Two little races in pictures and video rather than me rambling on for a change!

Normans Law

Organised by Fife AC Normans Law is a short, fast and furious little hill race which took place on Sunday 8th April. The race starts and finished in the little village of Luthrie just of the A92 road to Dundee.

The mad start next to the cows!

The 3 Carnegie Harriers who gave it a bash!

Almost at the top of the hill:

The Final Sprint for the Finish:

Full Race results can be found here:  http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceResults.aspx?RaceID=RA-0022&Year=2012

Pictures all taken by Pete Bracegirdle! Thanks Pete

Hunters Bog Trot

This little race organised by none other than the infamous Hunter’s Bog Trotters took place on Saturday 21st April in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh.

The 5 Carnegie Harriers who enjoyed a great afternoons racing in the sunshine

This fantastic video shows the whole race (well speeded up) and is absolutely brilliant to watch. It was taken by Peter Buchanan of Portobello Road Runners and he has kindly allowed me to share it on here. Well worth watching and all the Harriers have staring roles!

http://vimeo.com/40854364  

Full Results for the race can be found here: http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceResults.aspx?RaceID=RA-0029&Year=2012

Happy Hill Running Folks

The third race in the Carnegie Harriers Hill Running Grand Prix and the first of the 2012 Scottish Hill Runner Championship took place on Saturday 7th April. Clachnaben Hill Race, organised by Cosmic Hill Runners attracted a record field of 213 runners, 11 of which were Carnegie Harriers.

We couldn't find Graeme Campbell for the picture, he's just too fast to pin down!

This race was a category AM race with a distance of almost 9 miles and over 2,100 feet of climbing. This was a new race route for 2012 which was meant to be more runnable than previous years but I’m not sure that proved to be true on race day itself. There had been snow in the week leading up to the race, SNOW!! Yes, snow! This is Scotland after all! Driving up towards the race location which was near Strachan, just south of Banchory near Aberdeen you could certainly see that there had been snow but there wasn’t as much lying as expected but then it had also been fairly heavy rain during the week aswell. Luckily for the runners race day was dry and bright and the rain held of until after we had all ran.

Now normally at hill races, especially the slightly longer ones, the runners head of at a pretty moderate pace as they know what lies ahead. Not so at Clachnaben! Goodness me they were all of like rockets!

The first 2 miles of the race were very runnable, lots of woodland track and path and a very fast pace was set, this soon slowed though as from about mile 2 too 3 1/2 it was up through boggy wooded ground and then onto a very heathery muddy climb to the top of Mount Shade. This was hard going under foot as the mud was deep and slidey and was definitely draining on the legs. There was a good downhill section after this but again the amount of mud made it quite a technical descent and you had to be careful of all the big rocks and stones that were hiding under the mud and heather waiting to trip you up.

Looking up towards Clachnaben

The climb up to Clachnaben followed the tourist path and at this point the sun was out and it was a lovely day.

The view from the top! Awesome

Once you got to the top of Clachnaben it was downhill the whole way to the finish which sounds great but you still had more mud to contend with, some lovely deep boggy sections and then well over a mile on track before you reached the final wooded section and the downhill sprint for the finish.

This was a race that had a bit of everything in it and for a 9 mile race was pretty fast and furious. The winning time was by Joe Symonds in 1:02:43 which sums up just how runnable this race was and that was with all the mud, bogs and heather to contend with. Outstanding!

All the Harriers had strong runs with Graeme Campbell leading the team home placing a superb 10th overall in 1:13, Derek Cassells  and Peter Simpson both had strong runs placing 32nd and 38th respectively with less than a minute separating them. Stevie King also had a great run clocking 1:23 and placing 56th. The other 7 Harriers all finished within 10 minutes of each other and everyone certainly seemed to really enjoy the run.

Cosmic Hill Runners coped exceptionall well after being surprised and overwhelmed by the volume of runners who turned up for the race. They ran out of race numbers but had marker pens at the ready to write numbers on arms and they seemed have a never ending supply of cake and beer, which lets be honest is more important than a race number. Well done to them for putting on such a great race

Full results for the race can be found here: http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceResults.aspx?RaceID=RA-0028&Year=2012

The start and finish pictures were taken by Anette Moran and Mike Raffan who very kindly shared them with everyone on Facebook, many thanks to them

Another great day’s racing for Carnegie Harriers!

