It is said that like Rome, Edinburgh is built on seven hills. The hills is question are;· Calton Hill· Arthur’s Seat· Braid Hill· Blackford Hill· Corstorphine Hill· Craiglockhart Hill· Castle RockI believe this claim of “Edinburgh being built on seven hills” to be quite tenuous. For example, the New Town was completed in about 1850 and prior to that Edinburgh was built on 1 hill – Castle Rock. Expansion of the city limits in the 20th century meant that we could now include the likes of Corstorphine Hill into the mix, and I am sure that if we are including Braids and Craiglockhart, then there must be a number of other hills that are being ignored. Anyway, “built on seven hills” sounds good and since when did anyone ever let the facts get in the way of a good sound bite? Maybe we could steal some other Roman wisdom?“When in Edinburgh, do as the Edinburghers do”“Edinburgh wasn’t built in a day.”“Edinburgh was founded by twin brothers raised by a pack of wild haggis.”What the seven hills claim does do, is give us an excuse (if one were ever needed) to run up them all. There is an actual 7 Hills Race that takes place every year, and on Wednesday myself and an intrepid bunch of nutters ran that route.
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| My Garmin's representation of The Seven Hills |
Three of us including Keith whose idea this was left work at 17:15 and headed out to bag our first hill, Calton Hill which was close by and relatively (all things are relative) small. I have ran up this hill many times and to consider it small goes against the grain somewhat. It is steep, but there is pavement all the way to the top. The top of Calton Hill affords you the standard view of Edinburgh that has been photographed more often than Cindy Crawford. It is however photographed, painted, and admired for a reason, it’s spectacular. When we got to the top the sun was just beginning to set. At about 17:30 on Wednesday, this was the most recent in a series of 1,000,000,000 versions of this photo.
It's a classic for a reason
The three that started from work became seven as we met the other nutters. Once we had gathered our little group together, we headed off downwards in the direction of Arthur’s Seat.
Two down - Arthur's Seat
Arthur's Seat - View from the top
The run to Blackford Hill was fine and my legs were still strong. This was to be the last hill that we completed in anything like daylight and it was about now that I really regretted not having brought my head torch. I was ill equipped generally and had grossly underestimated the difficulty of the run. I had no torch, no food, and no water. Blackford Hill was a relatively (there’s that word again) gradual climb, and at the top one of our group dropped out (Caroline). It was always her plan to drop out at this stage due to a sore calf and fear of a stress fracture, so fair enough really! There are stairs (of sorts) leading down from Blackford Hill and in order to try to speed up my descent I avoided the stairs and went down the sides. This was to be a mistake as only a superhuman display of balance and agility on my part avoided my slipping and finishing at the bottom in very good time but on my backside!
Three down - Blackford Hill (probably)
Blackford Hill - View from the top
Team photo on Blackford Hill Next up was a short jog up to Braid Hill. It was by now getting properly dark and some of the group had turned on their head torches. I could still see in the dim light but knew that very soon I would need the help of my better prepared fiends. Braid Hill was quite steep but quite short. We reached the top without any problem and had a pit stop to shove some chocolate into our faces. Thanks to Keith for donating a row of his Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut to my cause! We were now four hills into the seven and I was feeling fit and smug. They say that pride comes before a fall…
Four down - Braid Hill Next up was Craiglockhart Hill. Frankly I can’t remember anything about this hill. I’d never been here before so had no reference point and it was dark. I vaguely recall the ascent being wide and gradual and I don’t think there was a cairn or trig point at the top. I think there was a bench and a barking dog.
Five down - Craiglockart Hill The next stretch was the lowlight of the run. The run from Craiglockhart to Corstorphine was long, boring, and draining. As I mentioned, I had no idea where we were and was struggling to imagine how we would get to Corstorphine from here. The answer was….eventually. The route took us along paths that went by The Corn Exchange, Asda, and generally running along the side of roads and trying not to get run over when we needed to cross. We just about managed this. During this stage of the run, I was tired physically and mentally. I had recently ran up Corstorphine Hill and knew that what lay ahead was a pretty steep and slippy climb. The descent of Craiglockhart hadn’t improved my mood as without a torch I struggled and was so slow I nearly lost the group but thankfully Brian realised I was struggling and waited for me.After what seemed like an age we reached Corstorphine Hill and the climb wasn’t as steep as I remembered. We approached it from a different side and so essentially started the ascent from half way up. It was pretty spooky at the top and I was trying not to think of The Blair Witch Project. I failed! I stuck close to Carrie and her head torch so as to avoid taking a tumble over rocks or tree roots.
Six down - Blair WitchCorstorphine HillI wasn’t exactly happy to hear the discomfort of my friends, but some moaning had started from some others and I have to admit I was relieved that it wasn’t just me that was starting to struggle. I knew that we were six down and had one to go so felt motivated to keep going. The good news was that we had only one hill to go, that we were going to be running under street lights from now on, and that the last hill was a short climb. The bad news was that it was miles away and that we would just about have to run past my flat to get there!I was flagging seriously on the way to Castle Rock. When we reached my flat I really wanted to DNF and go home. I was perfectly happy to fail at this stage feeling that I wasn’t wimping out, but that I had given it my all. I was inevitably pushed on by my friends and was told in no uncertain terms that not doing hill number seven was not even an option. They told me the usual lies that runners tell one another, “you’ll be fine, it’s not far.” We were practically standing outside my flat. I know where the castle is. I know how far it is!So onwards and upwards (literally). When the castle came into sight perched on top of that famous volcanic rock, it looked like Mount Everest. I was nearly there but it looked as far away as ever. Somehow, legs burning, chest tight, I made it to the top and completed The Seven Hills route of 26km (16 miles) in a respectable 3hrs 5mins.
Seven down - Castle Rock
One final jog (aaarrghh!) to the pub for a well deserved pint (or two) before heading home. In the pub the barmaid took one look at us and asked how far we had cycled. Cycled? CYCLED? Did we look like cyclists? Couldn’t she tell the difference between the sensible polyester and lycra clad runner, and the ridiculous fluorescent spandex of the cyclist? I very nearly suggested out of pure indignation that we took our business elsewhere, but I was REALLY thirsty. Thanks very much to Chuck for picking us up and taking us home. I have rarely appreciated a lift so much. I’m glad that I did this run but it hasn’t inspired me to run The Seven Hills Race. Maybe doing the route again in a few months in daylight would be better?
Team photo outside Edinburgh Castle
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| Not a cyclist |
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| The End |
EpilogueMy original plan was to go back to work after finishing the run and shower there and get changed back into my suit. I was so tired in the end that I didn’t, so I woke up in the morning suit-less and ran into work! I am very glad I did. I ran a 7.5km route along Water of Leith…..and I saw a kingfisher! I have never seen one before but I’ve always wanted to. I hoped one day I would be lucky enough to see one in real life and on this morning I did. I say the incredible iridescent blue as it flew by and I thought it looked like a kingfisher. It landed on the other side of the river on a tree, about 20 or 30 metres away. As it turned to profile I could see the recognisable orange breast and long beak. Stunning! Amazing! I knew it was too far away to take a photo with my iPhone, but ever time I crept a bit closer to try, it flew to the next tree in the opposite direction. It was watching me watching it! So if I hadn’t ran the seven hills I wouldn’t have seen this amazing bird. What a city I live in where you can climb seven hills in 3 hours, then run along a river and see kingfisher. I wonder if you can do that in Rome? I am so lucky.
Have you seen this bird? I have :-)
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