This year’s North Berwick Hill Race was blessed with fantastic weather, a good field and the usual excellent but low key organisation. The status of the Law has changed and as a result much of hill was out of bounds and the route was restricted to the obvious path. This did cause a slight problem with the ascending and descending runners had to share the same space. Not a huge problem but it did mean that a degree of care had to be taken.

I was only the only runner from the Run For Dr Hadwen Team taking part.  I have this race several time before and have always really enjoyed it and this year was no exception. The race started down by the Harbour with registration (on the night only) at the RNLI station. The course is pretty represented a  fairly unyielding uphill “charge” form the Harbour through the town and up the rocky path to the summit of the law. Although the weather was bright and sunny and clear  there wasn’t really any time to enjoy the spectacular views, across East Lothian and out to sea, before picking  my way back down onto the road for, what seems like, a sprint all the way to the finish.

197 runners took part ,a reasonable field for this type of race and it represented a good mixture of abilities ages (for 10 years old upwards) and even a few dogs. The first male runner had a winning time was 20:35, Dave Wright, of Hunters Bog Trotters although this is bit behind the course record of 17:53. The first female coming in at 23:15, Kate Jenkins again with the Hunters Bog Trotters Last man home was George Armstrong of Haddington and East Lothian Pacemakers with a still credible 42:34.

I was happy with my time of 28:49, which placed me 103rd.

This is a great run both for experienced runners looking for a mid week challenge and for runners who fancy giving hill running a try for the first time. The varied field means that runners of any ability will feel welcome whilst still enjoying a real challenge.

Race Date: Wednesday, 05 August 2009
Start Time: 7:30pm
Distance: 4.8 km
Climb:   180 km

This run is a bit of a short sharp shock but represents a nice challenge and is great fun. Despite taking place in one of Scotland’s sunniest seaside towns the weather can be a bit unpredictable. Last year the race was cancelled (very unusual) because of torrential rain and previous years have seen a harr (sea mist) so thick visibility was down to a few feet at the Law’s summit. However when the weather is good it is spectacular.

The race itself is fairly short at only 3 miles, and whilst the Law is not the highest hill in the world it is pretty steep despite this the pace is pretty fast and the field competitive but friendly.

Not one if your looking for a pb  but a good one if you are looking for a real sense of achievement.