Particularly lovely aspects of the race are the lack of rules and the relaxed, low key (though very efficient) organisation. So you wander up, collect your number, stow your kit in the bin bag with your number on it and have a relaxed chat with friends and fellow competitors before meandering over to the start area, lining up and charging off.

In order, the hills are Castle, Corstorphine, Craiglockhart, Braid, Blackford, Arthurs Seat and Carlton. Potentially scary and liberating at the same time for road runners, you’re free to choose your own route between them. Which makes a few pre-race recces to sight the shortcuts and figure out your options an extremely good idea! The most efficient routes come in at a bit over 14 miles, so having covered some decent distances in your training is also sensible preparation.

Although taking exactly the same course, there is the “Challenge” – aimed at those whose half marathon time is outside roughly 1 hour 40 minutes. This sets off half an hour before the “Race” and actually has a lot more competitors taking part in it. To the slight bewilderment of a large group of Chinese tourists, they were off… I took this as a cue to take a final pit stop and do some gentle warming up just to get my legs moving.

Very glad to’ve done so, as after rushing past the folly, you’re straight down the slope and small steep steps at top speed to pop out on Regent Road. Fortunately, starting at 10:15 on a Sunday morning, traffic is fairly light. Just as well, as there are rather a lot of roads to cross and getting run over definitely wasn’t in my pre-race plan.

Scattering somewhat bemused tourists along the Royal Mile, we had all bagged Castle Hill before we knew it. Sadly (yeah, right, I was devastated – not), the paths through Princes Street Gardens are currently out of bounds, so down the steps to Johnston Terrace we went. Already you could tell the proper hill runners and fearless nutters by the speed at which they navigated the horrid small steps two or three at a time. Perhaps a warning of things to come.

This is a race at which you see a multitude of different types of footwear – from barefoot 5 toed minimalist shoes, to normal trainers, to lightweight fell shoes, through to chunky trail shoes. With a huge amount of tarmac to be covered, trainers with good grip had to be my choice. Hence my pleasure at the good conditions, as they would’ve been less fun on wet slippy mud, rocks and trails.

Back to the race. Folks thinned out as we zoomed our way off to Corstorphine Hill, so it was time just to concentrate on getting one foot in front of another as quickly as possible. Saw a few folks getting a bit confused and going round in circles coming off the hill. I mean, I know there are lots of trees and similar looking little paths, but can only assume that the sun had already gone to their heads.

For a road runner, the fast descent down to Corstorphine Road was fantastic. Choice of lightly gravelled path or road to zoom down at full pelt, before starting the long slog in the warm sunshine across to Craiglockhart. Straight up the bank behind the sports centre was a slightly mucky scramble, to pop out onto the grass with a fabulous view of Hillend and the south of the city. Quick dunk of a soggy sponge at the water station and it was back down again. This time via a very pretty tree lined path, complete with zooming and corner screeching noises from me (also an effective method of getting people to move over to let you past). I think it’s my favourite part of the whole route.

The journey onwards to Braid hill started to see people taking a much bigger varieties of route, none of which appeared (I was very pleased to note) to be quicker than the one I’d prepared. By this point the “Race” crew were very much intermingled with the “Challenge” guys, so there was plenty of company and a bit of banter going on.

From the top of Braid hill you can see the last two hills and (sort of) the finish. So feeling good and still quite fresh, I joined the throng across the golf course and across towards the Hermitage. As it was dry I opted to go more or less straight down the steep bank (less sliding on my backside than my previous effort) and straight through the burn instead of risking slipping on the stepping stones. With just a tiny bit of barbed wire to negotiate, it was on to the ascent of Blackford hill.

There are steps which are difficult to avoid and they’re horrible! Very deep and very eroded, they make your legs work extremely hard to haul yourself up in any sort of rhythm. The faster “Challenge”rs and early “Race”rs had done a nice job of bashing the nettles out the way, so it was a relatively unimpeded trudge up to the top. A few more familiar faces here cheering, taking photos etc… but only time for a quick wave and smile before thundering down past the Observatory – onwards and downwards and all that!

Some lovely householder had rigged up a hose to spray the hot runners on Observatory Road, so I was feeling a touch less sticky crossing the allotments and starting to contemplate the final big climb. By this point there were quite a few folks really suffering with cramp (combination of weather and hammering of legs on descents), so I was feeling a little (ok, only a tiny bit) guilty that I was still fine as I skipped along the tarmac to approach Holyrood Park.

Some folks take the maze through Pollock Halls with the shimmy through the turnstile or clamber over the wall to get into the park. Not fancying getting lost or stuck, I took the easy route (which I don’t actually think is much longer at all) past the Commonwealth Pool. To be greeted by the sight of hundreds of pink clad “Race for Life”ers wending their weary way around the perimeter road. Nipping through, thoughts now turned to the route up Arthurs Seat.

