Sunday 5th July 2026
The annual Seven Hills of Edinburgh returned on a humid, drizzly morning, with hundreds of runners taking on one of the capital’s most iconic and challenging races. Starting from Calton Hill, competitors had to navigate their own route across Edinburgh’s seven hills, covering around 14.3 miles with more than 2,200 feet of climbing, visiting each checkpoint in the correct order. Corstorphine Hill, the second checkpoint, provided a welcome opportunity to refuel before the route continued towards Craiglockhart East.
While the race began with “The Challenge” at 9:45am and “The Race” at 10:15am, the day started much earlier for a fantastic team of volunteers from Craic Squad and the CAAC Juniors. Arriving at 9:00am, they transformed the Corstorphine Hill water station into a lively pit stop, preparing water, juice, Haribos and raisins for the hundreds of runners expected to pass through. World Cup “Hydration Break” – eat your heart out! With music playing and plenty of encouragement on offer, they created a brilliant atmosphere that lifted spirits as much as the refreshments replenished energy.
Just after 10:08am, the first of 476 competitors reached the water station. Over the following hour, a constant stream of runners stopped briefly for a drink, a snack and a few words of encouragement before making the short climb to Corstorphine Tower to punch their race number and continue on towards the third hill.
A huge thank you goes to every volunteer who gave up their Sunday morning to help. Their enthusiasm and teamwork ensured that the runners could keep moving, well-hydrated for the challenging course ahead.
CAAC was also well represented on the course, with several excellent performances.
Julian Barrable finished an outstanding 3rd overall, Kirstin Maxwell was 2nd female, and Iain Macleod claimed 2nd V50. They were joined by Telfer Gray, Chris O’Brien, Tristan Rabaeijs, Iain MacDougall, James Scott-Barrett, Scott “Joggling” Jenkins and Nick Gellatly, all of whom completed the demanding route.
Get it in your diary for July 2027!
By Lindsay Seywright