See you soon at another Hill Race, until then Happy Hill Running Folks

Have you thought about giving off road running or hill running a bash but don’t know where to start or not sure if you can do it?

Well look no further! We’re here to help guide you in the right direction

The Off Road Group have selected a number of local races which they feel gives a good introduction to hill racing. All of these races are relatively short and not too testing and also fairly local. These are ideal races for any runner who is looking to make the transition from roads to hills. You don’t need any special equipment or kit for these races and there will be experienced club members at them all to answer any questions you might have.

Dumyat Hill Race 2011

Saturday 21st April – Hunters Bog Trot

Start:  1pm

Location: St Margarets Loch, Holyrood Park, Edinburgh

This little race is only 6.5km long and takes place in and around Arthurs Seat in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh. The past couple of years the weather has been lovely and the views from the top of the crags across the city are definitely worth taking part for.

http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceDetails.aspx?RaceID=RA-0029

Wednesday 9th May – Dumyat Hill Race

Start: 7pm

Location: Stirling University

This race is one of the counters in the Carnegie Harriers Hill Grand Prix so is sure to have a good turnout from the club. Its a great chance to get some points for the All Rounder Competion aswell. It starts and finishes at Stirling University and heads straight up Dumyat hill and then right back down again.

http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceDetails.aspx?RaceID=RA-0036

The Ladies at The Lomonds of Fife

Wednesday 16th May – Kinnoull Hill Race

Start: 7.30pm

Location: Kinnoull Primary School, Perth

This is a great little race, you do all your uphill climbing in about the first mile and then spend the next 3 coming all the way back down again. Thats a great ratio 1up to 3 down. I like it! A really great runable race in the beautiful Kinnoull Woods in Perth and they always have lovely cakes and sandwiches afterwards aswell. What more reason do you need to take part?

http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceDetails.aspx?RaceID=RA-0040

A few of our men at Tinto Hill race last year. Just look at that blue sky!

Wednesday 20th June – Red Moss Revolution

Start: 7.30pm

Location: Red Moss Car Park, Near Balerno on the outskirts of Edinburgh

This is a slightly longer race at about 9km but there is lots of fast running on tracks and footpaths around the Threipmuir Resevoir and then up to Hare Hill and then down towards Greencleuch and all in the beautiful Pentland Hills.

http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceDetails.aspx?RaceID=RA-0209

Four fantastic races and all in very different scenary and surroundings. Anyone can give hill running a go as its alot of fun and so enjoyable. Have a read of some of the other stories on this blog and see how much we enjoy ourselves.

Dollar Hill Race 2011

If you still not sure, then have a read of this great article on runners world about why hill running is good for you and why YOU SHOULD try it! http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/everything-you-need-to-know-about-hill-training/159.html

See you at a hill race soon!

Dear Club Member,

The Off Road Group are organising a club trip up to the Isle of Skye for the Glamaig Hill Race which takes place on Saturday 14^th July. This race is a counter in our Hill Running Grand Prix and is also one of the Scottish Hill Runners Senior Championship races.

We will be leaving on Friday 13^th July returning on Sunday 15^th July with transport provided in the form of a mini bus. Accommodation will also be arranged and is at Saucy Mary’s Lodge which is located in Kyleakin on the Isle of Skye. This is approximately 20 minutes away from  The Sligachan Hotel where the race will take place.  Private rooms have been booked with 4 sharing to a room.

The proposed Itinerary for the trip is to leave Dunfermline approximately 1pm Friday 13^th July. Arrive at the accommodation between 5 and 6pm to allow for atleast one stop. Dinner on the Friday evening will be at Saucy Mary’s (Click here to see a sample menu with prices) and they also have a bar which plays live music.  Breakfast is available for a small additional charge and then of course on Saturday we would head up to Sligachan for the hill race. Saturday evening we shall head out to a local restaurant for dinner and perhaps a few post race beverages and then on Sunday after  breakfast we shall drive back home arriving early to mid afternoon.

