The Hills Are Alive (HAA) series for 2023 is now concluded! Click here for the final standings after all 8 races. Congratulations to all who raced, especially the season completers (8 in all) and double-especially to HAA series winners Paige Brown and Elliot Collins!
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As the PRR rules remind us, the HAA was “established to recognise and promote hill racing within the club. Local races will be included whenever possible, ideally with a mix of weekends and weeknights“.
The Hills Are Alive series moved to a new prototype form in 2023 to combine its traditional hill races with a new strand of trail races. The thinking was to broaden the appeal of the series to the club’s burgeoning number of trail runners. This move was strongly supported at the 2022 AGM. It has proved successful and is very likely to be repeated in 2024.
As a general note, the Hills Are Alive series is far more accessible than many PRRs realise. All of us find hills tough; all of us have to walk the steep bits! The trail element now mixes things up and adds to that accessibility.
Rules/general
+ In 2023, to receive a Hills Are Alive (HAA) medal and score maximum series points, you needed to complete any 6 (SIX) out of the 8 nominated HAA races (as per the list below).
+ Full rules, scoring etc appear at 5 here.
+ The HAA series seeks to avoid clashes with the summer holiday season, Championship and SS, and, with its 6-from-8 approach, provides decent flexibility. Trail races can be primarily chosen by the trail runners, while hill runners can target the hill races; even so, a couple of the ‘other’ races will still be required to complete the series and maximise points.
+ Although tricky, it is perfectly possible to place in the top 3 (medal) places of the HAA without completing the series (ie 6 races) if points scored in those races are high enough.
HAA 2023 – special notes
The races themselves (8): H =hill race, T= trail race
| Race | Date | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Devilla Trail Race (T) - 15K race | Sunday 12th February | RESULTS - here |
| Deuchary Hill (H) | Sunday 2nd April | RESULTS - here |
| Newtyle Hill Race (H) | Weds 19th April | RESULTS - here |
| Kinnoull Hill Race (H) | Thursday 18th May | RESULTS - here |
| Pitmedden PRR trail race (T) | Weds 28th June | RESULTS - here |
| Ben Vrackie (uphill only) (H) | Tue 18th July | RESULTS ON HAA TABLE |
| PRR vs KRR mob match (T) | Weds 23rd August | RESULTS - here |
| Last Duel trail race (T) | Sunday 24th September | RESULTS - here |
For 2023, the HAA featured:
+ a Club-only/organised hill race up (only, and not down) Ben Vrackie above Pitlochry; this popular evening has become a staple feature of the HAA;
+ a Club-only trail race at/in Pitmedden Forest (south of Bridge of Earn). See Strava segment here. This course is some 5.5 miles in length;
+ the club’s Mob Match showdown against Kinross Road Runners; and
+ the series opened (unusually early for the HAA) with the excellent Devilla trail race (organised by Carnegie Harriers), which brings a whole host of fun trail running…
If a race is lost…
Some races here are PRR club events (Pitmedden, Vrackie). If any of the internal club races cannot be run, we will seek to reschedule with at least 2 weeks of notice.
Results (since 2021)
2021 Strava time trials
2020 not held owing to COVID-19