KYQ4: Scottish Hill Running Relay Championships

Sunday, 30 August 2026

Scottish Hill Running Relay Championships

Comrie Relay Championship HQ

It was late August, a mellow, sunny day that was just perfect. Gregor collected me for the journey up to Comrie, a picture-book village on the edge of the Highlands set in glorious landscapes. The Comrie Relay Races have been going for 19 years and were selected to host the Scottish Hill Running Relay Championships. The setting was mesmeric on the edge of the village, at the cricket ground with the pavilion built on a south-facing slope that was nature's design for basking in the sun as autumn beckoned.

It was Gregor's first hill race. He had been invited to join the new Queen's Park Athletic Club, which had broken away from Shettleston Harriers earlier in the year. He had joined the previous week and been selected to run the first leg for the V40 team. It was serendipity that we had lived next to Queen's Park for seven years. In the year before Gregor was born, I started running competitively again, beginning with a half marathon in June 1983 and then the Glasgow Marathon in September. My training was largely around Queen's Park most evenings, trying to achieve a PB on every run.

Gregor had raced for ten years entirely on the roads; he had run 2 hours 21 minutes for the marathon and been selected to represent Scotland at International Events. He had always enjoyed running in the hills but was hesitant about competing in hill races. After his 420-mile run up Scotland earlier this year, much of it on trails and in the mountains, he was open to giving hill running a go when Queen's Park called.

When Gregor went for his warm-up before the start of the race, I set off for the first changeover point, walking up Glen Lednock on the Laggan trail, initially on the route of the first leg of the race, then climbing more directly through the spectacular native woodland and crossing the River Lednock on the Shaking Bridge. Across the river was the Lord Melville Monument at the top of Dun Mor. To the north were the craggy slopes below Ben Chonzie that were ascended on the third leg of the relays.

The handover station was buzzing with 50 or so runners from all the teams who were to take over on the second leg. I met Matt Ogston, an old running partner, who was a marshal, and Malcolm Patterson, the coach of Queen's Park AC. He was one of many who had transferred from Shettleston Harriers and had a clear objective to become a competitor to the all-conquering Carnethy Hill Running Club, Scotland's premier hill running club. He seemed to know a lot about me from other runners I had competed with in the 1980s and 90s. I have always regretted that I didn't have the time to train and race for hill running and only competed in about ten races, although I did manage a dozen 2-day mountain marathons. The enthusiasm of the hill runners today reminded me of the easy friendship and companionship that is given in hill running circles.

Gregor made a good start on the first leg, plugging his transponder chip at the handover station in third place, a couple of minutes behind Carnethy. He decided to run up the Glen to the next handover point to support his team. I returned down the west side of the River Lednock and called in for a coffee in Comrie before returning to the cricket ground in time for the finish. Carnethy won in 3 hours and 5 minutes, a new course record. Queen's Park men's team came second and the women's team third, second, whilst the V40 team were the first vets team home.

The afternoon sun was beating down on the slope in front of the cricket pitch as the runners arrived and soaked up the sun and some seriously good food served by Strathearn Harriers. A perfect place to enjoy a grand day out and the companionship of the hill running fraternity, complete with happy children and well-exercised dogs. The last team arrived in just less than 5 hours as the prize-giving began. Every team that came in got a rousing reception from the crowd on the hill. There were no fools here.