On a sunny evening in Perthshire, two eager Maryhill Harriers lined up alongside 120 east coast hill runners to take part in the 4 mile Kinnoull Hill race. The race began on the street beside the Branklyn Gardens in Perth and then headed up the nice trail path up to the folly at the top of the hill. The path narrowed quickly and so there was quite a bit of elbowing and apologising for the first few minutes until we spread out a bit. Steve quickly got ahead of me but I sat back and took it easy going up the steep stretches. I felt quite good and didn’t walk at all and so was gradually picking off the people ahead of me. On the last steep section before the top of the hill, I was able to over take Stephen, and at this point you got a breathtaking view over the Tay valley towards Dundee. After that we began the lovely 2 miles decent around the back of the hill which was an undulating ride through woodlands. I was really enjoying this bit as we had to negotiate a fallen tree, roots and the twisting and turning route through the trees in the glorious sunshine. I had got myself behind a couple of guys and for a while we took turns to lead the group, but as I felt we were getting closer to home, we caught up with some other guys but I was determined to push on a bit faster, and overtook a few people. I was conscious that Stephen was probably going to thunder passed me on the final downhill stretch and so I fought my fears of taking a tumble, swept away the sweat and snot from my eyes and face, and just bombed it as fast as I could. I knew that once I got to tarmac that it was only a couple of hundred yards down the road and so I went as fast as my wee legs could go, cheered on by a few groups of spectators, and my dad who had been enrolled as a marshall at the final corner. I managed a sprint finish and then was able to watch Steve battle a few other runners to the finish.
I would highly recommend this race to anyone!
1 Jamie Crowe Dundee Hawkhill M 0:26:42
28 Alison McGill Fife AC F 0:31:41
51 Caroline Jones Maryhill Harriers F 0:34:06
59 Stephen Jones Maryhill Harriers M 0:34:50
