Snow on Sauchie Craigs

I went for a very nice 9 mile run today along the road past North Third Reservoir and back home along the top of Sauchie Craigs. North Third Reservoir is a fantastic little place near Stirling that is not that well known but has some really nice footpaths for running on, and great views of the Southern Highlands. If you're ever in the Stirling area it is worth searching it out and going for a jog.

We've got the best part of a foot of snow but the first 5 miles of the run was along a path that plenty of people have used recently so there was a decent trail through the snow, then along a wee road that had a nice firm covering of snow on it.

Better to run on than tarmac

Then I left the road and climbed up on to Lewis Hill and along the top of the Craigs. The views were wonderful but the snow was deep so I wasn't breaking any records. From the few footprints in the snow on the path and the length of the stride, it looked like only some runners had been this way in the few days since the heavy snow fell. I reached the trig point at the top of Lewis Hill where there was about 18 inches of snow but it wasn't too bad following the trail left by the last people here.

The path along the crags - still number 1 in my top 5 paths for running despite the snow

The kilometre or so along the top of the Craigs, usually along a grassy, winding, gently descending path that is a joy to run on, took about 8 or 9 minutes through the snow rather than a more typical 4 or 5 minutes. At the end of the Craigs the rocky path drops steeply into Windy Yet Glen, and it was great to be able to throw myself down this section without having to worry about twisting my ankle on one of the melon sized rocks that litter the path - they were well buried and out of reach.

I soon joined the forest tracks and farm tracks on the back of the hill and had an easy run back home along some nice trails. I was happy to get home after 9 miles without really feeling tired, and am hoping to do something a bit longer next weekend.