A perfect weather day for this one. Freezing cold but clear and dry with virtually no wind. The race starts and ends in Glentress. Winding through Glentress forest, the first 3 miles are uphill ( how rude ) and some beautiful views emerge before the descent onto a riverside path which takes us to Cardona forest. There are some lovely single track trails here, a wee bit mud but the weather definitely helped here. It’s another climb and descent , then eventually joining the southern upland way.

Another climb up to minch moor felt like a bit of a slog but the outlook across the valley is worth the climb. Take some time to enjoy the views all around here. Another descent into Traquair forest and back onto a riverside path leading to Glentress forest again, finishing where we started. This is a beautiful part of Scotland and an area that I don’t know well. I enjoyed the forest trails and Open expansive views on the tops but I didn’t enjoy the riverside sections so much as they were mainly tarmac which my old body does not really get on with.

I booked this race as an incentive to keep the miles up into winter and also as an opportunity to catch up with a few running friends ( we try to make sure there’s one race a year that we all do ) . Both of those boxes were ticked. There are good facilities at the end for changing and showering ( bring pound coins), plenty parking and registration is on the day ( slightly chaotic ). I opted for the 50k as I didn’t want to commit to too much training but there is a 65k option available too.

In terms of a recommendation, if you like both trails and tarmac then yes it’s definitely worth a run.