Another hosting success for the club with 79 runners taking part in the Turnhouse Hill race on the beautifully warm and sunny evening of 14 June 2023. A new route record of 22m 53s from Jamie Crowe, a great effort in such hot conditions!

A fairly quiet month on the racing front but 2 massive achievements for our ladies with Michelle Young completing the West Highland Way 95 mile ultra in just under 24 hours and Jan Dawson finishing as 3rd lady in the St Cuthbert’s Way 100k ultra. Adam Gray also won the Sunset Marathon at Cramond completing 6 x 4 mile loops in under 3 hours – we are very proud of all 3!

A few of our members completed a navigation course in the Pentland Hills this month learning to navigate with map and compass in the old style way – no reliance on technology or GPS allowed! New skills and confidence were acquired and everyone enjoyed the experience.

If you are looking to join a lovely running community, our training sessions are on Tuesdays (speed sessions 7:15pm at Beeslack High School) and Thursdays (hill reps 7pm at Bellman’s Road). All sessions cover a wide range of pace / ability and qualified coaches and jog leaders are on hand for guidance.  Please contact secretary@penicuikharriers.org.uk for more information. You can also find our club website / Facebook page by searching “Penicuik Harriers”.

We had fantastic weather for our 10k road race on 13 May 2023 with 168 runners taking up the challenge and success for the club with our boys (Dan McQueen, John Gibbs & Simon Jarvis) scooping the prize for 1st male team.  We are very proud that our home baking stall raised £250 for the British Heart Foundation, thanks to all for taking part and for their generosity in making this happen.  Thanks also to the local residents for their patience with the road closures and for coming out to support our runners.

The junior races at Penicuik in the Park were well attended with 48 youngsters taking part and earning their well deserved medals, great fun was had by kids and organisers alike!

A special mention goes to Alan Thornburrow for taking part in the Marathon de Sables; Chris Burns for his 21st consecutive outing at the Edinburgh Marathon; Jan Dawson, Tracy Philp & Rachael Drummond for 1st ladies team in the Edinburgh to North Berwick 20 mile road race; Tracy Philp & Judith Crichton for their podium takeover (2nd & 3rd FV50) at the Wobbly Bridge Trail race; Michelle Young for running 12 laps of the Cowshed Backyard Ultra, Tracy Philp & Adam Gray for their 90k Cateran Trail Race and Mark Dawson for the 100k Ultra Trail Snowdonia. A high achieving month all round!

Turnhouse Hill race is next up on 14 June 2023, entries are open on Si Entries and places are also available on the night.

Friday 23 July 2023
Distance 100k, elevation 8000 feet

Me and St C!

I first did this race in the East to West direction back in 2017, from Holy Island to Melrose. When the race organisers (Trail Outlaws) decided to switch directions to ‘race the tide’, to make it across the causeway linking Holy Island to the mainland before the sea cuts it off, the challenge appealed to me again. Besides, after a couple of stints volunteering at Trail Outlaws events in 2022, I’d earned enough credit for a free place.

After experiencing some ‘navigational issues’ in the 2017 race, I decided to recce the route this time. I knew some sections quite well from previous races (Jedburgh 3 Peaks ultra and Wooler marathon), so concentrated on the less familiar sections. I ran out and backs, and it was funny how different the route seemed in each direction! I’m so glad I did this though as on the day itself, reaching familiar ground was really reassuring. I barely needed my map at all in the race, whereas it never left my hand during the recces.

St Cuthbert’s Cave

Racing the tide times also meant a drastic change of schedule. From a respectable 8am start in 2017, to a less respectable 10pm! Night running has its own challenges, particularly from a navigation point of view, which as it turned out went awry very early on for a lot of us. At the start opposite Melrose Rugby Club, race director Tim warned us a) don’t follow the runner in front as they might not know where they’re going and b) don’t follow the yellow race signage at the start as that’s for another race the day after (3 Eildons race). Unfortunately I was in the Portaloo when he said all this! Not that I can ever hear race briefings anyway due to being almost deaf. Turns out not many folk must have been listening as around 30 of us quickly went off directly up Eildon Hill North, following little yellow flags up loose scree. Scree? On the St Cuthbert’s Way? That’s not right! After bashing through knee-high heather and scrub we eventually found our way back onto the nice, runnable SCW trail. One poor lass was spotted on the race tracker running in circles round the top of the hill. She was eventually retrieved but dropped out of the race.