More information about the Glamaig Hill Race can be found here: http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceDetails.aspx?RaceID=RA-0078

The official email with all information about costings has been sent to all club members.

If you are interested in this trip then please speak to Allan or Melanie.

Lets have a fun weekend doing all the things we love!

The Off-Road Group

Bishop Hill Race, the second counter in the 2012 Carnegie Harriers Hill Running Grand Prix took place on Sunday 4th March and is organised by Lomond Hill Runners. Sunday was one of those days when Scottish weather was at its best and decided to showcase all its seasons in one day. Sun, rain, snow and a good dose of wind just for good measure so its certainly takes a hardy runner to head up a hill on a day like this and almost 100 runners decided they were up to the challenge.

This is a short sharp tough little hill race which is only just over 2 miles long but has a climb of about 300 metres which is all straight up from the word go.

The runners hardly have time to take a breath and admire the views before they have to hurtle back down the hill again all the way to the finish.

Carnegie Harriers were well represented at the race with 11 runners taking part and one of those was a surprise visitor to the hills, Davie Millar. Davie is well known at the club as a very strong road runner but we always like to see those roadies paying a little visit to the hills aswell.

Here’s Davie’s thoughts on the race:

“Since my last hill race was in 2005 and the fact I warmed up with a two hour run the day before one could be forgiven that I got out the wrong side of bed. Nevertheless after struggling just to run to the start line I went off with the rest of the field. My initial thought of being conservative at the start came to fruition rather quickly as two minutes in I was walking as other harriers faded into the distance. Surprisingly though after a short period I managed to find some running legs and began passing people on the ascent of Bishop hill. At the start of the descent I felt runners clustering behind me as the runners ahead started gaining ground.  Adrenaline kicking in and gambling on a twisted ankle or two I picked up the pace and reeled in some of those runners ahead. I finished feeling elated regardless of my time or position following the hairy descent. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and would be hopeful of doing another hill race before not too long, in months not years this time.

Hopefully since I scraped into the leading team and won a bottle of white wine my missus might allow this!”

Welcome back to the hills Davie and lets hope we can tempt you along to another race aswell

Many thanks to our ‘Harrier on the Hill’ Kevin Davie who very kindly braved the elements to take pictures of all our runners. He even subjected his poor dog Faith to the bad weather but we definitely have evidence of the snow as she was covered in it!

Well done to our leading men Graeme, Pete and Davie who claimed the 1st Men’s Team and also again to Pete Simpson who was on fine form and won the 1st Male 50 prize and Bill Fairley who won 1st Male 70. Great running guys!

Full Race results can be found here: http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceResults.aspx?RaceID=RA-0018&RaceYear=2012

Thanks again to Lomond Hill Runners for hosting such a great little race

The next race in the Hill Running Grand Prix is Clachnaben on Saturday 7th April. This is a category AM Hill Race so full kit will be required. It is aproximately 15km long with a climb of over 1000 metres. Full details can be found here: http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceDetails.aspx?RaceID=RA-0028

Until then, Happy Hill Running

The 2012 Carnegie Harriers Hill Running Grand Prix opened this year with The Carnethy Five Hill Race on Saturday 11th February.  This is one of the most popular hill races in the calendar and this year proved to be no different with all 550 places selling out in 55 minutes when race entries opened online at the start of the year. Why is it so popular one might ask? It attracts not only seasoned hill runners but also those who have never attempted a hill race before. Is it the fact that its in such a beautiful area? Or that its the first big race of the season so runners can test out their winter legs? Or is it the thought of that school dinner afterwards that has us all queuing up to enter? Who knows why, but its popularity certainly seems to grow year after year!

