Alternative Devil's Burdens Race - 24 January 2026

Following the sad cancellation of the official Devil's Burdens Race, George came up with the great idea of organising our own version so as not to waste the date! Sixteen runners signed up for the 3 leg relay race. The were organised into 2 teams:

• Team Black: Shelagh, El, Lisa, Dave, Freddy, Grace, Claire, Jenny
• Team Yellow: Debi, Gerry, Wendy, Lindsey, Laura, Adele, Rory, Trish

Although the weather had been wet and wild during the week it turned out to be a fairly dry and reasonably mild day... though it would be fair to say that those who had to go to higher ground weren't able to enjoy the views as the mist was so thick.

Unlike the real race which is a proper relay we set off all of runners at the same time, using their combined times to find the winner. With the added bonus of a 15 minute time deduction for the best checkpoint photo both teams clearly put some thought into it and came prepared!

Leg 1 - East Lomond - Debi/Gerry and El/Shelagh

Starting at The Stables, ascending through the Bluebrae and Douk Plantations to summit East Lomond from the North, descending South to the upper carpark before looping round to Craigmead and down Maspie Den back to Falkland. Distance - 5.7 miles

As someone who's done the Burdens race before Debi is well versed in the Lomands, she said: "An interesting back to back start to this leg with the leg 1 and leg 3 runners starting at the same time but going in opposite directions. I was running with Gerry and I had recce-ed the route the week before in low cloud so wasn't phased by the route or the weather. The first section of woods doesn't have a proper path but it was fairly straightforward to pick a route up towards the road, gradually pulling away from Shelagh and El in the Black Team to have a slight lead at the road.

"Marched up through the next section of woods trying to run every time it wasn't mega steep. By the time we emerged onto the open hillside we were into the cloud and couldn't see very far in any direction. This added a bit of mystery as we had no idea how far away the other team were. It was while crawling up the vertical north face of East Lomond that Gerry revealed he'd never been up it before and turned into a 5 year old asking "are we nearly there yet" (although to be fair, he didn't whinge like a small child would). I think I told him 3 times that we were very nearly there!

"It was very windy on the top which made our summit photos quite entertaining. And freezing. But that was the hardest bit done and once we got off the windy top and hung off a gate for a photo, we had the wind behind us for the descent to Craigmead. A quick run down Maspie Den with more excitement from the 5 year old, oops sorry I mean Gerry, when we ran through the tunnel, before a sprint for the finish line to end a great run."

Leg 2 - West Lomond - Dave/Freddy/Lisa and Laura/Lindsey/Wendy

Starting at The Stables in Falkland, heading West on the trail though the Drumdreel Wood, yomping over the field towards the Bunnet Stone and up the gully to the foot of West Lomond, back East along the trail to Craigmead and down Maspie Den back to Falkland. Distance - 7.7 miles

As the longest leg, the Leg 2 runners were set off 10 minutes ahead of the other legs which was a great start for Lindsey: "Being the first leg to set off from the stables meant we had the joy of being cheered on by the full team, a short lived one as we missed a turn early doors and we're foiled by the black team quietly falling behind to take the correct route." she said.

"I had completed the leg two Recce two weeks previous - but on top of a foot of snow - it looked a lot different today - mainly mud and fog. The hill suits it though, you couldn't ask for a more Scottish view as the fog creeps over the top of West Lomond.

"My teammates Wendy and Laura are two powerhouses and had me pushed to my limits, it was a brilliant run and I'm SUPER chuffed with our time. Turning the corner to see your whole run club cheering you on to the finish line is a beautiful feeling."

Leg 3 - The Woods - Claire/Grace/Jenny and Adele/Rory/Trish (and Moss!)

Starting at The Stables, passing Tom's Farm, climbing to the Tyndall Bruce monument via the temple and quarry, descending Black Hill (the steep, quick way or the longer way) into the woods, along the trail to the waterfall at Arraty Den then back to Falkland. Distance - 5.2-5.6 miles depending on route taken

Rory said: “Team Black blasted off ahead of us at the start… I’m not feeling super hill trained so the first mile was a killer. We caught them up at the temple amid some confusion about where Checkpoint 2 actually was (confusion that I’d caused with some poor info on a recce the previous week!). Thankfully Trish knows the Lomond’s like the back of her hand so we all made it to the checkpoint together.

"The route down from the Monument is the big factor on Leg 3… take the steep drop or the longer path… we knew Team Black had taken the long route so we gained an advantage taking the short cut. Seeing Claire’s face when she saw us coming towards her having already done the out and back section was great. Unfortunately they were a little quicker than us over the ground so ultimately beat us back to the finish line but our smart/brave/foolhardy short cut kept us in it all the way to the end.”

The Results

"What a fantastic day yesterday" George said in his summation of day on the group WhatsApp channel. "Well done everyone who took part in truly dreich conditions. And thanks for entering into the spirit of things: loved the 'George' masks - though a bit spooky for me looking at all the photos, and couldn't believe how imaginative everyone was with their checkpoint pictures.

"Unbelievably, after over four hours of running, the two teams were only 1min 40sec apart.

• Team Black: 4 hrs 9 min 52 sec
• Team Yellow: 4 hrs 8 min 12 sec

"The 15min time bonus for most entertaining picture also went to Team Yellow for their recreation of BEACON and our logo though I loved all the pics from both teams. Thanks again everyone. We will have to do it again."

All the participants appreciated the time and effort that was put into the planning, and on the day support, from George and Shan who made it all possible. The lovely warm room in the the cafe afterwards was a great way to get warm and swap stories while enjoying a hot drink and a tray bake. Thank you both!