From John Hayes…
Sarah and I headed up to Edinburgh to do this fabulous race. For Sarah it was the first time. I did it last year and I was smitten! The route takes in the 7 Hills of Edinburgh with road sections in between. The views are stunning, and they save the biggest hill (Arthur’s Seat) until last.
Sarah entered “The Challenge” and I entered “The Race”. They cover the same route. The only difference is that Challenge runners set off half an hour earlier. When I say, “the same route”, in fact one of the many excellent features of this event is that between each of the 7 hills you can take whichever route you like. At various points there are difficult steep ascents/descents where the runner has the choice to either (1) stumble up/down grabbing tree roots and praying not to fall; or (2) take a longer route round. In other places, the differing route choice is less of a life and death decision, but it still leads to many variations. To add to the mix, the road sections involve dodging the traffic. Some drivers slow down and let you cross. Others slam their foot down on the accelerator and press down on the horn. I was happy with my route (14.4 miles). So was Sarah (15.2 miles) who sensibly circumnavigated the nasty bits.
The weather was very hot, the organisers and marshals were amazing, and the cheering spectators and ubiquitous children holding trays of jelly babies kept us going when things got tough.
The Race
(1 Ritchie Gardiner, Corstorphine AAC 1.35.29
79 John Hayes 2.19.02
209 ran
The Challenge
(1 Duncan Innes, 2.19.04)
179 Sarah Hayes 3.14.40