The University of Stirling’s flagship running event, the Dumyat Hill Race, will take place for its 50th year on Wednesday, 7 May.
Described as a fun, challenging event, the run takes place around the University’s campus and doubles as the Scottish Student Sport Hill Running Championship and Scottish Hill Running Race.
The event is supporting The Future Forest Company, which is aiming to turn the Dumyat Hill Race into an “exemplar of sustainable land management.”
Organisation Trees not Tees are offering race entrants the opportunity to sponsor the planting of a tree at Dumyat. They work with events to reduce waste from merchandise and aim to plant enough trees by 2030 to remove 1 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere.
Elliot Wilkins, 22, studies Environmental Science at the University of Stirling and will be competing in this year’s race.
He competed in the event in 2023, placing 34th overall, and 10th student, with a time of 39:51 minutes.
Wilkins has also spectated the race on a few occasions previously and says that overall, the experience is very positive.
The run is challenging, though, according to Wilkins, who says: “especially at the fence crossing at the Airthrey Estate boundary, as it can get quite clogged up by athletes.”
He says this adds to race though and is something you “just have to factor in when competing.”
Unable to compete last year, Wilkins returns to the race for its 50th anniversary.
He says the main reasons for signing up again are because it is local, well-priced, and the post-race portion of Stovies.
Wilkins comments he isn’t running the race to achieve any specific goals, but rather choosing to take part to see where he is at ahead of the new athletics season.
However, the event isn’t as spectacular as it may sound.
Wilkins says there is a handful of hard-working staff and students who do so much for this event, bringing in a lot of positive press for the university.
However, he feels like it is marred by the apparent lack of support from senior members of the university.
Furthermore, the University of Edinburgh’s plans to plant trees on half of the 431-hectare site on Dumyat Hill “will drastically change the dynamics of the race” in years to come.
All racers are welcome to race and must pre-register online by Sunday, May 4.
Tickets for students are £12, whilst general public tickets are £13, and both can be bought online at Eventbrite.co.uk
You can buy your ticket at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dumyat-hill-race-2025-tickets-1132572277169[LM1]
Featured Image Credit: University of Stirling
