Steven Fallon loves hills. He completed his first round of 3000 footers – known as Munros – in 1992 and, instead of being satisfied with his achievement, has gone on to complete another 13 since then. He just doesn’t want to stop!
As well as walking and climbing and running up hills, Steven has taken to racing and has recently completed a pocket book outlining a selection of the classic hill routes on Scotland suitable for walkers and runners.
The book is divided into 7 regions with 35 races and 35 walks. The Pocket Mountains series normally comprises 35 walks but as Steven and the publisher couldn’t decide whether this was a book about races or about routes in general, it was decided to double up the book and select 10 in each geographical area. As Steven says, “There are few races organised in the remote Highlands and Islands, so that area comprises mainly runs or walks, while the Central Belt has a large concentration of races, so more races are included in the larger centres of population.
“The list wasn’t finalised until a month before publication. It’s partly dictated by what’s actually there, by personal choice and by trying to attract people from the south and overseas to some of the beautiful areas of Scotland.”
Each outing is given a description of the route, a map showing the layout of the route, some information on distance and time and some stunning photographs (mostly taken by Steven himself). Where races are concerned, the race records for men and women are given.
Not all the routes include Munros but they will take you to some of the country’s most wonderful areas. Long or short, racing running or walking, they all look different no matter how many times you do them under different weather conditions or times of day.
The Pocket Book series is brilliant for keeping in the car – you’d want proper O. S. sheets to go out on the hills of course, and at under £10 is good value considering the amount of information available.
Click here to purchase Classic Hill Runs and Races in Scotland from Amazon
