KYQ4: 199 and Out

It was another gorgeous morning, cool but still, blue skies patterned by nature's artistry of the cirrostratus clouds; creating patterns that blow your mind. It was a significant day, I had finally come to terms with my age and condition. I have always been an optimist, believing that I should be able to continue to do things I had always done. Running all the way up my regular hill, Lime Craig, was proving tricky. I had last done it in 2020. After the lockdown, it was difficult to build up the fitness to run up the steeper sections of the 300-metre hill. I continued to go up three or four times a week once they removed the tapes preventing people from going up hills. Unlike golf, sailing and other high-end outdoor sports that had convinced Boris Johnson to allow them the freedom to roam with impunity, hillwalkers and runners were still deemed to be a danger to social isolation.

The result is that I have been stuck on 199 runs up Lime Craig since my first ascent in 1988. I had intended to donate a bench for the summit on reaching 200 so that I could have rest there during my dotage. I had even spoken to the Forestry Commission to see if they would allow me to transport it up the narrow private track. As it happened, they decided to provide a bench in 2021 and by serendipity I was there on the morning they were installing it. At the time I was going up the hill four or five times a week for my morning exercise. I helped the two forestry workers find the best position so that visitors could enjoy the views westwards along Strathard, Loch Ard and towards Ben Lomond.

I had started to run up the hill from Aberfoyle in 1988 when we moved there from Glasgow. I was a road runner but training for the Snowdonia (Eyri) Marathon which involved 3061 feet of ascent in three major climbs. Two laps of Lime Craig gave me 1800 feet of ascent and 13 miles and became one of my training runs. A year or so later I started hill running and began to run it on Sunday mornings with Matt Ogston, the secretary of the Scottish Hill Runners, who lived nearby. He would sometimes invite his club friends from Hunter's Bogtrotters or Westerlands to join us. They would return to have tea, toast and showers at our house afterwards.

The ascent of Lime Craig became quite competitive and I managed to set the record from the house, a distance of 5.54 kilometres to the summit via Dounans Camp and Braeval. I brought the record down to 23 minutes 42 seconds in 1990 when I was running it 20 times a year. The first section from the house, through the village and Dounans Camp and along the rising trail above the golf course was 3.56 kilometres and a 95-metre climb at a pace of 3 minutes 42 seconds per kilometre. The final steep 2-kilometre section from K corner above Braeval was achieved in 10 minutes 29 seconds at a pace of 5 minutes 15 seconds per kilometre for the 190-metre climb.

Had Strava existed then, it would have been a crown. My time of the final climb from K corner remains only a few seconds short of the present Strava crown held by Gregor. The descent was a different matter. Matt and some of the hill runners were fearless on the initial steep stony path towards the David Marshall Lodge and I lagged behind until the long gentler descent trails when my road running pace pulled them back.

After I gave up racing in 1994, Lime Craig became more of a run for a good day or when I was feeling frisky. The frequency dropped to 5 or 6 runs a year, and the 200 mark became elusive. I ran it occasionally when John visited for the weekend, and my old hill running partner, Keith. On Tuesday evenings after retirement, I sometimes ran it with Angela Mudge's hill running group, and we even went up on Boxing Day morning with hot mulled wine at the summit. Just as important Lime Craig was always a place to walk the children, take visitors or go for an evening walk if I was not feeling like a run after work. Over 300 excursions were made during the 30 years living in Aberfoyle.

Post-COVID and after the move to the new house it became my regular exercise but from the Braeval car park, a 7-mile journey from home and only 2.5 kilometres to the summit but the same final section from K corner. I have made another 400 walks/runs up the hill in the last five years to add to the previous ascents. They have still been timed and with four or five sections of running, I was breaking 30 minutes until the end of last year and managed a best time of 25 minutes. I usually run down taking around 15 minutes for an extended route.

Today was different, I had decided to forget about the time and just enjoy the remarkable Spring scenery. Bluebells, gorse and broom were in flower, the birds provided the chorus and the skies were a kaleidoscope of images. I took photos of the route as a perpetual memory of the backcloth of my life's journey. Lime Craig was where I went to exercise, to reflect, to write talks, to release my endorphins and where I went to find solace on the day that Aileen died.

Despite the perfect morning, there was no one else on the hill today. I reached the top in 39 minutes, it was a breeze and time no longer mattered. This was the day I accepted that 199 was just another number and there was no need to add any more.

The photos below are in order of the ascent and descent.