Creag Choinnich Hill Race

The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that I’ve moved back to the frozen north having swiftly concluded that I am indeed a country bumpkin and compared with Edinburgh, Aberdeen seems almost village like and will do me until I can find the ideal lifestyle to fit my personality eg lighthouse keeper on a remote Hebridean island or yak herder in the Himalayas. Sure, Edinburgh is a “happening” place, loads of things going on and whatnot but I couldn’t stand the noise, the bustle, the traffic, the crowded pavements, the crowds of people. Mainly the crowds of people. In fact, I really couldn’t stand the crowds of people. I’m not really a people person. In fact, on the scale of country bumpkins I am heading towards hermit status at an alarmingly fast rate. So, I clicked my heels together three times and hey, presto! I arrived back in Aberdeen just in time for some midsummer races. The summer nights of the north of Scotland when it never truly gets dark….

Actually, it was pretty cloudy and chilly for the race with grey clouds gathering ominously overhead, a typical Aberdeenshire summer evening really, with runners turning up wearing long sleeve tops. Ah, its good to be home.

Race Registration was in Braemar castle. Ok, now for the history bit. Feel free to ignore it….

This location for a castle first came to prominence in the 8^th century when Angus McFergus, King of the Picts built a fort on the site called Doldencha which became an important stronghold controlling one of the main fords or crossing points across the River Dee and he also founded a chapel dedicated to St Andrew located in Braemar’s burial ground. In the 10^th Century Kenneth the Second visited Braemar on a hunting expedition and gave the hill of Crag Choinnich its name – “Kenneth’s Hill”

In 1060 Malcolm the Second visited, also on a hunting expedition and held a “great gathering”, maybe a forerunner of today’s Braemar gathering, where prizes were awarded for various feats of speed, skill and strength including the hill race, the first winner being one McGregor of Ballochbine and this was the means by which the king selected his swiftest messengers. Going by my performance on the night its unlikely I would have been selected for that particular royal duty.

Kindrochit castle on the banks of the river Cluanie in Braemar was built by Malcolm and it gradually took over from Doldencha as the seat of power. Braemar stood at the convergence point of many important routes such as the Cairnwell Pass (now the A93) Jocks Road, the Lairig Ghru, Across the Mounth to Angus etc.

The present Braemar castle was constructed by the 18^th Earl of Mar in 1628 as a hunting lodge, and then forfeited by the government after the 1715 uprising in which the then earl of mar was a key figure. It was bought by John Farquharson and it was used as a garrison for troops until 1831 when it was returned to the Farquharson clan and restored, even hosting Queen Victoria there when she attended the Braemar Gathering*.

The Castle also featured in Andy Stewart's video for a “Scottish soldier”. Its available on youtube if you really have nothing better to do. If you don’t, then now is a good time to find something better to do.

Right, back to the race…We were led to the start line right at the foot of the hill over the road from the castle by a lone piper. It’s a brutal uphill start by anyone’s standards and I couldn’t help wondering if king Malcolm let his runners start at the castle to give them a bit of a run in to the hill to let them warm up. I soon warmed up was we climbed the awkward sized steps, and followed the trail passing through the gate in the fence and into the woods, past the ever present Christmas tree. The dry weather had left the paths dry and dusty which was definitely preferable to trying to tackle this race in a wet weather mud bath. I seemed to be going well enough at this point and over took a few on my way to the summit. As it is such a short race we seemed to wind our way up to the summit very quickly before being directed downwards by the summit marshall. I wonder if the hill was in use as a fort or similar in the centuries before Malcolm came along with his early hill race? The summit certainly has a feeling of ancient times about it or is that my over active imagination? I blame the solstice.

The descent is equally short, sharp and brutal at one point featuring a sharp right turn at 90 degrees (I remembered almost not quite making the turn in a previous race) and then bouncing down those awkward sized steps towards the finish. I was glad to reach the finish before too many people had gone past me. Then it was into the castle for some top-notch tea and cakes which is a pretty plush location for a post hill race prize giving by anyone’s standard. A stone spiral staircase led up to a large room painted deep red in true Victoriana Style, lined with dark mahogany furniture, thick rugs on the stone floor (I hope the runners wiped their feet!) and the obligatory stags heads mounted on wooden plinths adorning the walls. At one point during proceedings a large grandfather clock chimed causing one runner to enquire whether it was Alan Smith’s stopwatch.

It was a late finish and a late return to Aberdeen, and that was without stopping for chips on the way home. A long way to go for such a short race but it was definitely worth it as it’s a great wee summer midweek hill race in a great location and, unlike my last race in the central belt, you could enter on the night and there wasn’t a thousand other runners!

(*the history bit has been lifted from various websites such as wikipedia (so it must be true) and "braemarhistory.co.uk. I am not sure if this is classed a referencing historical sources or a disclaimer)