2025 SHR Championship 

The SHR Committee are pleased to be able to announce the races that have been chosen for the SHR Championships for 2025.

We have listened carefully to feedback from this year and have selected races that we hope will ensure everyone who wants to contend for the coveted mug or indeed to be crowned Scottish Hill Running Champion, has the opportunity to do so.

We have also developed some good practice guidelines for Hill Race organisers, that bring together issues raised from this year's SHR Women's Participation in Hill Racing survey and also address environmental issues. These have been shared with all Championship race organisers and we hope will be help to improve accessibility for all. The guidelines are attached for information below.

For 2025 we have a mixture of great races throughout the year, most of which should have enough spaces for those who want to contend.  There are no guarantees, so make sure you get them in the diary and keep a close eye on announcements from us or your club for entries opening. There should be no issues for those wanting to complete the 4 out of 6 required to contend for the championships with 2 long, 2 short and 2 medium available to chose from, as long as you are on the ball and get your entries in on time!

2025 Races

12 April               Screel (S)

3 May                   Stuc a’ Chroin (L)

1 June                  Yetholm (M)

3 August             Glenshee 9 (L)

6 September      Ben Nevis (M)

4 October           Morven (S) - this will be followed by a social gathering and awards so why not make a weekend of it...more details to follow.

Good Practice Guidelines for Race Organisers 

- Number of Participants - SHR Champs races can be really popular and it's important as many who want to run them get to. Ideally you should be able to manage 200-250 so think about the facilities you need and if you do need to impose parking restrictions then enforce car sharing (see below). If you need to run a ballot speak to someone at the SHR to advise on how to make this fair. 

- Cut Offs - please review your cut off times and make sure they are reasonable for different age groups and for men and women. Have a look at recent average finishing times for different categories of runners to help inform this.

- Start Times - consider offering an earlier start time for slower runners. This has worked well at several races and means that all runners feel part of the experience. This doesn't necessarily mean having marshals out earlier, but will definitely help them get off the hill sooner.

- Race Descriptions - offer clear race descriptions that help to inform participants if this is a race for them. Include the sort of terrain, elevation and if the course will be flagged or not. The more clear and straightforward detail you can offer the better.

- Public Transport / Car Sharing - let people know what the public transport options are. If you have parking restrictions, you can impose a minimum number of people per car. These don't just help logistics but also the planet.   

- Environmental - talking planet, please try not to use single use plastic bottles. These are becoming rarer at races. getting people to bring their own mug / using recyclables would be far preferable.

- Toilet / Changing - please ensure you have adequate facilities for men and women and advertise what will be available. A lack of facilities will put some women off participating.