Talking of trackers, this is the first time I’ve ever had to wear one. Those things are heavy, and have to be worn on the outside of your kit, near the top so they can pick up signal. Mine was taped to my race vest on my left shoulder, but settled into position over my collar bone, bouncing off it in a very annoying, uncomfortable fashion until I took off the buff from my head and stuffed it underneath it as a pad. Buffs are awesome, so many uses!

Bonjedward CP, with VIP Active Root!

As the race pack made their way through the darkness, I found it quite challenging to stay upright. It was raining quite hard for the first few hours, so all I could see was raindrops flashing in front of my headtorch. There are many obstacles along this first section: tree roots, nettles, over-grown foliage, wooden steps and bridges and narrow, rutted paths. All made a bit more tricky in the rain. However, after many stumbles and stubbed toes I miraculously managed not to hit the deck. I did not enjoy running in the dark though, and was very glad when I hit Cessford Castle at around 3:45am and switched off my head torch for good.

Cessford Castle (photo taken during recce)

I felt I was running quite well up until Morebattle, a lot better than in my recces in fact. I was remembering to eat and drink, and had arranged with the head marshal, who I know through volunteering, to pick up ‘VIP’ supplies of Active Root between the main checkpoints (thanks, Lee!). I reached Morebattle in just under 6 hours, so stopped for a few slices of watermelon (yum) then tried and failed to eat my peanut butter and jam sandwich. I didn’t linger though so binned my sandwich and headed out to tackle the highest point in the race, Wideopen Hill.

Wideopen Hill

I like this hill, it has a great view back to the Eildons in good weather (which it was, a wee bit too warm even overnight in fact) so I took a moment at the top to appreciate just how far I’d come. Wideopen is roughly halfway through the course, so a good time to take stock of how you feel. There was a lovely cool breeze and the rain had cleared but there was no spectacular sunrise, just sweeping views on all sides. I could see Kirk Yetholm from here and wondered if I’d see any summer Spine racers come in as I passed, as their finish line crosses the St Cuthbert’s Way at the Borders Hotel, Kirk Yetholm. They’d been going since the previous Sunday, making this race feel very short in comparison! I passed the famous Spine finish arches and headed up into the Cheviots. Two female runners passed me here, looking very strong. I was hoping they were both 45-mile runners (this race has two distances, 100k and 45 miles, the latter ending in Wooler) as they seemed very sprightly, whereas I was beginning to flag. I tried to keep pace but I lost sight of them just after we crossed the border into England. The descents were starting to hurt my legs, and my left hip flexor was complaining quite a bit. I wondered if I might have to pull out at Wooler if it didn’t improve. I took a couple of paracetamol and hoped for the best.

Approaching Hethpool

I caught up with one of the female runners again at the Hethpool check point. She complimented my tartan skort, so I flashed her the Saltire undershorts which made her laugh! I refilled my bottles with more ‘VIP’ Active Root and hobbled along the road to Yeavering. Talking of undershorts, Flanci ones have amazing pockets in them. I had my compass in one side and my phone in the other. However, I took my phone out to check it to find the dampness and sweat had made it take 70+ photos of the inside of my pocket. I took a zip-lock bag from my bum bag, wrapped my phone in it and stuffed it back into my pocket. Big mistake. The resulting rubbing caused a HUGE patch of chafing on my thigh which I didn’t notice until the last stretch of the race. Ouch.

When you’ve already run 50k

Climbing out of Yeavering and past yet another steep stile, I had a bit of a second wind. I suddenly felt really good and didn’t stop running until I reached Wooler. The male lead from wave 2 of the race, who started 3 hours after wave 1, went breezing past me on the way down to Wooler common. I passed the female runner from the Hethpool check point, but still couldn’t see the other one who passed me at Yetholm. As I reached the YH, there she was sat on a bench wearing a 45-mile medal and tucking into some food. I headed inside for a wee sit down and to try and eat something more substantial from my drop bag. A marshal asked me how I was feeling, and I realised that my hip flexor pain was no more. It had been replaced by a more generalised pain and fatigue from head to toe! Still, only 18 miles from here to the finish, so I knew I could do it now.

