Dollar Hill race, organised by Ochil Hill Runners, covers a 9.5mile route with a 960metre climb. There were exactly 100 runners this year. The race starts from the Dollar Academy sports ground pavilion and climbs up through a forest walk past Castle Campbell. The first hill was absolute torture; it was long and very steep and the hot sun beating down made it really tough. However once the summit was reached the route flattened out and became run-able, the temperature cooled a little with help of a breeze making it more comfortable. The views from here looked across the Forth Valley South and North across Glen Devon and beyond were spectacular. I should’ve done a ‘Stephen’ and stopped mid-race to take photos!
Despite the first tough hill it was a really enjoyable race; after reaching the summit the route flattened out with only a couple of much shorter less steep climbs which were split with a nice long and sweeping downhill. Then after the last summit is was downhill all the way back into the forest walk and on to the finish line at the sports field for tea and cake. I completed the race in 2hours 1 minute, online results still awaited.
