Brig Bash | Perth Road Runners

The 2024 (and 25th) Brig Bash (BB) took place on Wednesday 3rd July.

242 runners completed the 5-mile course, making this the largest BB yet.

Final individual/overall results appear here.

Final team results appear here. We now publish team results on the basis of a club offering multiple 3-runner teams, so that clubs with many runners (and thus multiple teams) can see how they did against other clubs’ ‘B’, ‘C’, etc teams.

PHOTOS here and here from John Mill (two sets) and here from Fishygordon.

The team competitions were very close, with both the winning clubs successfully defending – just – their 2023 titles. PH Racing‘s ladies took the title by a single point from Dundee Road Runners, while Dundee Hawkhill Harriers‘ men created an upset in defeating the mighty Central AC by just two points.

In a year where age category record prizes were offered for the first time, two new age category records were set by:

Fiona Matheson (Falkirk Victoria Harriers, F60), who finished third lady overall and took almost a full five minutes off the F60 record; and
Tony Martin (Fife AC, M70) who removed over a minute from the M70 best.

Lucy Ward and Iain Jordan – both running for Perth Strathtay Harriers – established first-time records for the U20 categories that were inaugurated this year.

The open/overall races both saw impressive title defences. Gayle Lindsay of PH Racing improved her run of 2023 by over 30 seconds in easing to victory in 30:08. Central AC star Jamie Crowe returned to Bridge of Earn with a clear mission: to lower his (and the event’s) 2023 course record. In recording 23:32 this year, he was over a minute clear of the field (headed by Fife AC’s Lewis Rodgers, whose 24:37 represents the best-ever run for second place!), but just missed the record by a mere two seconds. See photos below.

Above: Jamie Crowe (1) and Gayle Lindsay (501), open winners; Fiona Matheson (801) and Tony Martin (405), age group record-breakers. Photo thanks: John Mill and Fishygordon.

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First run in 1998 (see here for some historic video footage from that first evening and here for the press report), this friendly summer evening five-mile race is fast and flat (less than 25m of climbing in total), all on tarmac and largely over quiet country roads to the south of Perth.

It is eminently suitable for producing a personal best time or just having a really enjoyable run. Since its start, the race has attracted runners of all standards from total beginners to internationals.

With five-mile races in short supply, yet still included in many clubs’ time standards, why not include it in your race targets for this year? The now-famous after-race spread (= monster buffet; see below <NB: contents may vary…>) is well worth the journey/race fee in its own right ….

Sponsors

In 2024, we were sponsored by:

Tunnock’s – legendary producers, based in Uddingston, of – among many deliciousnesses – the Caramel Wafer and Tea Cake. Provide a small mountain of Caramel Wafers for the race. Have sponsored the Brig Bash for years.

John’s Scone Mad – based in Bridge of Earn itself, baker of artisan scones and home baking. Provided a range of excellent savoury and sweet scones to the race, which vanished in a few minutes. Sponsored the race for the first time in 2023.

Fyffes – one of the largest and oldest importers and distributors of tropical produce, especially of bananas … a very small proportion of which will be availabe at the Brig Bash finish. Based in Livingston locally.

Licensing

The race is licensed by Scottish Athletics; the 2024 licence is here.

Health & safety

The race’s risk assessment can be found here. We encourage participants to take a look.
Insurance is provided via the Scottish Athletics licence; policy details are here.
First aid was again provided by Active First Aid Scotland.

Race entry

is via Entry Central, and opens two days after our Tay Ten race. There are no on-the-night entries. 325 places were available in 2024. The race is always popular with clubs from across Scotland – many of whom use the race as part of their championship/GP/etc series – and typically sells out quickly (inside 3 hrs in 2024!). Minimum entry age is 16.

Updates

Watch this page or join our Facebook page.

The course

+ A map of the course can be found here.

+ The Brig Bash 5 course Strava segment is here (NB: the short section from the start to the first right turn after ~100m does not feature).

+ See here for a video of the course (albeit missing that same first 100m or so from the start).

+ The distance on that map shows, we know, as more than 5 miles; this occurs owing to a smoothing of distance by the map software.

+ The course is AUKCM distance certified, as per its certificate here.

Course records (and previous winners)

The all-comers records for the Brig Bash are:

Male: Jamie Crowe (Central AC), 23:30 (2023).

Female: Nicola Duncan (Portobello RC), 27:30 (2014).

+ After some late nights/Macallan, we’ve managed to pull out all the race winners plus the records and record-holders across the history of the Brig Bash for men and women (that’s across all the age groups; zooming-in required for any reader that is not a kestrel).

+ The fastest-ever 25 runs by men and ladies can be found here.

+ Race-by-race results can be found at the bottom of this page.

Race prizes

1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes for male & female – (£60, £50, £40)

The men’s and ladies’ winner also receive the Brig Bash Teapot trophies, added to the race in 2024:

1st prize for male & female teams (XC scoring, 3 in each team score) – (unusually good wine)
1st prize only for male & female age categories as below – (all £30)
- Under 20s: M and F categories for athletes aged 16-19 inclusive;
- Vets: M 40-49 and F 40-49;
- Supervets: M 50-59 and F 50-59;
- Master Vets: M 60-69 and F 60-69; and
- Vintage Vets: M 70+ and F 70+.
Course records (£50). To be 100% clear, this is all-comers (overall/absolute) records, not age group records! … but see also…
Age category records (£30). See link above for current age group records. Note that, in this first year of the category, Under-20 course record prizes are not offered.
There is also a prize (£40) for the Brig Bash Mile (ie the fastest first mile); prizes awarded to both male and female, with an additional prize (£20) if the current records are broken. Current Brig Bash Mile records stand at:
- Male: 4:24, Jamie Crowe of Central AC (2023).
- Female: 5:20, Annabel Simpson of Fife AC (2019).