Distance 7.2 km
Climb 480 m
These little hills look rather innocent in this picture and might fool you into thinking this is a rather easy run. Well on the day they proved to be a slippery and cantankerous beast. The sun had been shining as we left Penicuik, and in what seemed to be a cruel twist of fate the rain was coming in heavy downpours at our destination in melrose. We picked up our numbers at the Rugby club, thought better of a warm-up on the waltzers that were there for the gala day and left our jackets in the car as this was a summer race and no amount of storm cloud was going to stop us from wearing vests. The race is fast and furious up through the town, through a narrow lane where the route bottlenecks for a couple of minutes, then up through the woods where you can take the wooden steps or take your chances through the trees. Then you are out onto the hillside. The going gets tough here, so the tough got going and i just slipped and skidded my way up as best I could trying not to be last. It was a good excuse not to run as the path was narrow and the rain had made the clay soil very sticky and slippery. Once onto the hill tops there was some nice running and the rain came and went without causing too much issue. The problems only came again when on the last downhill where even with hill shoes I couldn't get much traction. What goes up must come down, so I did but with little speed and even less grace. Back at the finish we didn't hang around for long as there was another downpour and news came over the tannoy that the sack race had been cancelled for safety reasons. So off we headed back to sunny Penicuik. I really should stop moaning as I do like a mud race and usually pay extra for it!
49 Duncan Ball M50 00:43:19
78 Rob Wilson M40 00:46:32
86 Michael Greens MU23 00:47:32
108 Gillian Cairns F40 00:49:42
156 Andrea Wilson F45 00:56:00
173 Sadie Kemp F40 00:59:03
Well done all. I only did a couple of these, along with Bill, with whom I have shared a dook in the Tweed!
Sadie, the Eildon Hill Race was one of my favourites though it was only two hills in my day. Your report brought back some memories including running in the rain for each of my last 10 attempts, finishing down the crowded Main Street with massive crowds still applauding as I approached the finish, running a lap of The Greenyards and finally having a paddle in the Tweed to ease off my aching quads. A superb hill race!