event in 1984, was pleased with 1:43:39 while half marathon debutantes Laurie Douglas (1:43:48) and Eve Conroy (1:44:46) slotted home just in front of Andrew Cullen (1:45:40).
Matt Tanner (1:56:12) enjoyed his first experience at the distance and it was great to see the Recreational Running group represented among the Central finishers with Sally Andrews (2:01:20), Olivia Carroll (2:11:52) and Claire Bradley (2:50:44) finishing well.
The Central runners were warmly supported with Will Hensman, Amy Gough, Mirren Henry, Derek Easton, Allan Gall, Chris Watson, the Douglas clan, Bill Gault, Will Hogg and the inimitable Davie Armour all spotted in the crowd and Hamish Hickey with Josh Wood doing a casual fly-by on their Sunday morning run.
Full results are at https://live.sportsystems.co.uk/results.aspx?CId=20246&RId=12296