Junior runs
View the archive page of exploits here. More recent ones below.
Carnethy Hill Running Club and Hill Racing Club takes its lead on child welfare from SAL, in accordance with which, the Club has a Welfare Officer and a Child Welfare & Safeguarding Policy. Contact the club welfare officer for more information.
Please note, children under 18, (whether members or not) are accepted at Carnethy organised events and activities at the organiser’s discretion, and normally only where a parent or legal guardian attends the event or activity and takes responsibility for the child. In case of doubt, please discuss with the event or activity director.
Junior hill racing
There are numerous opportunities for junior runners wanting to race in the Scottish hills.
In the Lothians, Fife and Borders, in 2024, these include:
3 March – Bishop Hill
16 March – Chapelgill
23 March – Birnam
12 June – Turnhouse
14 August – Caerketton
September (TBC) – Caerketton Downhill
2 November – Tinto
These races are organised by local hill running clubs, including Carnethy. Competitive but inclusive, these events are the ideal place for beginner hill runners to race for the first time. Check organisers’ websites to confirm the ages of children permitted to compete.
There is also a Scottish Athletics 2024 Junior League, open to U17 (born 2008-09), U15 (born 2010-11) and U13 (born 2012-13) competitors who are members of Scottish Athletics.
The Junior League comprises the following races:
21 April – Dumyat
28 April – Lomonds Hill Race
11 May – Broughton Heights
15 June – Cornalees Hill Race
22 June – Eildon Junior Race
29 June – Braemar Junior Games
11 August – Cademuir Rollercoaster
21 September – Suidhe Hill Race
For more information, visit Scottish Athletics.
Information about junior hill running and racing can also be found at Scottish Hill Runners.
The Allermuir Junior Trophy will be awarded to the junior runner in the club who has ‘achieved the most in the calendar year, whether that be athletically or through enthusiasm and spirit’.
Previous runs…
Rab Mountain Marathon 2016
My Dad and I did the Rab Mountain Marathon on the weekend of 24 and 25 September. It was in Mallerstang, in the Yorkshire Dales. We’d done the Saunders Mountain Marathon the previous year, so were a bit better prepared. For the Saunders, we were surprised how difficult the navigation was, especially as a lot of it was in the mist. However, for this year’s Rab, the weather was better – although overcast, the cloud was quite high, and we could see where we had to get to. The terrain was a mixture of pleasant, ‘runnable’ grassy slopes, and deep heather with bog. Whilst most people were doing the score classes, we were doing the linear ‘C’ course. This year, we all wore GPS trackers, so all our supporters could follow us live! It also allowed us to see our routes after and see if we made any mistakes. As it happened, navigation was straightforward, and we got to the half-way camp in 14th (out of 29).
Much to Dad’s delight, there was a pub ½ a kilometre from the camp! I’m not sure if the pub was prepared for an influx of sweaty runners all with plastic bags on their feet. We saw some little tables in the pub with ‘Reserved’ signs on them – I hope they weren’t for people looking for a quiet romantic meal!
The hardest part of the whole weekend was trying to sleep. The weather was really windy and rainy and I was worried the tent would fall down. It didn’t, and after an early breakfast of noodles and cup-a-soup, we were ‘running’ again at 7:30. The second day was a lot shorter than the first (15km vs 21km), with less climbing (600m vs 900m), and we were finished by 11:50 – finishing 13th in our class.
Overall, we really enjoyed the weekend, but I wouldn’t have said that at 2am on Sunday morning! We’ll try it (or the Saunders) again next year and try and finish up the finishing order.
The only other Carnethies we met were Alex McVey and John Ryan. They were lying 4th in the long score class at half way, but did even better on the Sunday to make it up to second place (only missing out on first by 14 points!). Well done.
Euan Burns
Caerketton Downhill junior race
Position | Number | Name | Club | Category | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 46 | Dexter Howard | Lasswade | M11 | 02:51 |
2 | 48 | Anna Burnett | Carnethy | F12 | 03:12 |
3 | 96 | Jaye Clark | Unatt | F13 | 03:13 |
4 | 47 | James Burnett | Carnethy | M9 | 03:22 |
5= | 19 | Aedan Contier-Lawrie | Unatt | M12 | 03:44 |
5= | 70 | Ronnie Jones | Carnethy | M10 | 03:44 |
7 | 14 | Connor Lupton | Unatt | M9 | 03:47 |
8 | 49 | Rosie Jones | Carnethy | F11 | 04:12 |
9 | 15 | Fraser Lupton | Unatt | M7 | 04:25 |
10= | 16 | Bel Hubert | Carnethy | F10 | 04:28 |
10= | 98 | Hayden Whitlie | Carnethy | M8 | 04:28 |
12 | 99 | Morgan Whitlie | Carnethy | M5 | 04:38 |
13 | 67 | Emily Burns | Carnethy | F9 | 04:59 |
14 | 17 | Madeleine Hubert | Carnethy | F12 | 05:00 |
15 | 18 | Sam Hubert | Carnethy | M7 | 05:49 |
16 | 63 | Sophie Burns | Carnethy | F6 | 05:52 |
17 | 97 | Solly Jones | Carnethy | M6 | 06:28 |
18 | 30 | Robyn Lupton | Unatt | F6 | 08:17 |
19 | 13 | Conall MacKinnon | Carnethy | M4 | 08:27 |
20 | 53 | Darcy Burns | Carnethy | F4 | 08:51 |
21 | 12 | Rowan MacKinnon | Carnethy | M2 | 09:57 |
Carnethy Junior Run
There’s been a long hiatus in Carnethy Junior runs due to Extremely Complex Technical Issues with my phone (I couldn’t transfer the photos onto my computer). However, I asked my Systems Administrator (Matt), and by deploying the latest technology (a USB cable), I am now back in the web report hot seat. You may breathe a collective sigh of relief, my pretties.
