As he prepares to take a step back from the event he created and has organised every year since 1980 along with the late David Salmond, a warm tribute has been paid to veteran athletics official, Alan Lawson.
The accolade comes from John Whittaker who will take over the organisation of the Seven Hills of Edinburgh race on Sunday and who says of a man who quickly became an Capital sporting institution: “Alan’s influence on the race has been unbelievable.
“From day one he has been a machine when it comes to organisation.”
As usual the event has attracted a capacity entry whether in the elite race which is expected to be completed in around 1 hour and 40 minutes or “The Challenge” where club athletes have up to four hours to scale the peaks of the Capital in what is a mixture of road running, trail running, hill running and urban orienteering.”
Other checkpoints besides Calton Hill are at the Castle Esplanade, Corstorphine Hill, Craiglockhart Hill, Braid Hill, Blackford Hill and Arthur’s Seat.
Runners can determine their own route.
As usual a contingent from the Netherlands have arrived and there are also a couple of Americans in the field.
John Whittaker, 60, a director of Scottish Triathlon for a number of years an elite athlete in his own right adds: “Compared with when starting out there are more Health and Safety factors to be considered but it remains an incredibly popular event with 260 entries for the main race and 350 for the Challenge.”
- The Challenge gets underway at 9.45 with The Race starting at 10.15.
