Ben Rinnes Race 2025

The Dufftown Highland Games were blessed with pleasant weather on the games field for spectators and ideal coolish conditions for the hill race being dry underfoot with superb visibility. 74 started with a quality mens field containing 5 previous winners.

Deeside's Robbie Simpson was the star of the day setting off in pursuit of the course record he once held and promptly demolished it by 2 and a half minutes coming home in an astounding time of 1:48:55. His final lap of the track was quite a sight being cheered on by the large roaring crowd who had been kept informed of his record breaking aspirations by the compere.

Although running a fast time himself the existing record holder Andy Douglas had to settle for 2^nd with defending champion Fred Davies slicing 6 minutes off his last year’s time to take 3^rd. He did go on to further success in the track races however.

The women’s race wasn't quite so stacked with talent with the mid-race leader Grace Pow having to retire following a nasty fall on Ben Rinnes. This left the door of victory open for the evergreen Angela Mudge to win again, 29 years after her previous triumph. Michelle Slater was 2^nd and first local with Veronique Oldham 3^rd. Thanks must go to off-road vehicle safety group COTAG and other hill marshals plus all the registration and finish on-games field helpers who mucked in and made the race happen.

Graeme Bartlett (Race Organiser)

Full results on the SHR results tab