Roond The Hooses

 

Round the hooses 

Its only a mile from the hub to Grangemouth Sports Stadium. This stadium is an amazing local asset that nearly closed down, unlike the hub its still under threat of closure. It was similar to the Hub as regards its energy poverty; its energy performance rating was a huge expense for FDCouncil, as was the Hub's. This Scottish district council of Falkirk suffers from energy poverty, 

 on the 26th of April 2026, two of the Hub volunteers, and many members of Polmont Joggers ran the 60th! round The House's running road race which starts and finniishs at  GrangeMouth Athletics Stadium, one of these volunteers grew up in grangemouth, He was born the same year the stadium was built - 1966 at that time Grangemouth was the most prosperous town in Europe, The energy industry was booming, There was workers coming from all over the country moving to Grasngemouth newtown, with the oil, gas, petrochemical and coal industry, Boomin there was well paid jobs aplenty. This meant that the port of Grangemouth was also the busiest by far in Scotland, with countless factories sewing factories to iron works were needing workers, the population explosion meant a massive influx. The area had been rapidly expanding from 1760, but 200 years later, in 1960, it was a proper boom town of its day. 

At that time in history, the swinging 60`s, we were  200 years into the industrial revolution, it was the pre-computer age, the petrochemical industries in Grangemouth kickstarted the plastic age, and the energy firms needed manual workers; jobs were abundant. In the petrochemical industry, from dye`s and fertilisers to polyethene (plastics and elastics of all sorts)

 British Gas, British petroleum and the Coal Board, All nationalised industries needed the workers and the workers' families needed things to do. We at the hub are uncertain why they chose to make Grangemouth an at that time first class athletic stadium and not football, but; that's history! Only 60 years ago, history!

The coal, oil, petrochemical, and gas industries have undergone significant transformations in and around Grangemouth over the past 60 years. This road race, which celebrates its 60th anniversary, highlights how the running industry has evolved during that time. 

When the very first round of the houses race took place, there were no sports watches or timing chips, and technical gear was basic cotton and canvas was still the thing. We are reflecting on an era of stopwatches and mechanical clockwork pedometers. This race, the first of the season, was an opportunity for universities and top athletics organisations to test their best athletes' winter training. Because stadium sports staff accurately measured the street distance round the houses accurately, using stopwatches and clocks to time from start to finish. This helped athletics clubs across the country assess how well their top athletes had performed over the winter and whether they were prepared for the running season ahead. 

This tradition continues to thrive today. The start line features some incredible athletes. Although the course has changed over the years, the timing has remained impressive. The route is predominantly flat, which is important for gauging speed over distance rather than dealing with gradients.

That's not to say it was not a fun event, the community were out in force, the event was organised by Falkirk Victoria Harriers and well attended by most local running groups, which of course included our Polmont Joggers team, it was a fun day without perhaps most people reeling in the cultural and heritage significance of the event, except !! one who shares a significant birthday with the race and stadium ! 

Kenny the stadium and round the houses are 60 this year, kenny used to be a good runner he has done this race countless times, but had given up running since the 1st of january 2025, he had only been out running twice !! claire was the driving force of getting him to do this run, but would the sixty year old manage it? Of course he would! but; Would he get round in sixty minutes? You will need to ask him