Registration takes place at Beeslack High School in Penicuik where the runners all mill about catching up with old aquaintances and maybe a nemesis or two that they haven’t seen for a few months, collecting their numbers, making sure they have all the mandatory kit,  then queue up to catch the school bus to the race start which is just near Silverburn Village. The race is just under 6 miles with an ascent of over 2,000 feet covering five tops in the Pentland Hills to be run in the following sequence: Scald Law, South Black Hill, East Kip, West Kip, and returning via the Howe to Carnethy – starting and finishing at the Old Kirk Road.

The start is something to be seen with over 500 runners in all their various colours charging towards the first gate, which this year seemed quite easy to get through which makes me think the gate has been widened. They then run along a narrow heather lined path before hitting the first calf burning climb up to Scald Law. Again the path is narrow here so many runners opt to use the heathery slopes to allow them to pass others.

Once at the top you are able to get running again and head towards the 3 small summits of South Black and the Kips before turning round and getting a good run all the way down to the Howe. Places are always won and lost on these climbs and the descents as every runner has different skills. There were a few falls this year as the ground was a little icy but a good hill runner just goes with the fall, bounces back up and keeps running. No stopping to check for bumps or cuts until after the race is finished.

Runners then have the last climb right up to the summit of Carnethy to look forwards too. This is when the legs are burning and sheer determination to succeed takes over as you shuffle upwards, hunched over hands on thighs knowing that once you hit the last summit its downhill all the way to the finish.

A record 523 runners crossed the finish line with 12 of them being Carnegie Harriers led home by Derek Cassels who finished just over the hour. He was closely followed by Stevie King and then Sandy Bennnet. A welcome returner to the hills was Kenny MacDonald who had a fantastic return to running finishing in 1 hour 8 mins. Welcome Back Kenny There was the usual jostling for positions with Kevin Davie and Bill Duff playing cat and mouse up and down the hills and also Allan Macaulay and Kieran Morgan swapping places but both Kevin and Kieran managed to inch ahead over that finish line. Stevie Greer also had a strong run powering round the course to finish in a good time. The ladies numbers were slightly depleted this year but both Morna and Melanie did well on the course getting PB’s and Bill Fairley, the club’s ‘Most Improved Hill Runner 2011′ gave Carnethy a go for the first time. 

Once finished all the runners jump back on the bus and head for their well deserved school dinners. This is one of the outstanding features of this race is that all the runners get their school meal included in the entry fee and boy do they scoff it down after all that hard work. Goodness knows what the dinner ladies think! lol

So another great race and another great start to the Grand Prix. Well done to Carnethy Hill Running Club on such fantastic organisation and putting on a brilliant event that so many people can enjoy!

Full results of the race can be found here: http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceResults.aspx?RaceID=RA-0016&RaceYear=2012

Barry Davie’s full set of photos from the race can be found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/104267860260025500877/2012Carnethy5HillRace?authuser=0&feat=directlink&gsessionid=nUae3IKfstf9bt3QMmJZLg#

Bob Marshall’s full set of photos can be found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/100951388816249026435/CARNETHY52012#

Many thanks to Barry and Bob for taking such great pictures of all the runners

The next race in the Hill Running Grand Prix is  Bishop Hill Race on Sunday 4th of March. For more information visit: http://www.scottishhillracing.co.uk/RaceDetails.aspx?RaceID=RA-0018

Until then, Happy Hill Running Folks

Hill Running Grand Prix 2012

The complete Carnegie Harriers Hill Running Grand Prix for 2012 is as follows;

1. 11/02/2012 Carnethy Hill Race (M)
2. 04/03/2012 Bishop Hill Race, Scotlandwell (S)
3. 07/04/2012 Clachnaben Hill Race, Banchory (M) SHR Championship Event
4. 09/05/2012 Dumyat Hill Race, Stirling University (S)
5. 03/06/2012 Yetholm Hill Race (M)
6. 16/06/2012 Durisdeer Hill Race, Dumfriesshire (M) SHR Championship Event
7. 27/06/2012 Law Breaker Hill Race, Tillicoultry (S)
8. 14/07/2012 Glamaig Hill Race, Skye (S) SHR Championship Event
9. 04/08/2012 Creag Dhubh Hill Race, Newtonmore (S) SHR Championship Event
10. 19/08/2012 Lomonds of Fife Hill Race, Strathmiglo (M)
11. 22/09/2012 Two Breweries Hill Race, Traquair (L)
12. 14/10/2012 Pentland Skyline Hill Race, Hillend (L) SHR Championship Event
13. 10/11/2012 Tinto Hill Race, near Symington (S)

(13 events with your best 7 to count, S – Short, M – Medium, L – Long)

The updated Grand Prix Rules can be found below;

1. There will be three annual Grand Prix Series held for club members in the following categories – Road Running, Cross Country Running and Hill Running.

