Seven Hills 17/06/07
Several reports -Karen first...
A rather rough report as I am knackered!!
The day before the 7 hills I was watching the European Duathlon Championships at Arthur's Seat It was miserable, wet and cold. Arthur Seat had disappeared into the fog. Not looking good for the 7 hills.
However, when I looked out on Sunday morning, dry and no wind and therefore no excuse not to do the race.
A great turnout of Porty runners with some doing the challenge and some the race. Just before the start the sun started to shine through. After changing my top 3 times I went for a vest as Richard was sure the sun was going to come out. How right he was. It was lovely. I love running in the heat!
We (Challenge ) started off at 9.45 am after instructions of where not to go, which golf courses not to cross and that the gate at Pollock Halls was locked. At the start a couple of guys commented how hard it was to start off when the grass is up to your knees. For those of us not that tall try it when the grass is up to your thighs. Off we all went. Up to the castle and 1st punch. The gate we usually go through before descending into the gardens was also closed. There were 2 alternative routes. Janis and I opted for Johnston Terrace. Then the long, long road to Corstorphine Hill. 2nd punch and back down towards Craiglockart. At Stenhouse Janis said "when do you think the racers will start catching us?" Very soon I thought. Janis decided we should try and make it to Asda before the racers came. Bit optimistic I thought.
A welcome Chris, supporting with water and jelly babies at Craiglockart and still no racers. This is the first year I have scrambled up the side of the hill and it was halfway up 3 very fast people took over!! Once Craiglockart is over the next 3 hills come quick and fast. On our way to the Braids the racers started to appear in numbers. All passing with encouraging words. This race is so friendly! Off Braids and over the golf course to Blackford. Going up Blackford is tough. You are knackered but you also know what is ahead. This next part is particularly difficult as Janis and I have to pass her front door. How nice to go in and have a cup of tea. Still, Arthur Seat awaits us. Janis and I did cut through Pollock halls as in training we had discovered we could fit through the gate. Only for small, bendy people with very small chest size. As we made the long trek up Arthur's Seat my phone went off. I don't normally carry a phone but Alan was away and I had abandoned my 2 children in the house to do the 7 hills. How I would get to them in an emergency when at the top of the hills I had not worked out. I looked at my phone and it was home phoning. I answered and it was my youngest asking if he could go swimming and where were his swimming trunks! Always a mother.Going down Arthur Seat I am never sure which way to go but Jill from HBT ran past and said,"go this way, its a bit steep but fine". Never trust a Bog trotter. I made it down and as I reached the path Richard ran past. He took off and I followed him as much as I could off the hill. At the bottom I took a different way from most other people. I tried to shout to Richard but he was too far ahead. As no one else was going this way I wondered for a second if I was doing the right thing but when I reached the finish line ahead of Richard I knew I had made the right decision. As usual a coaster, and great food. This race has a great atmosphere, a varied terrain and the Challenge or the Race makes it accessible to all. I hate hills but this race does something right that makes it my favourite. It was a lovely day and we all hung around for a while eating and eating. Well done to all who took part and well done to the race organiser.
Report Karen Munro
John's report
Every year I manage to find some excuse for not running this race, usually “it’s too close to the Marathon” or “I feel a slight injury coming on!” This year, however, I couldn’t really come up with an excuse not to do it so I decided to give it a go for the first time. What a fantastic race, this is so different from any other race you will ever do!
I ran the Edinburgh Marathon 3 weeks ago and I have to say that this was tougher. It is quite unique (okay, I know about Rome) to have 7 incredibly challenging hills all in one city and so, relatively, close to each other. I first got the idea that I might be in for a bit of pain when I got cramp in my leg at the top of Blackford Hill whilst leaning forward to punch my number and the pain seemed to continue from there on in. It was really just a case of grinding it out after that and I did so coming in at 2 hours 37 minutes which I was pleased with.
As usual, a great turn out from Portobello with some pretty impressive times all round!
Report John Pringle
Sandi waves bye bye.Scott's report
I entered the seven hills with a light hearted approach; with no meaningful training or course scouting. I thought it would be a great Sunday run 14 mile with some off road and hills… Great just what I needed after the marathon, long but no monster. I even thought that the Peebles 10Km might be too much speed for the legs.
Well I can now say with some hard earned authority that this run is far from an easy Sunday run. I am not sure how I managed to delude myself into thinking that it would be anything other than a hard slog.
The idea of a race through a city over a few hills and through some parks is inspired. Any other city in the world would have been a flattish mellow course…not Edinburgh; from mock roman* columns, through a castle esplanade, across one of the busiest streets, up and over three hills two rivers and past one observatory only then to be confronted by an extinct volcano.
Paul also had a tough time.The race was hard at some points the legs just couldn’t run, I struggled to breath fast enough… however at the end lying in the sun eating cake watching everyone else in the same pain and relief I thought… ‘That was great’. Next year I am definitely getting in some hill run training.
Report Scott Ferguson
* The mock Roman columns are mock Greek. Originally intended as a copy of the Parthenon, the builders ran out of money. (Isn't that so often the case.) Officially known as the National Monument, popularly referred to as Edinburgh's Disgrace. Facts here
Douglas next
After what seemed like weeks of terrible weather culminating in a Saturday of torrential rain, Sunday morning broke relatively dry and fair. The long grass on the top of Calton Hill was still wet though and the two hundred or so runners gathering expecting the worst. Bemused Japanese tourists were snapping photos of what must be a local ritual of men standing flat up against bushes looking over their shoulders. The sun broke out just as the hooter went off and we all hared off across the hill and down the steps onto Waterloo Place.
