Run out of one brewery, stagger into the second…..

This Saturday, 11 Shetts ran out of one brewery, and staggered into a second one. A night out? Nope, the Two Breweries hill race, part of the Scottish Hill Runners championship series. 19 miles and 1500 metres of ascent and descent across beautiful hills and trails in the Scottish Borders, starting at Traquair brewery and finishing at Broughton brewery – a long distance classic route. Key tactic for the race is to leave a little in the tank for the last, brutal climb at about mile 18 up Trahenna Hill, followed by an equally brutal descent to the finish – quad sapping and quad destroying.a

As well as a brilliant route, the race is famous for the soup, sandwich and cake spread at the end, and of course a free bottle of ale on crossing the line (0% option was available), and free draft ale at the village hall.

The weather was very kind, so navigation was relatively easy although a slight headwind for 19 miles added to the challenge.

In the mens race, Joe Symonds was the top Shett, second overall and just behind overall winner Ricky Lightfoot. Joe was through first Scot, and assures him of the win in the Scottish Champs series.

Excellent performances by all the Shetts below, just completing such a challenging race is an achievement

Joe Symonds (2) 2:54

Kenny Richmond (14, 2nd M50) 3:18

Iain Pender (22) 3:25

Stephen Winter (24) 3:32

Kevin Brydon (30) 3:36

Bill Breckenridge (38) 3:40

Ross Cruickshanks (43) 3:44

Alastair Pringle (50) 3:48

Jessica Brydon (62) 3:50

Johnj Duffy (90) 4:20

Rodrigo Reis (104) 4:38