The 2026 Hills Are Alive series is up and running! See below for the series fixtures this year.
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As the PRR club 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 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 proved successful and has been repeated ever since, and will be for the 2026 series.
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 2024, to receive a Hills Are Alive (HAA) medal and score maximum series points, you need 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.
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HAA 2026
The races themselves (8): H =hill race, T= trail race
| Race | Date | Club colours* | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camperdown (Dundee) parkrun, 5 km, T THIS RACE IS ALSO THE PRR vs DRR MOB MATCH, see Club Classics tab | Saturday 14th February | yes | RESULTS |
| Hunters Bog Trot (Edinburgh), 6.1 km, T | Saturday 18th April | yes | Results |
| Kinnoull Hill Race (Perth). 6.4 km, H | Thursday 21st May | yes | Results |
| PRR Ben Vrackie (uphill only), 3.3 km, H | Tuesday 16th June | no | As previous years, details nearer the time |
| Maddy Moss Mash (Tillicoultry), 10 km, H | Wednesday 8th July | yes | Details here |
| DRR Templeton Trail Race (Dundee), ~10k, T | Sunday 2nd August | yes | Details here |
| Internal Trail Race (Birnam) ~9km, T | Wednesday 26th August | no | Details nearer the time |
| Suidhe Hill Race (Kincraig), 5.3 km, H | Saturday 19th September | yes | Details here |
* Club colours = PRR vest or PRR racing T-shirt. It may be that conditions on the day/evening dictate that waterproofs or warmer layers need be worn additionally. At our internal race(s), as per recently-amended club rules, club colours need not be worn; note, however, that at these races, it is also not possible to “opt out” of taking HAA points. For Scottish Hill Race series, runners may reasonably expect that they should carry waterproof, whistle and map. In general, HAA runners should note the need for club colours to score HAA points at 6 of the 8 races.
A couple of these races are internal races – these are very popular and to be recommended as a great introduction to hill and trail Running.
If a race is lost…
If any of the internal club races cannot be run, we will seek to reschedule with at least 2 weeks of notice.
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2026 Race Update
Current season standings can be found below.
2025 in retrospect
Winning congratulations go to Paige Brown and Elliot Collins!
Runners-up were Fabienne Thompson and Peter Will.
The final podium places – ie the third places – are occupied by Fiona Manson and Kevin Rogers.
Amazing running from an amazing group of athletes!
For the final points standings, click the link below:
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Previous results (since 2013)
2021 Strava time trials
2020 not held owing to COVID-19
