The Rigg Race

Malleny Park (Currie Rugby Club)

Online Registration

Race Details

The Rigg Race is traditionally held on the Monday evening of Balerno Children’s Gala week towards the end of May. Entry is now online,  click here for entry central.

Entries open: Sunday 1st April 2024 at 9:00pm until Friday 17th May 2024 at 5.00pm on a first-come-first-served basis..

RUN: Monday 20th May 2024 at 7:30pm 

If you want to be notified when entries open for Rigg Race 2024 please click here: here

ALL: Medal or Memento to every finisher. Category prizes and trophies. Discount vouchers.

COURSE: The course starts in Malleny Park and runners head up through the village of Balerno, along the Rigg Road and back down through Cockburnhill. A few final turns and the race finishes back in the Rugby Club grounds. The total distance is about 6 miles.

Entry – Online Registration

This year Entry Central on-line registration is available.  Standard/Club is £13/£11 or £5 fancy dress.  This submits your details ahead of the race and ensures a much smoother registration process.

Sponsors

With many thanks to the sponsors Scotmid, Appin Sports, SportsShoes.com , Prime Sports Physio and Unicorn INC/goodr UK for their support.

And to the Balerno Gala Society for their assistance in organising this event.

Questions

Keep up-to-date with the latest event announcements on our Facebook Page 

Any questions then please ask e-mail the organiser at harmenyraces@gmail.com

And a little race history…

We’re not sure when the first race was held. It started life as a walking event held on the Gala Day for workers at Balerno Mill. As the villages of Currie and Balerno grew, and dependancy on the Mill for employment declined, the two villages decided to hold separate Gala Days, which in turn grew into a week of activities for Balerno Residents.

The route of the course has also changed many times, and for several years was run in the reverse direction to todays race. The race was a walking event until 1963. The first winner of the “running” race was John Fairgrieve, who went on to become the SAF convener for Track & Field in Scotland. John won the race three times in the sixties as part of a successful athletics career before moving into a succesful career in athletics administration and international team management. The race grew in popularity, attracting increasing numbers of club athletes, however a disagreement between the Gala committee and SAF in the early nineties resulted in the race being non-permitted, and restricted to local residents. In 1998 the organisers, Balerno Childrens Gala and Harmeny AC, decided it should be opened up as a fundraiser for the Gala and so it became an SAF permitted event, attracting 130 entries. The first winner of the newly “open” race was evergreen veteran Brian Kirkwood, who had won the race nearly twenty years previously.

The current course starts in Malleny Park, home of Currie RFC, and runners head up through the village and up towards the Pentland hills, past the ruins of the Marchbank Hotel. Turning right at the Red Moss, a protected site of scientific interest, runners head along East Rigg with breathtaking views of the Pentland hills on their left. At the end of this long gently climbing straight the course turns right, and following a last small incline the first down hill is reached (and cramp may kick in). Another tree-lined straight leads back to Balerno and the relief of a long gentle descent towards the village centre and back to Malleny Park. The distance is approximately six miles – visit http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=7018263 for a route map.

Year Winning Female Club Time
2023 Natalie Stewart Penicuik Harriers 00:36:37
2022 Hazel MacCormick EAC 00:37:56
2021 Kim Anderson (virtual) Harmeny 00:43:42
2020 Cancelled due to Covid
2019 Hazel McCormick EAC 00:37:35
2018 Mairead McManus HBT 00:40:03
2017 Kristin Lownie Carnegie 00:39:39
2016 Lana Turnbull Lothian RC 00:38:38
2015 Edel Mooney Lothian 00:36:59
2014 Lana Turnbull Lothian RC 00:41:00
2013 Phyllis O’Brian HBT 00:41:23
2012 Phyllis O’Brian HBT 00:40:21
2011 Phyllis O’Brian HBT 00:41:27
2010 Edel Mooney Lothian 00:36:41
2009 Melanie Henderson Portobello 00:38:41
2008 Sarah Balancier CoE 00:36:18
2007 Claire Gordon HBT 00:37:44
2006 Lucy Colquhoun Carnethy 00:35:25
2005 Lucy Colquhoun Edinburgh Traithletes 00:37:35
2004 Megan Clark HBT 00:36:31
2003 Debra Murray CoE 00:37:54
2002 Megan Clark HBT 00:36:17
2001 Justine Hewson CoE 00:39:54
2000 Maria Psatha Glasgow Cal U 00:37:40
1999 Karen Newman CoE 00:36:42
1998 Justine Hewson Edin T.C. 00:39:58
Year Winning Male Club Time
2023 James Dunn CAAC 00:30:14
2022 Iain Hutchison CAAC 00:33:33
2021 Robert Simpson(virtual) Shettleston Harriers 00:32:24
2020 Cancelled due to Covid
2019 Tom Martyn HBT 00:30:39
2018 Chris Poxton CAAC 00:33:03
2017 Tom Martyn HBT 00:31:10
2016 Murray Strain HBT 00:31:27
2015 Bryan Clark Corstorphine 00:32:46
2014 Donald Naylor HBT 00:31:40
2013 Colin Mcgill Edinburgh AC 00:31:59
2012 William townsend HBT 00:33:11
2011 Huw Jones HBT 00:35:07
2010 Ross Houston Central AC 00:29:46
2009 Dave Wright HBT 00:32:11
2008 Ross Milne Lothian 00:31:47
2007 Moray Anderson Corstorphine 00:30:40
2006 Zak Bouchenka Portobello 00:30:50
2005 Moray Anderson CAAC 00:31:09
2004 Phillip Mowbray HBT 00:30:26
2003 Phillip Mowbray HBT 00:30:47
2002 Scott Bissett Corstorphine 00:31:34
2001 Scott Bissett Corstorphine 00:32:32
2000 Ranald Simister Latv Uzvil, Switzerland 00:31:25
1999 Brian Kirkwood Mizuno 00:31:18
1998 Brian Kirkwood Mizuno 00:30:39