Not having recced this this time, I took my cues from previous memory and the visual layout of other runners making their way up. As it was dry, I opted for a very direct and steep route. Cutting off the steps to go straight up the rocks. Didn’t occur to me to worry about it at the time, but a few folks afterwards commented on finding the ascent scary. Having given a helping hand to a fellow runner struggling with the scramble, I can perhaps see why, but clambering and scrambling is grist to my mill, so I actually enjoyed it.

Not being a proper hill runner and having done very little practise recently, descending is quite another matter… As I gingerly picked my way down, quite a few people came flying past a top speed. Being fairly confident I was comfortably in the lead, I didn’t see the need to wreck my legs (or nerve) for the weeks ahead, so played it safe and concentrated on picking up the pace once I got onto something less technical.

Avoiding the Race for Life finish, it was straight across the field, past the Palace and up the steps to Regent Road. Checking my watch, I saw I was on track for a sub 2 hour finish without killing myself. So allowing a new smile to appear, I was quite relaxed as I took the final ascent up the back of Carlton hill to the welcome finish line. 1:58:59, 1^st female and all in one piece – that was all my targets successfully ticked.

Watching others come in whilst munching the welcome food laid on (yes, really – brilliant value for a race costing <£10!), I was pleased to remove my shoes, clean myself up and swap stories with friends old and new. EAC runners had a good day with the team of Adam Rouse (1:47:58 for 7^th), Gabriele Bucciarello (1:54:52 for 16^th) and John Morris (2:04:02 for 40^th) coming in third team – great running guys!

My only disappointment was that there aren’t that many women running in the “Race” – perhaps the hill runners have bigger fish to fry at this time of year, but I would’ve relished being made to work a little harder for my victory. C’mon ladies, sign yourself up next year!

In summary – iconic, scenic, hard, fast, long, challenging and above all, brilliant fun. I recommend it to any reasonably fit distance runner wanting something a little different to do whilst enjoying a sociable day out.

Pride of place goes to Emily Stewart who struck gold in the U/23 3000m steeple chase with a Championship best performance of 10:03.39. This puts Emily 3^rd in the all-time UK rankings behind fellow scots Eilish McColgan and Lennie Waite. Elsewhere on the track there were silver medal efforts by Emily Dudgeon in the U/23 800m in a time of 2:03.13 and Jake Wightman in U/20 1500m with a time of 3:55.01. In the sprints Kathryn Christie showed well finishing 4^th in the U/20 final of 200m in a season’s best time of 24.39. In the men’s U/20 200m final Tom Holligan ran a creditable 21.71 to finish in 6^th place, which is just outside his PB on 21.60 achieved earlier in the month in Geneva.

Out in the field our jumpers continue to make their mark. In the U/23 High Jump Emma Nuttall cleared 1.79m to pick up a silver medal, while Emma Lowry jumped 1.70 to take the bronze. We were well represented in the horizontal jumps with three of our athletes picking up medals. In the men’s U/23 long jump Allan Hamilton’s 3rd round leap of 7.13m secured him a bronze medal. U/23 long jumper Sarah Warnock also picked up a bronze medal with a 3^rd round jump of 6:02m. U/23 Triple jumper Emma Pringle completed the trio of bronze medals with a ‘hop, skip and jump’ distance of 12.47m in the 3^rd round.  EAC jumper Faye Nicholson finished 6^th in the long jump with a jump of 5.64m. Over in the pole vault young Hannah Lawler cleared 3.10m to finish 4^th in the competition.

A couple of our club throwers also achieved medal winning performances. In the U/20 hammer Kimberley Reed continues to improve her form with five throws over 50m. Her 5^th round throw of 52.66m secured her a bronze medal and maintains her 3^rd place in the UK age group rankings. U/23 multi-thrower Hannah Evenden had a mixed couple of days picking up a silver medal in the shot putt with a throw of 13.63m. She just missed out in the discus finishing 4^th with a throw of 43.15m. In the hammer she throw 52.48m to finish in 8^th place. U/17 athlete Ben Robbins ran a creditable 49.79 to finish 4^th in heat three of the U/20 men’s 400m.

All in all a good showing from some of our top young athletes more than holding their own in bigger UK wide arena.

We are looking for 25 helpers, so if you can help, please let Garry know or add a comment to this post.

Good luck to everyone running the ’7 Hills’ and also anyone at Grangemouth for the track 10k on Sunday.

