The popular event took place once again for the 50th year, since its creation, thanks to a £1 bet in 1971.
Hundreds of athletes turned out to celebrate the 50th Dumyat Hill Race on Wednesday, May 7, one of Scotland’s most popular hill running races.
However, not many know that the hill race was first established in the 1970s, after a £1 bet was wagered in a university bar.
On Wednesday, 450 runners from across Scotland attended the University of Stirling organised event to complete the 8km, 418-metre ascent and descent.
The quirky history of the race is what makes it truly unique, starting with a bet from Stirling psychology lecturer, Dr Ranald Macdonald.
While standing in the university’s Gannochy Sports Bar in 1971, Dr Macdonald put down a £1 bet, claiming “no member of the University could, without mechanical assistance, do the return trip from the Gannochy to Dumyat in less than an hour.”
On graduation day in 1971, intrepid researcher John Evans won the wager after he completed the run with three minutes to spare.
It was in 1973 that Professor Ian Thomson, the university’s first Director of Physical Recreation, established the official event, which has been run almost every year since.
Dr Macdonald later had his £1 returned to him when he retired in 2007 as his colleagues presented him with a framed note in recognition of the part he played in founding the race.
Cathy Gallagher, Executive Director of Sport at the University of Stirling, said: “With an intriguing history, and stunning setting, the Dumyat Hill Race is unique to the University of Stirling.
“We are delighted to be celebrating the race’s 50th edition and it has been great to see yet another sell-out event in 2025.”
Decades after its creation, the race still brings together students, staff, alumni, athletes and a wider community with the key message of health and wellbeing.
The race doubled as the Scottish Student Sport Hill Running Championship and the Scottish Hill Running Race.
Men’s winner Angus Wright, a student at the University of Edinburgh, was incredibly close to beating the course record with a time of 32 minutes, 14 seconds, just one second slower than current record holder Matt Knowles, also of the University of Edinburgh, who set the record of 32 minutes, 13 seconds in 2024.
Speaking after the race, Wright said: “It was a really nice course, and a lovely evening for it.
“I was a bit behind at the top, but I had a really good downhill section.
“I only realised towards the end that I was in a winning position and had a look back, and that might have cost me the course record…which is a shame.
“But it didn’t even occur to me that was a possibility, so I’m not worrying too much.”
He finished: “It was a good, fun course, and I look forward to coming back next year.”
In the women’s race Emily McNicol, from the University of Glasgow, won with a time of 38 minutes, 55 seconds for her first hill race.
The women’s record is still held by former World Mountain Running champion, former student and honorary graduate of the University of Stirling, Dr Angela Mudge, who set the time of 36 minutes, 26 seconds in 2007.
McNicol commented that the race was “great fun and hard work.”
She said: “I’ve not run Dumyat before; it was my first hill race, and I really enjoyed it. There were great views at the top, but it was hard coming downhill.
“Towards the end, people were shouting that I was the first female, so I just kept going.
“It’s quite special to be the winner in the 50th edition of the race.”
Featured Image Credit: Whyler Photos of Stirling