I ate some apple slices dunked in peanut butter, chugged a chocolate milk and chased it with a ginger and turmeric shot in a vain attempt to counteract inflammation. I stuffed my bacon crisps into my bum bag, where they remained uneaten, slathered on some sun lotion and headed out. The clouds had cleared and the day was beginning to warm up, as it was now 9am. I shuffled down steep Church Street and onto Brewery Road where it rises slowly up onto Westwood Moor. My nutrition choices and speed of consumption came back to haunt me, and my stomach was quite angry from here to St Cuthbert’s Cave. I must have fast-walked most of the way until the cave, but couldn’t see any runners in front or behind me, so didn’t panic. I actually had no idea where I was in the race at all, just knew I was on for a slower finish than my previous of 14:55hrs. Again I was glad I’d recced this section, as there is still some lingering damage from Storm Arwen that made some of the trails through Shiellow/Kyloe Woods quite patchy in parts. To get lost at this point would be soul-destroying! Soon though, after some hearty cheers from a group of female hikers, I turned down into Fenwick and to the last checkpoint at the crossing of the A1, greeted by the sound of cowbells.

A lovely marshal took my buff out from under my tracker, dunked it in a jug of cold water and tucked it back into my vest. Heaven! It was really hot now and I was pouring with sweat. Another marshal informed me that only two other females had passed here so far. “No way, it must be hot!” I said. This put the fire in my belly and I wondered, if I could just stay ahead of the only female in wave 2, I might even come third. So, over the A1 and out into the barren fields towards the causeway. After a bit of a long detour to avoid the railway crossing, I could see the start of the causeway. My god, does it look long and intimidating from here. The finish at the village hall seemed as far away here as when I’d first spotted the island just after coming out of the woods at St Cuthbert’s Cave. I tried not to focus on the distance and instead concentrated on the road just in front of me. The causeway doesn’t have good footpaths either side of the road so I had to jump out of the way of a lot of cars. I swear to god a friend of mine waved and tooted at me from a van here, but a later text conversation assured me I was merely hallucinating! I spotted the brightly coloured t-shirt of the female runner I’d passed before Wooler, so she must have run out of Wooler ahead of me. Then I noticed another female runner. She was walking though, so I hobbled slowly past her and kept my focus on the bright t-shirt in front.

Every now and then I glanced back and the other female runner was nowhere in sight. There was now a sizeable gap between me, the first lady and the third. The heat was getting intense and after what seemed like another 64 miles, the road turned up into Holy Island village. It was hooching here due to the great weather, and I struggled to see where the finish line was through the crowds. Eventually I spotted the top of a Trail Outlaws flag and headed towards it. Lee was there taking photos and I ran through the gate of Crossman Hall and up the slope to the entrance doors. A marshal shouted ‘You can stop running now!’ as apparently the finish was the gate itself! I collapsed on the grass and another lovely marshal brought me watermelon and a cola. Bliss.

Relief!

A minute or two later another marshal came over to tell me I was second lady in, but the wave 2 female runner was still out there. She ran in not long afterwards to finish in an impressive 12:51:36. I finished in a more modest 15:22:28, 27 minutes behind my previous result. Considering the heat, the hours of darkness and the rain, I was very happy with that, and it secured me 3rd female, 20th overall. I was not expecting that at all so I was over the moon, as you can see from the prize-giving photo!

Cheesin’

I had a bunk booked at Wooler YH so hopped on the shuttle bus back for a much needed shower. After a nap on the bus and another in my bunk, I was ready for food. Hannah, the lovely partner of Tim the race director, had cooked up a storm at the YH. She offered me some lasagne and gave me some ice poles to cool down. Just wonderful. Then later I joined them in the lounge for a couple of beers and a blether. They’d all been awake since Friday morning too, so I was surprised when I looked at my phone and it was suddenly past 10pm! I thanked them all and made my way to bunk for a restless sleep plagued by the usual post-ultra leg pain.

