Ben Chonzie 2026



My first time at the newer, longer, better (?) Ben Chonzie hill race.

On the drive up self-described ‘map nerd’ Cameron recounted his reccy of the course, along with detailed descriptions of the various route finding micro- optimisations he had identified. It was a shame to see his face drop when the RO announced that the course would be fully flagged.

I miscalculated the distance between the car park and registration, meaning some unnecessary & undesirable pre-race rushing – a real pet hate. I arrived at the kit-check flustered & sweating – Brian Brennan said he’d never seen me look so exhausted at the start of the race.

A lot of chat at the start on the most appropriate clothing for the conditions – should we be worried about a heatwave or hypothermia? I decided to stay cool and risk sun-burnt shoulders with a simple club-vest, the right choice I think.

Was great to see vintage Westie Brian Bonnyman – it’s been a while. He was flying on the hill and his cadence is graceful as ever; though there was a note of arrogant condescension in his heel flicks as he passed me in the mud.

The course followed forest trails, land rover tracks, boggy open hill side and a very steep n slippy descent in to Glen Turret. Alan Smith in his road shoes passed me with effortless impertinence.

My performance was lack-luster, never quite finding second gear. The final climb out Glen Turret was hard going. A sudden rain shower meant hands slipping off wet thighs, feet slipping on wet grass, every second step a stumble – a low point. The final descent went on a long time, I had no pep at all so it was a hard grind to a very welcome venison burger at the finish.

Ellen smashed it come 4th woman against some very strong competiton. Becky, Don, Brian, Ian and Mickey were all top-3 in their respective age categories and Cameron was first Westie home in an impressive 20th overall.

A fine effort from Myles – his Mudclaw came apart on the first climb but he was able to bodge a repair using marshals’ first aid gear and finished the race. (As noted on several previous occasions, Inov-8-r-scum.)

Great to see so many Westies at a champs race!