Emily Dudgeon

EAC were represented in the sprints ‘A’ string by Stacey Downie who finished 6^th in the 100m with a time of 12.57 and 7^th in the 200m in 25.22. It was tough into a -2.1 headwind. Kathryn Christie showed up well in the ‘B’ string finishing 3^rd in both the 100m & 200m in times of 12.32 and 24.93. In the 400m both Kathryn Evans ‘A’ string and Lauren Peffers ‘B’ string  achieved season’s bests times of  56.30 and 58.03. Emily Dudgeon’s strong finish in the 800m saw her also get a season’s best time of 2:06.29 and a great win in the ‘A’ string.  This was well backed up by Ashleigh Kennedy in the ‘B’ string with yet another EAC athlete achieving a season best time of 2:13.15.

In the 1500m  Madelaine Murray ran a great race into 4^th place in the ‘A’ string and was rewarded with a PB of 4:30.96 Laura Dunn didn’t finish much behind her to pick up a 2^nd place in the ’B’ string with

Lauren Stoddart

a time of 4:37.09. In the longer stuff (3000m) the evergreen veteran athlete Sue Ridley ran a season’s best, finishing 7^th in the ’A’ string. Meanwhile youngster Rachel Dunn finished a creditable 4^th place in the ‘B’ string. Lauren Stoddart pulled off a great win with a gutsy front running effort in the 2000m steeple chase with a time of 7.30.24.

Over the 100 hurdles there were 7th & 6th places in the A & B  String respectively for Catriona Pennet and Yasmin Milne in times of 14.68 & 16.16. In the 400m hurdles Samantha Coleby came 4th with a time of 59.90 with Avril Jackson finishing 2nd in the ‘B’ string in a time of 62.99.

Jayne Nisbet

Sarah Warnock

There were some great EAC results in the field events. Jayne Nisbet continued her recent good form with a season’s best in the High Jump with a clearance of 1.85m and her 3rd Commonwealth Games Qualifying height. Emma Nuttall picked up valuable team points by coming 2nd in the ‘B’ string with a jump pf 1.65m. Horizontal jumpers Sarah Warnock and stalwart Gillian Cooke did the double by winning the ‘A’ & ‘B’ string respectively with jumps of  6.11m and 5.94m. In the Triple Jump our pairing of Emma Pringle and Sarah Warnock picked up good points with jumps of 12.43m and 11.74m  to finish 3rd in the ‘A’ and 2nd in the ‘B’ strings. In the Pole Vault, youngster Hannah Lawler in her debut for the senior ladies team, achieved a creditable 6th place with a leap of 3.30m

Meanwhile out in the centre of the arena team captain Susan McElvie led by example with another Commonwealth Games Qualifying distance throw of 61.47m in the 1st round of Hammer competition. That was good enough for a 2nd place finish in the ‘A’ string and was greatly supported by 2nd place finish in the ‘B’ string for Hannah Evenden with a thow of 51.68m In the Discus the  Hannah Evenden achieved a throw of 41.51m in the ‘A’ string while young Kimberley Reed managed a distance of 32.93 to finish 4th in the ‘B’ string. At the Shot Putt, the ever reliable Hannah Evenden picked up a 4th place in the ‘A’ string with a throw of 13.13m. This was backed up with throw of 9.57 from Emma Lowry in the ‘B’ string . In the final throws event of the day Paula Gass saw her javelin soar to a distance of 36.83m while stand in thrower Gillian Cooke picked up team points with a throw of 17.91m.

4 x 400m team

To round the day off  the 4 x 100m relay team of  Sarah Warnock, Beth Finlayson, Stacey Downie and Kathryrn Christie came in 3rd in a time of 46.75. Now to the last event of the day the 4 x 400m relay. The first three runners; Avril Jackson, Samantha Coleby, Emily Dudgeon powered their way round the first three legs to leave Kathryn Evans with a good lead for the final leg. As she stormed down the home straight to maintain that lead the partisan Edinburgh crowd were on their feet cheering ecstatically as she crossed the line for a great EAC win.

To cap it all there was a huge roar when the final team results & placings were announced and Edinburgh Athletic Club had secured a famous victory with 186 points, 2nd were Trafford AC with 181.5 points, Birchfield Harriers were 3rd.

Despite the initial misgivings about all the hype around Mrs E-H, and the selling of tickets, the event was a great afternoon’s entertainment for the spectators, and for the athletic purists there were quality athletes on view.

Team Manager, Anne Scott was delighted with the performance of her team. ”It’s the first time I can remember our team winning a home match. There was some great individual performances out there with seasons bests and personal bests. I am so pleased and proud of them. This result sets us up nicely for the next couple of matches”

The next match is on Saturday 6th July, 2013 at Sports City, Manchester, followed by Saturday 3rd August 2013, at Norman Park, London.

Above Photographs are courtesy of Edinburgh Sports Photography. A full library of match photographs are available >>>HERE 

On Sunday, we have our usual training run from Craiglockhart Sports Centre, meet in the top car park and head out on the Canal and Water of Leith paths to Balerno and beyond, with run distances of 12-24 miles, mainly on paths and trails. A range of distances and a range of speeds, all welcome, just turn up and join in.