All in all another great event by the awesome team at Trail Outlaws. I’m spectacularly chafed, have bruised feet, am covered in random patches of sunburn but happy to have beaten that tide!

Results here: https://www.trailoutlaws.com/event_results/saint-cuthberts-way-results-2023

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) smashing Hector Haines’ previous 2011 record of 00:24:46 by 1 min 52 seconds. Kudos to Jamie for a great run. There were tears in his father’s eye, but I think that might have been his allergies.

A wee shout out also to Alistair Masson (Carnethy) who was yet again 2^nd, but like last year (sticking to the correct route) also managed to beat the previous course record. Alas last year, as a third of the runners had cut a corner, shortening the race by ca. 250m, we could not count the record time for last year.

1^st lady was Ellen Crombie (Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds) at 00:29:45.

Junior fun run (2 runners) was won by Rowan Tayor of Lasswade in 09:41.

Congratulations to everyone who ran.

Happy to say no major issues although the look of panic on one of the runners when he dislocated his little finger and did not trust our 1^st aider as he popped it back with minimal pain just shows how important it is to have a calm 1^st aider on hand.

Next year I hope the Pentland café will be open again (Alex was on holiday) so everyone can have some post-race cakes/tea etc while waiting for prize giving.

Finally, apologies for those who entered on the day. Yes – it should have been £8 and not the £10 I told the helpers at registration. My cock up. The extra funds will be donated to the Pentland Hills Regional Park.

See you next year.

Rob

————————–

Main results:

Males:

Senior

Jamie Crowe                            Central AC                                                            00:22:53

Alistair Masson                       Carnethy Hill Racing Club                                    00:24:02

Angus Wright                          Team East Lothian AC                                          00:24:15

M40

Gregor Lawson                        unattached                                                          00:30:23

M50

Justin Carter                            Cambuslang Harriers                                          00:28:29

M60

Micky Anderson                     Westerlands Cross Country Club                        00:30:36

M70

Murdo Macleod                      Westerlands Cross Country Club                        00:39:28

Females:

Senior

Ellen Crombie                         Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds             00:29:45

Polly Edwards                          Carnethy Hill Racing Club                                    00:32:00

Emma Wilson                         Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds             00:33:33

M40

Wiebke Lammers                    Westerlands Cross Country Club                        00:45:51

M50

Michelle Hetherington           Carnethy Hill Racing Club                                    00:36:00

M60

Carole Fortune                        Carnethy Hill Racing Club                                    00:40:45

RACE REPORT BY ANNE WATSON

We set off from Penicuik around 7.00am in damp, drizzly conditions. As we travelled up the M9, the surrounding countryside became whiter with a surprising covering of snow, and by the time we crossed Kincardine Bridge, the snow covered hills were barely visible through the mist.

Billy told us that the last time he ran Alloa, it was a bright sunny day. That would have been very nice to repeat.

There was plenty of parking in the town centre and ample shuttle buses to take us the one and a half miles to the race start at Lornshill Academy.

No need to register as the race numbers had been sent out in the post. Three gymnasiums provided plenty of warm space for changing and bag storage and the place was buzzing as people stayed indoors as long as possible to keep warm.

9.00am, the gun goes off and 1627 runners were on their way.

According to the guys, the course for the most part was great – gently undulating, picturesque and interesting with great support along the route.

I positioned myself at the bottom of ‘the’ hill which rises relentlessly around the 11 mile mark. It caused no problem for the front runners who barely broke stride, and many of the field coped with it well in their own individual way, spurred on by cowbells ringing and cheers of encouragement from the spectators. Others had to resort to walking or expletives, or both.

The top of the hill provided a well earned respite with approximately 400m or more of flat and the uplifting sound of two pipers. Then, a left turn and another deceptively long gentle incline before finally, a welcome downhill run to the school entrance and home under the finish banner.

This was a great, well-organised race, well supported by club runners and social runners alike. Local club Wee County Harriers sent out 37 of their members, 29 runners from Bellahouston Road Runners (another club in purple vests) and Central AC sent out both the men’s and ladies’ winners. Cameron Milne in 1:07:21 chip time (1:07:28 gun) and Jennifer Watson in 1:18:54 chip time (1:18:56 gun)

Our guy’s results – well Billy pipped Steve on the line!
Billy Dickson 1:52:34 chip (1:54:21 gun)
Steve Watson 1:52:38 chip (1:54:22 gun)
Chris Burns 2:29:38 chip (2:31:58 gun)

Well done, chaps. We’ll definitely be back next year!