Edinburgh Kilomathon 2016
So called because it doesn’t contain an actual Kilomathon! Just a half (13.1km), quarter (6.55km) and Junior (2.62km).
Archie (aged 9) placed 3rd male in the Junior event (and 4th overall) in 10 m 29s (sub 6.30 pace from the lad!) behind Gregor Collins (aged 11) of Gala Harriers in 9m 15s and Arran Robertson (aged 13) in 9m 23s. First female was Katie Johnson (aged 12) of Edinburgh AC/Team East Lothin in 9m 39s.
There were no doubt some Carnethies among the 2 senior events, but as no clubs were listed I’m not sure. Apologies. David Limmer of Portobello won the 13.1km in 44m 27s, and the 6.55km was won by Iain Craven in 26m 39s. https://www.kilomathon.com/results/
On the subject of juniors, in addition to the calendar of events within SHR for juniors (see http://www.scottishhillrunners.uk/Juniors.aspx), older juniors can also participate in the Scottish Athletics Junior Hill Running League for 2016 under categories of U20, U17 and U15.
The 8 counting races are:
26 Mar – Alex Brett Cioch Mor Junior, Dingwall
24 Apr – Lomonds Junior Races, Falkland
7 May – Ben Lomond Junior, Rowardennan
5 Jun – Saugh Hill, Girvan
5 Jun – Scolty, Banchory
25 Jun – Falkland Hill Race, Falkland
13 Aug – Cademuir Rollercoaster, Peebles
28 Aug – Aberfoyle (JHI Trials), Aberfoyle
Mike Lynch
Scald Law Junior Hill Race & Fun Run
You wait ages for a hill race and then three come along at once with the Scald Law Hill Race, Scald Law Fun Race and the Carnethy 5 all taking place on the same day and sharing part of the race route, facilities, marshals and equipment and the same level of enthusiasm and excitement in all three races.
Its a Carnethy showcase requiring a huge turnout of marshals but providing an occasion where the whole spectrum of runners take part. Despite blizzard conditions on the start line and white out conditions on the tops 12 juniors arrived on the start line with an amazing 8 of those runners being under 12.
Conditions led me to apply the foul weather route whereby all juniors run to the col between Carnethy and Scald Law then return rather than have the under 18s to under 14s run to Scald Law Summit which is actually higher than Carnethy.
Having delayed the start of the senior race to ensure that the last bus had arrived and all those competing in the senior race had made it to the start field, I started the junior races after the senior race to avoid any conflict on the initial ascent. Whilst adults shivered and shuddered in the driving cold and snow and no doubt berated me for the necessary late start, the juniors had snowball fights and built snowmen! Tough or what?
At 13 minutes past the hour Barry Craighead and I started the senior race and it was a seemingly long four minutes wait before we set off the juniors but the right decision as the way the juniors tore off across the bog they would have easily caught the senior tail enders before Charlie’s Loup and the first ascent.
Visibilty was so poor that beyond the Loup all competitors disappeared in the the wall of white and so it wasn’t until the first junior appeared zig-zagging through the gorse on the approach to the bog that the start/finish marshals felt more relaxed. Someone once said that “youth is the pollen which blows through the sky and doesn’t ask why” and they certainly blew through the extreme wind and weather and our partially reduced course and none of them seemed to ask why, it was more why not? First over the line a joyous Joshua some 10 seconds under 14 minutes and first female an annointed Anna only 8 minutes later. With the whole junior field back in around 26 minutes the finish team were greatly impressed. Tremendous running in challenging conditions but everyone of the juniors rose to the challenge… And enjoyed it.
Nick Macdonald
So the results thing…
The main result is that 12 youths dared to turn up and run and revelled in it.
In finishing order they were:
1 | Joshua | Boyle | Ronhill | 13:49 | MU16 |
2 | Charlie | Burnett | Carnethy | 16:10 | MU14 |
3 | Liam | Clark | Aberdeen AC | 17:02 | MU16 |
4 | John | Egmer | Settle Harriers | 17:04 | MU12 |
5 | Matthew | Ross | Carnethy | 18:20 | MU12 |
6 | Duncan | Gorman | Westerlands | 18:46 | MU18 |
7 | Thomas | Ross | Carnethy | 19:28 | MU12 |
8 | Andrew | Nash | Carnethy | 19:55 | MU12 |
9 | Anna | Burnett | Carnethy | 21:10 | FU12 |
10 | Sam | Bartlett | Interlopers | 21:11 | MU12 |
11 | James | Burnett | Carnethy | 23:57 | MU12 |
12 | Kai | Wheeler | Calder Glen Harriers | 26:22 | MU12 |