Author Archives: Rob

Turnhouse 2023 – A warm dry evening for a short sharp race. Perfect conditions but maybe a tad too hot for some. This year we managed to cajole the 79 runners to stay on route with Jamie Crowe (Central AC) … Continue reading →

“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley……” The Turnhouse Hill race used to be coordinated by Andy Kitchin but has not “run” since 2013. I always liked the race and having run ca. 200 Scottish Hill … Continue reading →

As so many Harriers have signed up for the Lairig Ghru this year, I felt that my difficult experiences of the two times I tried this race could provide some insight on how you should consider preparing/training for this race. … Continue reading →

I have run this race a few times now and as it is the last mid-distance hill race (17.7kms, 460m) of the year it is a good race to keep one’s fitness on point for Feel the Burns in January. … Continue reading →

While other members of the Harriers were performing remarkable feats of endurance, Sarah and I had a more “leisurely” time around the Melrose Eildons. 7.2kms and 480m of climb – short, but not so sweet – a tough fast little … Continue reading →

After the sordid flu-induced disaster of 2018’s Mountain Marathon on Harris, I was determined to give Gregor a “good time” in 2019. However, after registering in January for the SMM, he came back to me a month later saying he … Continue reading →

Back in 2015, I ran the Ben Rinnes hill race for the first time. I loved it. The weather was warm and sunny, I was physically in fine fettle and the 22.4 kms (1435m) there and back route left me … Continue reading →

At 15.5kms and 870m, this is one of the classic hill races in the calendar. It is therefore very surprising that hardly any Harriers in recent history (only Stu I think) has run it. Although Arran might seem far away, … Continue reading →

With injuries coming thick and fast, we still managed to get four teams together for DB although all teams needed someone to run two legs: Hats off – Michael Greens (L1 + L4), Alasdair Hind (L3 + L4), Sadie Kemp … Continue reading →

Missing the Breweries due to a stomach bug and also not getting into the Skyline threw me into a state of running desperation – all that training for nothing 🙁 – so decided to suck up the cost, and make … Continue reading →

A belated report by Andrea This year’s Dollar hill race starts with a pre-race dialogue at the Wilson home: Andrea: “Rob, have you seen my compass?”  Rob: “Ah yes, I forgot, I lent it to XXX; she never gave it … Continue reading →

I am not good at long races. I am simply never fit enough and it is only by October every year (i.e. The Pentland Skyline) when I normally have increased my fitness to a level worthy of the long races. … Continue reading →

This post describes Gregor’s and Rob’s experience of running Durisdeer hill race on the 10th of June 2017.   Gregor’s bit I was contemplating running the Durisdeer hill race for the last few weeks. While the distance (14.7 km) seemed fine, … Continue reading →