Anne

Action from the National XC Championships. Photo: Michael Philp Photos

Entries have opened for our 10k road race, being held on Saturday 13th May 2023. Pre entry is on Si Entries or limited places will be available on the day. Come and join us for our “undulating” course with the best marshals around and some delicious home baking at the finish line!

This month we have been busy with cross country races, attending the Borders XC Series at Galashiels, Hawick and Chirnside amongst others. A massive 26 of us turned out for the race at Gala, including 4 of our junior members aged 9-12, all enjoying mud, mud and more mud!

Our ladies’ team at the Scottish National XC Championships took 22nd place with great running from Tracy Philp, Julie Hand, Zoe Robertson, Helen Osman, Gemma Towersey and Angela Graham. Our mens’ team placed 42nd — well done to Allan Jamieson, Allan Dunbar, Daniel Calvert, Ross Nicol, Duncan Ball and David Waldie.

Over in Falkirk, 8 of our die-hard members took part in a 7 hour ultra, running as many laps of Callendar Park as possible within the 7 hour window. A huge well done to all – Michelle Young ran 66k, Tracy Philp 60.7k, Lori Macrae 57.3k, Kieran Smith and Scott Walker 54k, Edite Gailite 47.2k, Susie Maxwell 40.5k, and Vicky Lyon 27k.  Kieran and Susie were “lucky” enough to count this as their “marathon a month” which Kieran is doing to raise funds and awareness for the charity Steps to Hope (helping people recovering from addictions), while Susie is just running for the fun of it!!

In social news, we celebrated retired coach Bill Bennet’s 88th birthday with a gift of afternoon tea from club member Melanie Dunbar at Brew 52 – check out the Brew 52 Facebook page for further (delicious!) details. Several easy-paced social runs were arranged by club members, and a pub quiz is planned for later in March at Penicuik Cricket Club, where we will battle for best team over some light refreshments.

Ever since I was a wee boy at primary school, I’ve been in the Pentland hills, I’ve watched in awe as the runners ran the skyline and it stuck with me. I’ve not always been a runner in fact I’m relatively new. But since I started I’ve had an ambition to run this race and what a race this is.

Looking at the results, the times are quick, there are no slouches in this race. My Celtman pal Fraser had also been checking the times and had asked what he had let himself in for. This made me even more nervous.

Race morning and I had pre race jitters, everything was imaginary hurting, aches and pains everywhere!

Breakfast was overthought, kit overthought.

Finally I’m in my van and I’ve arrived. A short walk up to the start and spotted a clutch of speedy hill running harrier royalty, started to think I would probably let the club down with my effort. But reminded myself, I’m in it to finish as this is a big distance for me.

After the obligatory selfies we were of. A bit of a slow start as the sheer amount of runners at the start makes for a lot of jostling. Can I also note, this is the last time I saw Fraser and indeed all harriers apart from Tony. It was his first skyline also. We ran together for a bit from Castlelaw and passed cheering harriers at the car park, thanks.

We all know some days we feel great and climbs come with ease and steady, others are a struggle, I had the wrong day for a struggle, my legs were screaming on Turnhouse, my least favourite climb, but due to the talented runners in this race I pushed on as fast as my now terrible legs allowed. I was so so conscious of being way to close to the rear. I was not gaining any places, in fact slipping some.

Doubt had crept in already. I thought my second wind would kick in but only thing getting a kick in was me getting over Carnethy.

Harriers gate was empty, I usually stand here and cheer the runners. More recently with my wee one Evie. This time I’m a runner of sorts. They have left probably due to the fact I was way behind time and the wind was horrendous.

In my head I’m now quitting at East Kip, I’m working my way down and calling for a lift!!! the wind on the tops is horrendous and it’s a head wind. I’m definitely not making cut of, glances at my watch and my then new ever changing attitude of “no way am I not making cut of”kicked in.

