On Saturday 15th November the Edinburgh University Hare & Hounds (Haries) running club hosted one of their annual races, The Braid Hills Cross Country.
This cross-country-cum-hill-race held on Braid Hills, a set of rolling, heather-covered hills between Blackford Hill, Observatory Hill and the Pentland Hills to the south of the city, attracts numerous University and club runners from all corners of the U.K. This year’s edition was no exception,with 171 finishers in the women’s race, and a further 250 finishers in the men’s race.
The course was extremely muddy this year, after heavy downpours the week before. However this did not dampen spirits, especially amongst Edinburgh University runners, with a record turnout of 31 Haries in the women’s race.
In this race, the Hare and Hounds team claimed 2nd place in the overall standings, just behind the Edinburgh Alumni running club Hunters Bog Trotters (HBT), despite having 10 runners in the top 30. Women’s Captain Georgia Tindley claimed 3rd place in the process, having summited the course in first to unfortunately losing out to GB orienteer Tessa Hill (1st) and Rachel Smirthwaite (2nd) of HBT.
In the men’s race, the club also took 2nd overall team place, packing well to beat off the challenge of the other university teams such as Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle. Although the men also lost out to a very strong HBT, they placed a massive 37 points ahead of 3rd place team, St. Andrew’s University.
The race was won by Grant Sheldon of Stirling University, with the first Edinburgh University finisher being GB hill runner Andrew Lawler who took 4th place overall.
