We are proud to announce that we will be hosting one of the UK National Championship AL races and a Scottish Championship Race on 6th May 2017.

This will be the first year that we have hosted the British Championships on the new site, and we hope that it gives both spectators and runners a much better experience.

We will be supported by the many marshals, supporters and sponsors over the many years who have given their time and resources to help us. We welcome also our new marshals, supporters and sponsors.

This year, we are also proud to announce that Distillers   are sponsoring us for some of our race prizes. You can read about the exciting opening of their new distillery  on the island of Raasay here

The race is run annually on the Saturday before May Day Bank Holiday Monday. This year, however, as it coincides with the 3 Peaks Race at the end of April, the race is taking place one week later on 6th May, 2017.

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 in 2015 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. We will continue to try and improve the Start / Finish area and have already expanded it quite a bit in order to accommodate more supporters and a better infrastructure.

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 last 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 repellent 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 beginning of April. Pre-registration finishes on Wednesday, 3rd May at 20:00, but you will still be able to register in the Inn at Strathyre Hotel at the South end of the village from 10:30am - 12:00pm, admission fee is £10. 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 marshalled race I've been to" (we did check, they had been on more than one)

Note that as before (2017), the prize-giving will take place on the field. In case of inclement weather we are setting up an extra Marquee but as of Sunday 30th April, the weather is looking very favourable for next weekend.

There is The Village Shop where sandwiches and groceries can be bought. The Broch cafe and the Inn both serve good food. The Munro Hotel and Ben Sheann Hotels have also recently re-opened where they serve food and drink.

One word of warning though - traffic through this popular tourist area, and especially Callander (A84 Stirling - Strathyre ) can be very busy at the weekends so please allow an extra 30 - 60 minutes to pass through. There will be a significant amount of traffic from those attending the race as well, and traffic in Callander can be a nightmare. Other routes to Strathyre (avoiding Callander) are available.

The race starts at 1300 hrs.

We look forward to seeing you this year.

Finlay Wild holding the Stuc Targe

In the 29th Stuc a' Chroin 5000 race, a UK Championship Race for the first time on the new course, 359 runners set off yesterday at 13:00 in our largest turnout ever. Conditions were the driest in years and everything pointed to a cracking day.

In the Male Seniors category, (prizes donated by  Distilleries), Finlay Wild of Lochaber came in first with an excellent time of 2:08:44, 3½ minutes ahead of Andrew Fallas of Carnethy (02:12:16) who in turn was 9 seconds ahead of Carl Bell from Keswick (02:12:25).

Findlay’s time was an excruciating 11 seconds outside of the new course record of 2:08:33.

In the Female category, Georgia Tindley from Hunters Bog Trotters came in at 02:37:48, (a fantastic new course record, congratulations Georgia), a tight 4 seconds ahead of Lou Roberts of Ambleside AC (02:37:42) and in third place was Kelli Roberts of Ambleside AC (02:43:10). Apologies for the mix-up with these results.

The prizewinners are as follows (Full set of results posted below)

TOP PRESS

STOP PRESS

Competitors are reminded that the race is a category AL race and as such, the organisers expect all mandatory equipment to be carried. Competitors will be required to show mandatory equipment at registration, and checks will be made prior to the race. Non-compliant competitors will be invited to withdraw from the race. (See the Registration page for more details)