West Kip! Wind is now blowing me over, actually blowing me over, I have 40 secs to make cut of. At the top I’m folding, going home, finished, I don’t care about the finish.

At the bottom, no way am I quitting, I’ve made it. The supporter crew fill my flask and feed me with snacks and sweets, I was very thankful for this and very thankful to have some flat to get the head right on the red road. Legs felt a little better but I knew the hills ahead. I started to gain on runners in this section, my down hill was keeping me in touch, my legs started to feel better! Ah wait ! Now I’m in bog and moss!! Legs have now changed their mind and fancy cramping up but hang on I’m on my arse sliding down towards black hill as it’s impossible to keep my feet. What a race indeed!!

From the top of Black hill I can see Bells, the least I say about this and the en set of cramp the better!! Are you feeling my pain yet? ?

Thank god now for a tail wind this helped me a lot, I found strength from now on the next couple of climbs.

Q, the weather, driving rain and cross wind but I can see Juliane at the gate, cheering us on, us as now it’s Tony and I swapping pain stories. We have just enough in the legs to make over the next section and down to the finish.

What a relief, I’d made it. Would I run this race again?

No ? or would I ??

As one of the club’s hill grand prix races (or maybe because people felt the need to do something other than eating and sleeping after the Christmas break…), Feel the Burns was very popular among Penicuik Harriers with a team of 11 travelling down to Selkirk.

The weather was brilliant (crisp and clear) and so was the organisation by Selkirk Fund Runners. Some of us were very keen for a PB (no names, right Rob!?) and some were just happy to be out running/ racing again. It was the first Feel the Burns and the first time on the Southern Upland way for me, and it didn’t disappoint, especially not the down hills.

I’m not sure if Rob got a PB in the end (I think he beat Michelle and that’s what counts), but our fast Gemma certainly had a strong race, I heard she was even happy with her down-hills 🙂

It was also good to have Sadie racing with us again, we all missed her lining up at the start line with us. Thanks again for Selkirk Fund Runners for putting up this race, everyone had a great day out and we’ll definitely be there again next year!

Photo credit: Michael Philp Photography (obviously for the amazing/ high quality ones only)

Its was double Cross Country weekend, so with the majority of the Harriers heading to the Borders XC at Paxton on Sunday, there were just a few of us flying the purple and white at Bathgate. The rain had been torrential earlier in the day and I did wonder what we would be running in, but the rain dried up and the sun came out. The ground however, most definitely had not dried up and was the muddiest I had run in for quite a long time.

I was the lone female Harrier running 2 laps – 5.1km and the for the men we had David, Dan and Allan running 3 laps – 7.8km. Dave was on finish line duties.

Big thanks to Des and Ross for the support (I have also pinched some of Des’s photos)

Credit also to Dan who the went on to run Paxton on Sunday.

Results
Gilly Marshall – 93 – 28.42

David Waldie – 110 – 33.59
Dan Calvert – 151 – 36.41
Allan Dunbar – 176 – 38.58

After a break of two years the Greenmantle Dash was on again and 109 runners and 17 junior runners from near and far enjoyed the short race packed with a bit of everything in bright sunshine and freezing temperatures. The worst of the flooding of the previous days had cleared, but the remainders meant for very wet and slippery conditions.

Well done to all the runners for braving the wall, the ice-cold river and the boggy field (and my nerves-induced broken English at the race briefing). Congratulations to Finn Lydon from Carnethy (15:57) and Morag McClelland from HBT (19:45) for their impressive wins. Special mention also to Sam Stephens from Doss AC (23:18) for the win of the Michael Greens trophy for his impressive downhill skills – having a great time dressed up as a banana. The trophy will be awarded every year now in memory of our friend, who we lost in 2022, to the runner who embodies Michael’s sense of fun and running spirit best.

Photo credit: Michael Philp

The post-race atmosphere in the Village Hall was great with lots of familiar and new faces, who warmed up with some soup and tea. Having organised the race for the first time – the day seemed to be a success (partly because of the amazing weather), apart from the minor catastrophe of the inaccessible beer keg (apologies for that!).