The challenge will be to see who can hit their target the most times, this is of course dependant on using accurate estimates! If someone is still hitting their target after 24 reps, it means that you blagged an inaccurate target time and risk disqualification! There will be a 2 strikes and you are out rule, if you miss the target once, you get a warning, if you miss it twice, you are out. There may be a prize for the winner.

The session is open to everyone, we will start at 09.30am with a 1 mile warm up, then carry out drills and strides before hitting the 400′s with a vengeance.

Cheers,

Garry

I’ve been fortunate enough to win a few races lately but the Haddington 10k set about a different challenge to me as CAAC runner Keith Hood had his name down and I knew I’d be in for a tough time.  I’d beaten Keith years ago in a Parkrun but since then Keith has beaten me on five occasions.  Four of which he’s come from miles behind, floated past me and finished way ahead.  He’s naturally a strong finisher and an athlete that I have utmost respect for.  

Preparation wasn’t ideal.  There had been a smash on the bypass so we came off at Gilmerton and Vic decided to take myself Dan and Colin on a tour of Midlothian before arriving in Haddington.  Most of us found just enough time to get registered, do a short warm up, and use the toilet facilities.  However, Dan’s toilet break had been cruelly sabotaged by Colin and he was forced to carry a hostage around the circuit.

I did this race two years ago it’s worth noting two things about that race.  First, was the lightening pace set by Callum Reid and his East Lothian buddies as we tore around the park in the first kilometre.  Second was that I got dropped like a hot tattie by Ray Ward at the 9k mark and finished runner up.

So, the race.  Well, Mr Craighead fired his gun and off we went.  But there was no fight for the lead position this year.  Quite the opposite and wee tootled round the park at a leisurely pace.  Eventually, Lasswade runner, Barney Philips (another contender for the win) took the lead and after a slow first kilometre he upped the pace to something a bit more tasking.  I reacted and tucked in behind him.  Keith was still weighing us both up and didn’t decide to join the party until we had taken care of both the ascents and were up on to the flat section.

There then follows a long stretch of straight country road.  I was happy to shelter from the head wind behind Barney and when he slowed I thought it was simply a case of him wanting somebody else to take the lead. As Keith and I passed him, it was clear it wasn’t going to be Barney’s day and he started to go backwards through the pack.

So, here I was, half way into the race and in a head to head with Keith.  Kind of where I had expected to be.  The pace had picked right up and we were now trading blows.  Shoulder to shoulder we ran.  Not speaking a word to each other but sending constant signals about our condition.  At this pace, even slight undulations on the county road felt like mountains and between seven and eight kilometres the fizzy burning in my stomach began to surface.  I could only hope Keith was suffering as much.  Neither of us was prepared to make a decisive move and you could have cut the tension with a knife.  So on we raced.

At 9k the course starts to descend back down towards the park.  Instead of fighting against the hill I allowed the gravity to allow my legs to move quicker and a gap opened up.  As we hit the flat (the same place I got dropped in 2011) the gap was only a few metres and I decided it was too good an opportunity to let Keith back in.  So that was it.  The sprint was on.  It was not ‘eye balls out’ at this stage though.  I was just doing enough to maintain a decent gap and keep the pace high but leave enough in the tank for an out and out sprint, just in case it was needed.

There’s a small uphill sharp right hander onto the grass for the final 150m.  I attacked it hard and knew the finish was within touching distance.  “KEEP IT GOING BRYAN!” was the shout from Garry Robertson.  What did he mean?  Was Keith on my shoulder?  I didn’t dare look and instead just pumped my legs and arms even harder.  One last left hand bend and there was the finish line.  I had done it (32:38). Keith (32:40) finished just 2 seconds behind me in what has to go down as one of the best duels I’ve even been involved in.

Right behind us, were Callum Reid (33:07) and Colin McGill (33:09) who had been involved in a similar duel.  With youth on his side Callum was able to hold off old man McGill and claim third spot and a one minute PB.  These are great races to be involved in and a brilliant way to post good times, and if the course suits, PBs too.  Disco Stu (33:44) claimed fifth place beating Dan Clarkson and his brown prisoner (34:17) for a spot in the men’s team prize.

In the ladies race, Edinburgh AC’s Janet Dunbar was first home (37:20) beating Vic Bailie (38:02) by 42 seconds.

This is a very well organised race and the organisers deserve plaudits for a fantastic event even if there wasn’t enough toilet paper for everyone.

Thanks to Bob Marshall for the photo.

Scottish Schools Timetable

Edinburgh Schools Timetable

A specific selection race at this time of year is difficult, however, selection will be based partly on the AGR Black Rock “5″ on Friday 21st June, with all other known form considered.

Athletes who wish to be considered for selection to the East District Team should discuss this with their coach and let Alex Jackson know by Monday 24th June 2013.