The Seven Hills 2010
The Seven Hills ; Calton Hill, Castle Esplanade, Corstorphine Hill, Craiglockart Hill, Braid Hill, Blackford Hill, Arthur's Seat and Calton Hill = ~14 Miles & 1750m of ascent. Add the searing heat and all in all it made for a tough days running! All the hard work, sweat and blood spilled there is however no doubt though that this is one of best Edinburgh based events in the annual calendar.
Corstorphine were well represented by Simpson, Wilkie, Ferrington, Johnston, Brown, Williamson, Stewart, Anderson, Caldwell and myself.
The run from Calton Hill to the Castle was frenzied and there was something beautiful about the serene symmetry of the sharp right left through the Arcade with Grant striding out leading the way up the Royal Mile, as soon as reached you plummet through the gardens for your first real foray with traffic and a well timed 'green man' had the first group negotiate this with out too many toots. The long stretch out to Corstorphine Hill i personally found pretty tough going and whilst Grant and Dave powered on disappeaing out of sight by the path at Ravelston, and despite stealing a march on Tommy i was joined by him as we hit the top of Corstorphine Hill. We then used our local knowledge to outwit the almost official CAAC photographer Colin (Tommy's dad) as we took a new route off the hill inadvertedly destroying his well planned vantage point. Anyone who knows Tommy or has tried to run with him will know hes a tad stubborn and not one for hand holding so we played cat and mouse over to Craiglockart with only a couple of incidents. A #1 bus stopping us mid stride at Stenhouse and Tommys cycling supporting beau Steph attempting to run me over heading up through Carrick Knowe! I suppose she did ring her bell to try get me out the way first ;]. We had a mad scramble up Craiglockart and as we hit Braidburn Park i got a glimpse of the back of Grant's vest for the first time and with a lingering look behind seen i'd somehow managed to get a gap on Tommy. The adrenalin was truly pumping, but the legs were certainly crying out.
Pushing up over Braid Hills at a run come walk i graciously received a sip of water as i punched from MartinH who was taking a more leisurely day after his own epic at Glen Rosa on Saturday, no time to look behind and no time to look out for flying golf balls i relaxed and let go all the way down to the burn and then picked a never easy route well up to the top of Blackford to be encouraged by the young piper and diligent drinks providers. I had the back of Grant firmly in my sights now, further bhouyed by CAAC support in the allotments and with only 1 real ascent to go i set about reeling him in. We joined up as we got to the pub exchanged pleasantries and then set about our seperate ways through and up to the summit of Arthur's Seat, i had managed to eek out a 30-40m lead by the top and then just threw myself down to the Parliment, a few cramp twangs on the flat i was pleased to have them disappear up the last climb then see the oasis of the finishing funnel, i never quite managed to grab a glimpse of the first 3 runners after Ravelston Road but was chuffed with my efforts if completely knackered. DaveS just missed out on retaining his title, after a couple of navigational mistakes had him probably add a good half mile onto his route to finish 2nd, and within seconds we were joined by an also chuffed Grant in a new PB and shortly after Tommo charged up to complete 4 in the top 7. Collapsed on the grass we cheered in Scott, Martin, Mike, Nick, Susan and Ken in turn. Nick had evidently given its all and was worse for wear so needed a few salt drinks to see him right, but the fine feed of Quiche, Rhubarb Pie, Jaffa Cake bars and Fruit ticked the boxes for the rest of us! Hopefully the others can give more insight to their own races, Scott certainly seemed to have enjoyed himself and posted a fine time of 2:08!. There was a lot of support on the course and Jo and Chris were evident throughout racing around to give timely cheer.
Great race, my 3rd time. Never gets easier but always as fun. We managed to hold off Sporty Porty and retain the Team title too!
Full results at http://www.seven-hills.org.uk/PDF/r...
Selected Results
2 David Simpson 01:41:32
4 Christopher O'Brien 01:43:48
5 Grant Wilkie 01:45:25
7 Tom Ferrington 01:48:03
52 Scott Williamson 02:08:03
68 Martin Caldwell 02:11:24
73 Michael Anderson 02:13:05
82 Nicholas Brown 02:14:56
95 Susan Johnston 02:21:06
127 Ken Stewart 02:30:39
Knowing that I am more of cold weather performer (give me a marathon in the Arctic any day), and with clear skies, temperatures well over 20C, typical Scottish humidity levels, and not a breath of wind, I knew I was not going to do well, but little did I know how much I would suffer. From the off I simply could not get up to pace, despite feeling like my legs had recovered from last weekend, and by Ravelston the sweat was pouring from me and I could feel the heat radiating from my torso, as my body refused to push any hotter. I drank at least 3 cups of water at each drink station and poured endless amount over myself, but it seemed to help very little. By Savile Terrace I was starting feel a little delirious and in Blacket place I actually ran into the ground, though at the time I wasn't sure if I tripped or my legs simply gave. At the end I collapsed in the grass for a good 20 minutes and only after much water and salt tablets did I start to feel less out of it.
So more than a little disappointed with my time (despite taking 10 minutes off my PB), as I'd hoped for a sub 2:10, probably getting round with Scott to be out paced in the last 1/2 mile. But lesson learnt, I'll think again before starting a race in temperatures over 20C!
Nick you certainly looked interesting after the race lol! No great surprise given the heat and the fact you ran the lamm last weekend you crazy bar steward!
I approached this race in the same vein as the Edinburgh marathon ie you don't know what you're facing, so add a layer of conservatism in the first half and see how you fare in the later stages.
So I managed to get up Corstorphine Hill before Martin only for him to whip out his world famous "Corstorphine Hill Shortcut!", which meant that I found myself 50m's behind him on Kaims road - what the hell?!!!
Spent most of the rest of the run grinning like a freak and waving at anyone who was watching. It really is good fun bombing around Edinburgh and flying off some of these hills. I've still never seen this revolving gate thing you're supposed to climb, might recce that part of the route next year. Oh bollocks, I'm talking about next year, time to stop.
Well done all, great performances all round, pretty hot day, hats off to you all. Well done retaining the team title as well.
CAAC just about dominate this event now, and these are excellent results all round, especially in the heat. Poor Nick seemed slightly delirious at the top of Braid, clearly suffering, whereas Grant looked like the 'devil' was chasing him-turned out it was only Chris! 4 sub 1hr 50s by club participants has to be a record Bob? Scott had the smile of the day, but well done all of you.
Indeed we do have a new club record. Daves 1:41 is the fastest ever. In fact we have only broken the 1:50 barrier 9 times so 4 of them in 1 year is excellent. The only person apart from the 4 this year to be in that elite bunch is Keith who now drops to 3rd in the rankings. So its Dave, COB, Keith, Grant and Tommo in that order. And now that he is an "oldie" Grant can also claim the Vet record.
And just outside the 1:50 is Martin Caldwell who posted a 1:51 back in 1995. I think he has the record for most attempts at the 7 Hills. I know of at least 11 times he has done it.
found some photaes!
http://www.seven-hills.org.uk/photos.asp
Well done our squad for excellent times, places and a decisive victory in the teams.
Bob is right, I have completed the course 13 times, but I have no time for two of them.
I see I haven't broken the 2 hours for 6 years. Better luck next time?