2. A member may only compete in his or her own age group (outwith the open event), qualifying age being that at the date of the first event in each Grand Prix.

3. The Running and Hill Running Grand Prix will be held during a single calendar year and the Cross Country Grand Prix will cover the activityseason, normally autumn to spring.

4. The events to be included in each Grand Prix will be decided by the Committee from guidance provided by the respective Team Captains.

5. There will be a range of distances and standards of competition in each series that provides a balance of local and national events that will aim at encouraging participation by all ability levels. Due recognition should be given to national events series where appropriate e.g. Scottish Hill Running Championship.

6. The Road Running and Hill Running Grand Prix Series will each consist of 13 events, with the best 7 scoring events qualifying for each competition for any individual. The Cross Country Grand Prix will consist of 8 events with the best 5 being counters for the competition for any individual. The person with the highest number of points in the open competition and each age group category will be the winner. To qualify for an award, an individual must take part in a minimum of 7 events in the Road Running Grand Prix, 7 events in the Hill Running Grand Prix and 5 events in the Cross Country Grand Prix.

7. Scoring in each event will not be age group based, but on a single finish list and will be 50 points for 1st
home, 49 for 2nd, 48 for 3rd etc with all competitors scoring at least 1 point for completing an event.

8. There shall be Awards in each Grand Prix for the following age group categories: –

Female
Open – Female (any age)
Female 40 to 49
Female 50 to 59
Female 60+

Male
Open – Male (any age)
Male 40 to 49
Male 50 to 59
Male 60 to 69
Male 70+

The Open class will be awarded to the first three in the overall table irrelevant of age group, thereafter the awards will be determined by age group. No person may receive more than one award in any single Grand Prix.

9. There will be an award made to every individual who takes part in the full number of counting events in any of the Grand Prix, e.g. 7 for Road and Hill, 5 for Cross Country. Each Grand Prix will count for a separate award.

Happy Hill Running Folks 

Well Well!! Is it really that time already. No sooner have we got rid of our last bit turkey and Christmas pudding and we are thinking about the 2012 Carnegie Harriers Hill Running Grand Prix.

The opening event in this years GP is the excellent Carnethy Five Hill Race organised by Carnethy Hill Running Club. This years event will take place on Saturday 11th February. This is one of those races that hill runners quite literally queue up to run and as such entries for this popular event open this Monday, 9th January at 5pm through SiEntries

https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?elid=Y&event_id=657

If its anything like last year (which I have no doubt it will be) the 550 places sold out within 2 hours so delay in trying to get an entry.

Remember that with SiEntries, their system allows you to enter multiple runners so if you can’t be near a computer at 5pm on Monday, get a friend to do it for you.

And if you need something to pursuade you here’s the report from the 2011 Carnethy Five race http://carnegiehillbillies.org/carnethy-5/carnethy-5-hill-race-2011/

If you would like more information about the race visit the Carnethy website at: http://www.carnethy.com/ri_c5.htm

The rest of the 2012 Hill Running Grand Prix will be announced very shortly.

See you soon on top of a hill

It seems like a long time ago that the 2011 Carnegie Harriers Hill Running Grand Prix kicked of way back on the 12th of February with the Carnethy Five Hill Race. Who could have predicted then what a brilliant year it was going to be! The Titles won by our Over 60 men, the fight right to the end for the final positions and the fantastic numbers of runners that represented us at most of the hill races.

We also welcomed a few new faces to the hills this year that might have previously claimed that they only did road running! Well we converted them   Roger Clark, Calum McGraw, Ross and Lisa Carrie, Annette Rae, Allan Branigan and Angela Dixon all dipped their studded shoes and as for Jo Wilson, you can hardly keep that girl away from the hills these days!

