Reports:
We’d also like to acknowledge the welcome given by the other teams. The camaraderie is what makes the whole thing worthwhile. Camaradie is key, and so is preparation.
I couldn’t take a nice couple from York to The Pub. Well, I was going to take them to seven pubs, just not that one called The Pub. My memories of the place from last 7H7B were of it having a weird atmosphere, poor beer selection, and slightly dodgy looking clientele (not only those in running gear), so better to avoid it. I also suggested going to a nice pub in Morningside instead of cans of Belhaven Best in a golf club, which they were quite happy with too.
When I knew we were going to have a mixed team I did look at previous times to see what the record might be for that. 3:39 seemed within reach for our group even if we did take a longer route and enjoy drinking nicer beer. Unfortunately we were a couple of minutes outside of that, probably lost right at the beginning as we got stuck behind other teams in Ensign Ewart for at least 3 minutes before being served. Ah well, we had a good time and that was the main aim, plus we beat the sailors, something that became a target as we kept bumping into them and receiving “encouragement”. Definitely succeeded in having a good range of beer with no repeats: Stewart’s Jack Back, Cromarty Hit The Lip, Guinness, Stewart’s Pentland IPA, Inveralmond Ossian, Stewart’s 80/-, Fyne Ales Jarl.
Thanks to Jim and all involved, put 15th March in your diary if you like this sort of thing as 7 Hills 7 Stouts will be back, or take a look at the 7 Hills Marathon Challenge. /running/local-run-routes/7hills
Jeff
7 Hills 7 Beers runners on top of Blackford Hill – including Dutch runners!
Being new to hill running I asked to be teamed up with somebody who had a plan, so I was happy to be put with veteran Mark Hartree and young contender Thomas Wright. We started well with Mark kindly offering at our first pub, to jump behind the bar and serve us our beers if the bar staff didn’t get a move on. We decided to drink halves and quickly settled into a pattern with Tom leading the way, getting called back by Mark when he took a wrong turn, and me doggedly following behind gasping for breath and cutting corners. Mark led us up all the hero lines – straight up the steep side of Craiglockhart hill, wading across the burn at the Hermitage, jumping the wall at the back of Pollock halls and climbing straight up and then sliding down the rock face at Arthurs Seat. This was the first time I had run further than a half marathon and Tom revealed this was the first time he had drunk 3 and ∏ pints. Despite our relative inexperience we seemed to be making good time by my standards, but I could sense Mark wanted more. Perhaps it was the shouts of “Where are you, Tom, you donut!” and “Stop feeling sorry for yourself!” that kept me going. Finishing in 3 hours 22 minutes and avoiding a visit to A&E count amongst my greatest achievements. I vow to drink pints next time.
Ivar Bundulis
More photos…