Results for the main race are available at the SHR website (https://www.scottishhillrunners.uk/RaceResults.aspx) and times for the fun run can be found at the end of this post. Watching the juniors conquering all the obstacles – most of them with big smiles – was a personal highlight for me and I can’t wait to see you at the Dash again next year.

Keep an eye out on “Michael Philp Photos” FB page (https://en-gb.facebook.com/michaelphilpphotos/), who captured the race with his outstanding photography skills.

The race would not be possible without my many helpers from Penicuik Harriers and local support – thanks to volunteers from Broughton and everyone who came to watch the race and to landowners for giving us the permission to run the race. We tried to stay local with our prizes, too (Broughton Village Shop, Claire Wilson Art; Broughton Ales), if you liked them – come back next year J. Thanks to Up and Running Edinburgh for sponsoring the bib numbers (runners get a 15% discount in the store).

Finally thanks to Dick Wall for allowing Penicuik Harriers to continue the race he has organised for the past 40 years!

Until next year (with hopefully the same glorious weather)!

Juliane

There was a fair turnout for the purple and white at Saturday’s cross country.  We were in the beautiful grounds of Stirling University campus, it was dry and sunny thankfully as still minus a tent we set up camp under a tree.  The course was the same for the men and ladies, 3 laps and a total of 8.7km. The ladies set off first and it was a fast field and I was quickly passed by almost everyone but kept pushing on, Tracy and I had walked a bit of the course before the race so I knew a bit of what was coming – after a bit of an uphill start, we were round the edge of a golf course, some down hill then onto a short section of path by one of the campus lochs, then onto a grassy area that took a large loop round a building then a bit of a climb onto a grassy track that led into some woods, up through the woods and back to the start/finish area and then round again and again! On the second lap as we came away from the building towards the grassy track a deer was running wildly towards us and I remembered the cross country race in Dunbar a few years ago when there were rogue sheep spooked by the runners and as they panicked and ran across the course ran straight into Tracy and completely knocked her off her feet, I was hoping that was not going to be the case again and was keep a close eye on where it was going, it took off into the distance and managed to avoid the runners and spectators and dogs close by and I put my eyes back on the route.  As I came round into the woods I could hear someone hard on my heels and was desperately hoping not to be lapped by the front runners however luckily the lady who passed me was on her second lap too and I managed to get to the start/finish area without being lapped.  The 3rd lap was really hard, I have not done cross country of this length for a long time as most of the Borders XC are around the 4 mile mark so the extra mile and bit was taking its toll.  It was such a relief to see the finish line.  The mens race had already started before I finished so we stayed and cheered them as they completed their laps.  While standing chatting and cheering on the men we heard that the rogue deer that we had seen on the 2nd lap had been through the start and finish area too and had crashed into one of the spectators there as it kept changing direction not knowing where to go, poor thing must have been terrified – but just shows you always need to keep your wits about you – if it had hit a runner with them both moving at speed it could have been a double KO!

Results

Women

49th – Julie Hand – 41m10s SF

90th – Tracy Philp – 46m53s F40

96th – Gilly Marshall – 47m49s F50

Men

63rd – Adam Gray – 31m53s SM

172nd – David Waldie – 37m05s M45

205th – Duncan Ball – 39m06s M60

234th – Dan Calvert – 41m11s SM

255th Allan Dunbar – 43m25s M45

258th Ross Nicol -43m54s M40

Team 20th

Thanks also to Dave who as always is there in his officiating capacity but has a good set of lungs to bellow encouragement as we come round 🙂

Photo credit for the rogue deer – Neil Renton

Been a while since I took part in any of the Nationals or District XC races, and have never done the relays so was looking forward to running as part of a team.  Michelle, Tracy and I were the face of Penicuik Harriers and as a masters team with a big V sticker on our backs, we only had to do 3 laps instead of 4 that the senior/junior ladies had to do.  Michelle started us off and was doing the first leg, a 3.8 loop round the grounds of Cumbernauld House, with a couple of sharp inclines and long stretches of muddy parkland, I ran the second leg and Tracy had the final leg.

I should probably mention that it rained – a lot!  Big thanks to Musselburgh AC who let us hang out in their tent and keep dry and also to Michael Philp who drove us all there and back, his camera was not so lucky and it was a one way trip for it as it died on the course.