Lairig Ghru hill Race 2021

A total of 212 runners took to the start line of this years Lairig Ghru Hill race in what was another waved start format. The weather was perhaps slightly on the warmer side of ideal, but on the plus I saw some wonderful tan lines amongst the finishers. There was a strong contingent of both male and female runners this year with times that in the past would have secured a win, not even making top 3.

On the ladies side Hollie Orr took the win, a step up from her 2nd place last year, in a

fantastic 3.44.21. Anwen Darlington (Dundee road runners) took second in 3.53.01 with Kirsty Dickson (Carnethy) rounding the top 3 in 3.56.04.

Also getting in under the 4 hour mark was Sally Wallis (Deeside) claiming the F40 title and 4th lady overall. More importantly though was winning the Wallis family trophy beating her husband by 2 mins.

F50 was Sarah Sheridan in a fantastic 4.31.56. Sue Savege (Deeside) rounded up the ladies results taking the F60 prize in 5.49.29

On the Men’s side Deeside’s Robbie Simpson took his second win in a row, this time breaking the 3 hour barrier in 2.59.10 (only the second person to do so), but still 1 min short of the race record, next year????

Second place Rowan Boswood (Carnethy) sneaked in an earlier start time keeping us on our toes fresh from the drive over the Lecht. He secured a 20 min pb in 3.05.03.

Third was Fraser Stewart of Cambuslang in 3.11.02.

Jethro Lennox (Shettleston) put in strong performance to finish just 3 seconds behind the M40 record in 3.20.36.

Gary Fraser (Ochills) took first M50 just under the 4 hour mark in 3.57.41, only 90 seconds ahead of the second M50.

Finally, in his first opportunity to put his new M60 status to the test, the legend that is Alan Smith (Deeside) broke the M60 course record in an amazing 4.06.11.

Team prizes:

Male Team - Carnethy (Rowan Boswood, Eoin Lennon, Iain Whiteside)

Female team - Deeside Runners (Sally Wallis, Kirsty Campbell, Ros Baxter)

Can I once again take the opportunity to thank everyone that helped on the day. This has been echoed by some of the racers who have asked for special mention to the runners, marshals and spectators who helped them after a number of injuries. I am happy to say all are now patched up and on the road to next years race.

The waved start format was well received. Can I stress, however, to those reading who were unable to turn up on the day to try in future to let race organisers know. With the waved format we begin a race before knowing how many are actually taking part. Keeping track of total race numbers and communicating “did not starts” to marshals across an area with limited phone signal was a challenge. We had over 50 no shows on the day, that’s a lot of bib numbers to follow up on!!! Much time was taken both during and after the race to ensure we had all runners accounted for and safely home.

On a positive note, however, it was great to see so many familiar and new faces out there racing again. The SHR community is such an inclusive and supportive group and it makes organising races like this both great fun and a pleasure.

Looking forward to seeing you all next year.

Katie Henderson (Race Organiser)

Race results are on the SHR results tab.