Scottish Borders Hill Race Series Finale - Penchrise Hill Race

Scottish Borders Hill Races Series Trophies and Tankard

There was a successful trip to the Penchrise Pen Hill Race by the Moorfoot Runners on Sunday. The 5 mile race including 800 feet of climb was held at Stobs Camp, the disused army site, 4 miles south of Hawick on the road to Newcastleton and the course  38 ran which was a record entry and exactly double last year’s entry for this very well organised and marshalled race.

Lucas Cheskin of Cardrona and Andrew Cox from Innerleithen continued their season long rivalry and this week it was Lucas who reversed the order from the Devil’s Beef Tub a fortnight earlier and took the win in a time of 34 mins 19 secs shaving over a half a minute off the Course Record. Andrew was 2nd (35:14), Colin Williams 4th, 2nd M40 (35:48) and only 6 seconds off making it a Moorfoot 1-2-3. Alan Elder was 21st and 6th M50 in what is by far the most competitive age class.

The race unfolded with Lucas setting a relentless pace from the gun and quickly opened up a gap that continued to grow so that the race effectively over by the summit. Behind Lucas it was hotly contested and the chasing group of was tightly packed when they reached to top, however Andrew was able to use his descending skills to pull ahead into 2nd, with Colin overtaking to gain 4th position by the finish.


Charge of the Moorfoots

Lucas builds an uncatchable lead

Andy pulling away on the descent

   

 Some cracking shots here: penchrise pen hill race 2016

The Penchrise Pen Hill Race was also the final round of 10 in Scottish Borders Hill Race Series, kindly sponsored by James Jones and Sons Ltd. To gain a placing it was necessary to take part in at least five of the races, and if you did more it was the best five results that counted. The races ranged from the Pentlands by West Linton in the west, to the Cheviots by Yetholm in the east and with other venues including Peebles, Earlston, Melrose and Selkirk. All the races saw an increase in entries which fulfilled the aim. In total 500 individuals took part in at least one of the 10 races, with 22 runners gaining a series placing with Borders clubs Teviotdale Harriers, Moorfoot Runners and Lauderdale Limpers well represented.

Overall Champion was Andrew Cox won the series with very solid and consistent results throughout always being there or there abouts. Lucas Cheskin had to settle for 2nd in the Senior Male category while Susan Ridley from Peebles (who runs for Edinburgh AC) won the prize for the first female Borderer, as well as being the first F50. The overall woman’s title went to Edinburgh’s Jill Stephen who runs for the Hunters Bog Trotters club.

The prize giving took place straight after the Penchrise with the awards being made by Scottish Borders Councillor for Hawick and Hermitage, David Paterson.

Scottish Borders Hill Race Champion 2016

The Series class winners and top 3 (where 3 or finishers) are shown below

Name	Club	Cat	Pts
Jill Stephen	HBT	1st F Overall	88
Susan Ridley	Edinburgh AC	1st F50 and 1st Borderer	113
Pauline McAdam	Teviotdale Harriers	1st F60	385
Andrew Cox	Moorfoot Runners	1st M Overall and 1st Borderer	15
Lucas Cheskin	Moorfoot Runners	2nd M Senior	41
Craig Freshwater	Westerlands	3rd M Senior	43
Brian Marshall	HELP	1st M40, 3rd M Overall	40
Neil Pendrich	Carnethy	2nd M40	167
Paul Lockie	Teviotdale Harriers	3rd M40	194
Mike Andrew	Carnethy	1st M50, 2nd M Overall	32
Keith Murray	Teviotdale Harriers	2nd M50	72
Tim McCall	Norham RC	3rd M50	76
Frank Birch	Teviotdale Harriers	1st M70	249

Full results can be found here and series details can be found here: http://bordershillraces.blogspot.co.uk/