The 2019 Kaim Hill race in Fairlie hosted by North Ayrshire Athletics Club saw record numbers taking part. It’s the first time in the events 40-year history that it has completely sold out. 150 runners from all over Scotland, some driving 4 hours to take part, took on the challenging race to the summit. The route is just under 6k in length but involves a climb over over 300m on some uneven, boggy terrain with lots of false summits to test the mental strength of the participants.

This year’s event was kindly sponsored by local company Maritime Craft Services based in Fairlie. The podium was dominated perhaps unsurprisingly by the Westerlands Hill running team who claimed the men’s 1,2,3! The winning time a quite remarkable 28.45 was achieved by Niall McAlindon with team mates Gregor Stewart and Harrison Hubs completing the clean sweep for the Glasgow based outfit. The first woman home was also wearing the distinctive yellow “westie vest”, Ruth Crewe who took nearly two minutes off her 2018 time coming in 34.18.

The winner of the Doctor Miller memorial trophy was again Kilmarnock based athlete Colin Glencourse who finished in 32.19. The weather was very favourable with some excellent views of the Clyde to be had from the summit. This is the first race in the Scottish Hill Running Bog’n Burn series and is fast becoming one of the most popular in Scotland. NAAC club president Michael Murray “Kaim Hill is a great race, and it was fantastic to see such a big field and lots of North Ayrshire based athletes, I’d like to thank all the volunteers and the sponsor for allowing us to host such a special event”

The Club's annual 10k is on Sunday 25th August this year.

Photos: John Keachie