But lets have a look at how the Grand Prix finished and all the prize winners. There are 15 races in the grand prix and its your best 9 races that count towards the final positions, the races for this year were:

There were 28 men and 9 ladies who competed in atleast one of the Grand Prix races and with 8 men and 2 ladies completed 9 or more races. This year both Kevin Dave and Melanie Sinclair managed to complete all 15 of the grand prix races which definitely required a bit of madness and alot of petrol!

This year the fight for the top spots was on from the word go. In the Ladies, Lynne Bennett and Melanie Sinclair played cat and mouse for much of the season but Lynne proved to be the much stronger runner, powering away from Melanie at many of the races as the year progressed and was certainly a worthy winner of this years Ladies Hill Running Grand Prix.

Melanie fought hard though and came in a very happy 2nd place, one spot up from 2010 with Morna Fleming finishing in a very respectable 3rd place.

The Men’s Grand Prix has to be where all the excitment was this year though. Kevin Davie worked hard to gain some excellent points throughout the year and sat in 1st place from the 6th race right up until the very last race at Tinto which would be the final decider of who was claiming this years crown. Pete ‘the Awesome’ Simpson who was last years winner had unfortunately suffered with injury this year and had missed a number of key races but he certainly wasn’t going to give up without a fight and Stevie King and Barry Davie were both eyeing up the trophy aswell. All would be decided at Tinto and it was, Pete proved to be too strong for the young’uns and stormed to victory again in 2011.

Kevin Davie fought hard and held on to 2nd place and Stevie King finished in a very close 3rd place. There were only 11 points between Barry Davie who finished in 4th place and Pete in 1st which shows just how tight this competition was and how much talent we have in our hill running men.

In our Veteran Men category which is 40 – 49, Colin Reynolds finished in 1st place, with Andy Sim 2nd and Sandy Bennet in 3rd place.

In the Veteran 50 Men’s category our very own Hill Running Captain, Allan Macaulay finished in 1st place, with Stevie Greer in 2nd and Kieran Morgan in 3rd place.

Our Men’s 60+ Category this year has also been a closely fought contest with our top 2 contenders Bill Duff and Tom Bowie pushing each other on to victory. Unfortunately Bill Duff has also suffered with injury this year so Tom Bowie romped to victory and claimed 1st Place, with Bill Duff taking 2nd and Bill Fairley finishing in 3rd place.

Both Tom and Bill have also won other Top Titles this year, with Tom Bowie winning the 1st Male 60 prize in the SHR Long Classics Series 2011 and Bill Duff winning the 1st male 60 prize in the SHR midweek Bog and Burn Series 2011. Congratulations to them both!

Every year the club awards 5 special prizes and one of those is to the ‘Most Improved Hill Runner’ and this year that was presented to Bill Fairley. The club was impressed with the way Bill performed this year, his Scottish Hill Racing percentaged improved and he competed in and finished the notoriously difficult Ben Nevis Race and all this from a man who is well over the age of 60 and has only been running for a few years. Very well deserved Bill

Now as many of you will remember, I have on occasion mention the Scottish Hill Runners Mug! This is one of the those highly coveted items that many will strive to get but only the determined few will actually achieve. Each year SHR have their Senior Championship races which consist of 2 short, 2 medium and 2 long races and competitors have to complete 1 of each category plus one other so 4 in total and they will then recieve their prize, an SHR Mug which will take pride of place on many a mantle piece.

This year only 5 Carnegie Harriers managed to claim one of these:

Allan Macaulay

Kevin Davie

Tom Bowie

Lynne Bennet

Melanie Sinclair

Congratulations to them all!

So thats how the story ends for 2011. Pete Simpson and Lynne Bennet are both victorious in the Hill Running Grand Prix and some big achievements for others aswell. Quite a few new faces on the hills and as always lots of fun and laughter whereever the Harriers are aswell.

Will 2012 be as exciting? I certainly hope so!

Until then, Happy Hill Running Folks!