I was wearing my GPS tracking device and after the race I could upload the data to plot on a Google Map of Edinburgh. (Click link after article)
Unfortunately the watch lost the signal the moment I passed the Scotsman Hotel and didn’t pick it up again until I was half-way down the mound from Ramsay Gardens. This meant it tracked a line along Market Street instead of the High Street losing measured distance - but not time. Half way along Princes Street it lost it again (the new ones are better) and so I seem to have run through the buildings at the West End instead of around the corner at Queensferry Road. People who had chosen to go down the steps to Johnson Terrace joined the main group here, and my feeling is that if the gate on the esplanade is closed next year this is the shorter route.
Everything straightforward until the signal dropped again in the trees, so you can’t see my cunning route avoiding the drinks station. After this the monitor seemed to behave. By the bottom of Kaimes Road I had caught up with Rab (briefly).
I went up the Craiglockhart Hill grappling the roots and passed Gordon who had taken the long route around in deference to his knees. We came down from the top together and then over Braidburn Park taking the gate by the bus shelter onto Comiston Road and then on to the Braids. A straight line across the golf course and onto the Lang Linn then over the path and to the right, steeply down. An American following me skidded down in an avalanche of mulch, never to be seen again. The previous week I had recce’d the route with Gillian and John Pringle and decided to paddle through the burn straightaway and take a fairly shallow angle up to the left that brought me out exactly at the right point where the wall joins the field. Deciding not to go up to the wall and then down again I vaulted off a wobbly stone over a barbed-wire fence, caught my toe on the wire and went headlong into a field of nettles. Even so, it was a good route out and somewhere along the line I must have overtaken Paul who hailed me at the top of the hill.
Off Blackford Hill after taking the less steep path around the top and probably losing a minute. The tracker shows a pretty good zig-zag route across Newington arriving right opposite the Pollock Halls entrance. Although the turnstile is welded it’s an easy clamber up the rungs and over the barbed-wire at the top. Slightly long drop to the grass on other side but I could lower myself down easily on the big hooked spikes. A woman who had just passed me at the gates of Pollock Halls and gone in but around the main building was now a good hundred yards behind me and never caught up again. The usual plod to the top and the satellite view shows just how extreme it is. As ever, cramp set in at the bottom of Arthur’s Seat, so I had to stop and stretch a few times and lost two or three minutes. Going slowly now, Willie passed me at Holyrood Palace and then George on the path up to Regent Road. Kerry and Danny waved me around the corner onto the grassy part of Calton Hill so I had to make an effort to the top. I arrived at the top at 2:41, exactly the same as last year. Mary and Rab had great runs and as the runners from race and challenge came in it was good to see so many Porty vests supporting a unique event.
Try following the route map. It’s sometimes jerky depending on your computer but switching immediately to Satellite or Hybrid view and then clicking the + sign twice gives a good feel for the course.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/runcrazy/workoutTracker.php
Report Douglas Young
Willie samples Amanda's cake.
Rab texting: Bring mr food. Pl is eating all the Ps
Amanda wasn't running but came along to cheer on and supplied cake! Top marks.
Janis and John cruise up the last hill.
Sandi bashed her legs - and narrowly escaped much worse - at the Hermitage crossing.
Bright Eyes
Met the race organiser Alan Lawson at the Edinburgh Marathon and told him my target for the year was an Ultra/Marathon every calendar month except January. Got a note along with the entry form advising me to do the race then do it in reverse. I thought about it and decided to do it in reverse then do the normal race. Set off around 7.20 from Calton Hill and had trouble getting across the road in the park. There was a sea of women doing the Moon Walk and they were on a mission and you could tell they could smell the finish. They were striding out well and some with a full arm movement that you would do only near the finish. I usually get involved in a bit of banter but at 500 to 1 the odds were against me. The decent into Braid Burn was great and on Braid Hill it was full of rabbits. I had time this year to take in the view. Second time it was good to see Ian Campbell of HBT on marshalling duty after running back from Stornoway recently. Ian advised the Trotters only went to five pubs after the Porty 4 mile race. I had a great run except at Craiglockhart where I got lost. Wasted about 5 minutes trying to get the mud banking to go down. From the top it is so green and I was too far to the right but got there in the end. Had a problem at the Castle Esplanade with the gate being shut so just went down Princes Street Gardens on my backside – great fun. Around 2.23 for the first lap.
Hope you all enjoyed the race and challenge. Sorry for the first timers you did not have an early fall in getting down to Princes Street. Maybe next year the gates will be open. It is my favourite race and the one I have done the most with my first appearance in 1988. Big thanks to Alan Lawson for organising the race since he stays in Dundee. Alan is a very good runner himself and goes from Cross Country to the West Highland Way Race’s finishing near the top in most. I got two PB’s in Ultra races by sticking with Alan for 90% of the time and he is a good judge of pace.
Report Graham Henry
Graham enjoys this race so much he ran it twice. Second lap slightly quicker!
For this he was presented with.....
these lovely prizes!
More photos from Scottish Hill Runner's website here
