Alford Round
Update: Kevin Stephen 12:31:09, 5th June 2021. We still have Kev's splits to add below, but he followed Dave's sequence and drop bag points apart from doing Mither Tap before Garbet Tap and leaving the river crossing till the end.
This route was submitted to us by Dave Clark, who ran it on 28 May 2016. It's a 57-mile loop around the town of Alford in Aberdeenshire, taking in 39 hills and 12,200 ft of climbing, and Dave adds that a similar round using a slightly different route and missing out some of the hills was run the week before by his fellow Cosmics Johnathan Bellarby and Steve Helmore.
He also tells us that it's 'quite a nice round to do especially for people who may be interested in starting long rounds but are a bit apprehensive about some of the main ones on the go. The Alford round isn't on technical ground nor hard to navigate and has plenty support points making it a great taster for all hill runners, it's also within easy reach from Aberdeen airport, train station and road networks.'
See also Dave's ViewRanger track at http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/Mjg1Mzc2MA== (note that this link is slow to load).
Alford Round. 57 Miles. 39 Hills. 12,200ft Ascent
All grid references were either measured from cairn/trig point position on the day or from map using compass romer so may not be exact but are pretty close. Corse hill has a deer fence about 50+m from the top, grid ref here only goes to fence. Split times rounded up to nearest minute. Drop back/support points all on public roads. River Don crossing can be avoided but creates a bit of a detour to the nearest bridge. Walking pole recommended for crossing the river, maybe even a rope if the water is running high. Deep Heather up to Garbet Tap but there is a faint trail from there over to Mither Tap. It’s mostly trail from Mither Tap with the odd heather crossing/ forest until the heather descent from Black Hill. The descent from Coiliochbhar eventually leads to fields as does the ascent up Scar Hill. Scar Hill summit until the descent from Mill Maud can all be ran on mostly track and trail, there is a couple of fields to cross just before the drop bag/ support point before Tulloch Hill. From the summit of Red hill until the descent from White hill its mostly deep heather. From there on the round can be ran on mostly single track trail. Enjoy!
| Hill Name | Grid Ref. | Split | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | NJ 6726 1782 | 0:00 | Start position optional. |
| River Crossing | NJ 6697 1896 | 0:10 | Change shoes and socks |
| Millstone Hill | NJ 6767 2025 | 0:41 | — |
| Garbet Tap | NJ 6731 2202 | 1:11 | — |
| Mither Tap | NJ 6825 2240 | 1:26 | — |
| Craigshannoch | NJ 6716 2317 | 1:38 | — |
| Oxen Craig | NJ 6629 2260 | 1:53 | — |
| Watch Craig | NJ 6533 2242 | 2:03 | — |
| