Results : The Ben Sheann Hill Race Wednesday 15th June 2016

In a closely fought contest, James Espie from Deeside Runners, came in front man at the 28th Ben Sheann Hill Race with a time of 26:46, Sam Alexander from Westerlands came in 2nd (27:02), just squeezing in ahead of local man Stephen Rawlinson from Lochtayside (27:09).

For the females, Jill Stephen, Hunters Bog Trotters, came in 1st on 33:11, Sarah MacKenzie, Lochaber, 39:58, and Shelie Mathieson, (unattached) came in 3rd on 45:07

Category results as follows (full results below)

A light drizzle just before the race and wet conditions over the previous days made the going a bit slippery underfoot, but there were no injuries and the finishing time was just outside the course record of 26:32.

Many thanks to all our marshals, supporters, helpers and sponsors for your support this year, and the Inn at Strathyre for their support in all our events.

The Ben Sheann Hill Race Wednesday 15th June 2016

Beinn Sheann, Ben Shian, Beinh an t-Sidhein, however you spell it, there's a race up it on Wednesday 15th June. Gaelic for 'Mountain of the Fairies', you still have to be tough to run it - this is the stocky little brother of the Stuc a' Chroin 5000.

What better way to spend an hour than a trip up Ben Sheann on a beautiful summers evening in June. You can do a full days work, drive to Strathyre, see some mates, run up Ben Sheann and down again, pick up your prize, sup a well deserved ale or vino, and head home. And ... it's still light, so if these light summers evenings are keeping you awake, this is the perfect antedote.

Registration is from 18:00 at the Inn and Bistro Strathyre till 19:15, then a wander up to the starting line a short walk away. The klaxon, starting pistol or whatever we're using this year will signal the start of the race at 19:30.

Entry forms will be available at Registration, or you can save some hassle by downloading from here (doc) (pdf) and filling it in before you get to Registration. Great value at £5 for over 18s, and £1 for under 18s. Over 90s can go free.

Described by Scottish Hill Racing as "A micro classic. A small race with a big feel", this year's race will follow the same route as last year. The route is as follows -

Leave from No 2 Keip Road, turn up above "Mary's garage" and go up old landrover track to 1st forestry road. Turn left along road approx 60m, turn right up in forest ride. Traverse up hill and exit forest south of timber operations and follow route on map to summit. Loop round hill top and pick up same route to return to bottom. The race is to be held on Wednesday the 17th of June, 2015 at 7:30pm, registration will be on the day at The Inn from 6:00pm. The race start is a short distance from the registration point so registration will close at 7:15pm to ensure everyone is at the start in plenty of time.

Registration Form can be downloaded here - pdf or Word ...

Scottish Athletics Race Permit can be viewed here ...

The race has public liability insurance and can be viewed here ...

Course Map here ...

Thanks to Chris Upson http://chrisupson.blogspot.com/2010/06/ben-sheann-hill-race.html and his Garmin for this contribution which shows the route and some stats for the race. Click here for the Garmin info

Stuc in the middle - a rose between 2 thorns ...

was how you could describe the weather Friday and Saturday on a clear day with good but snowy conditions, in between the abysmal conditions on Thursday and Sunday.

Understandably, conditions underfoot, (sometimes well underfoot) led to a slower finish, but still a massive effort for Finlay Wild (Lochaber) to finish in 2:25:24, Alisdair Anthony (Ochil) 2:31:21 and Andrew Gilmour (Carnethy) 2:34:45 came 2nd and 3rd. Congratulations to all our prizewinners.

For the females, Charlotte Watson, right (Edin Uni H & H) came in 1st on 3:00:14, just pipping Jill Stephen (Hunters Bog Trotters 3:00:32 & Anwen Darlington (Dundee Road Runners) 3:04:06 came 3rd. Great going again this year for all those 169 runners who set off yesterday at 13:00

Results below and Full results below (Click here for the race survey - all comments appreciated)

On a largely sunny day, although still cold and barely above freezing at the summits, many runners commented on a great run with the course quite wet in places and some snow cover up top.

Quite a few photos were taken by Jason Allardyce, Archie Scott, Tommy Anderson and others, Jason will coordinate and I'll post a shortcut when they're available. It's also worth noting that Greg Boswell, he of grizzly bear attack fame, had a small camera crew filming him on the road back to fitness. Nice one Greg and hope full fitness returns soon!

Many thanks to so many people who contributed this year and every year - Glen Ample Estate for letting us run on their land, Mike Holliday for getting a lot of water around the mountain, arranging access, ferrying people around and generally watching over us, Forestry Commission for letting us run on their land, Inn at Strathyre for their great contribution on all the events leading up throughout the year, hosting the marshal meetings and providing soup and sustenance for the runners and marshals and revellers.

Thomas Allan & Son (Plumbers), Kingshouse Travel, Sula Furnishings, The Inn & Bistro Strathyre. Stirling Stoves. Immervoulin Caravan Park. Strathyre Cleansing. Village Shop Strathyre. Airlie House B&B,  M&M Timber, Aitchison Enterprises, The Braes Farming Co. KPs DIY. Lochside Cottages. Ian Brydie Building Services. Heroncraft Scotland, RTA Doune, S Carmichael & Sons (Comrie), Roll On Flooring, Crystal Tea room (Crieff), The Therapy Room without whose support we could not do without. Thanks also to Pete Bland Sports for their support over the years and help recently despite their devastation in the floods in Cumbria last year.

Of course, eternally grateful to the infamous marshals and supporters who dish out water, jelly babies, encouragement and humour to the runners, registration, race finish, soup dispensers and massagers (Jim and Janette at the Therapy Room, Callander) at the race finish.

Finally, thanks to all the runners for turning up, of all ages and degrees of fitness, without whom there would not be a race to run.

We hope to see you next year

PS Remember our next race (Ben Sheann) Wed, June 15 for a quick midweek jaunt.

Full Results

Committee Members From left

Graeme Courtney (Chairman), Steve Respinger (Secretary), Catriona MacGeoch, Jim Heron, Davey Allan (Treasurer), Dougie Aitchison, Wullie Dalziel, Ian Brydie

The Stuc a' Chroin 5000 Hill Race, 30th April 2016

The race is run annually on the Saturday before May Day Bank Holiday Monday. This year, it falls on April 30th, 2016.

Called the Stuc a' Chroin 5000 because of its previously approximate total climb (in feet!), the race up until this year was 22k long and the course record is 1:59:22 for the males, and 2:22:47 for the females. The Stuc a' Chroin race has had to undergo a route change because of building development work. These records will now stand as the permanent records due to the change in the course. New records were set last year and stand at (Male) Hector Hains (HBT) 2:08:33, and (Female) Jasmine Paris (Carnethy) 2:40:43. Against our predictions, the new course came in faster than we thought, and the lure of the sub 2 hour record still excites.

Many people have helped with the new sections and we're indebted to all who've sponsored and helped in whatever way they could. It's work in progress at the moment but we hope you like it.

The new course is approximately a 5,000 feet ascent, or 1500 metres, and 20 km long. The changes are only to the start / finish location as well as the initial and last section of the race.

Organised under British Athletic Rules and classed as a Category A Long Hill race, in its 21st Anniversary, it was a British Championship event with over 300 runners and in 2013, hosted one of the Scottish Athletics Championships Long Hill races.

You can see some pictures of the work, some of the people, the old path and the new route here.

Usually blessed with good weather, its timing at the beginning of May does mean that there may be a variety of conditions - consult the forecast before your journey ... and don't forget the midge repellant as well as your mandatory equipment. There will be an up-to-date forecast of local conditions right up to the start on this web site in the Stop Press section opposite.

You can download and complete a registration form from here from the end of April, although you will still have to register in the Inn at Strathyre Hotel at the South end of the village from 10:30am - 12:30pm, admission fee is £8. Mandatory equipment will be checked at Registration. The race is well marked all the way to the top; (note that there may be a limited number of maps available); stewards and water stations are aplenty and well supported by the local community. Renowned for its plentiful supply of water, jelly babies and chocolate all along its 22k, rumours that some runners actually put on weight during the race are to be treated with caution!

Some of the runners comments from the last couple of years

".. privilege of enjoying a well-supported hill race in stunning scenery and immaculate weather ... Many thanks to the organisers of this epic hill run which was well-organised and well-supported. We will definitely be back next year."

"Brilliant views and perfect weather conditions for this (my favourite) hill race."

"Stuc is a great race and is really well supported, I think I managed to eat about a full bag of Jelly Babies and half a bag of Fruit Pastilles dished out by the numerous marshalls."

"Thanks for a great race , the marshalling and organisation was first class as usual and along with the weather made it a great day !"

"despite the torture of running this course again it's still one of my favourite events on the hill race calendar."

"the best organised and marshaled race I've been to" (we did check, they had been on more than one)

Note that this year (2016), the prizegiving will take place on the field. In case of inclement weather we are setting up an extra Marquee

There is The Village Shop where sandwiches and groceries can be bought. The Broch cafe and the Inn both serve good food.

One word of warning though - traffic through this popular tourist area, and especially Callander (A84 Stirling - Strathyre ) can be very busy on Bank Holidays so please allow an extra 30 - 60 minutes to pass through. Other routes to Strathyre are available.

The race starts at 1300 hrs.

We look forward to seeing you this year.

Insurance Cover can be seen here ; Scottish Athletics Permit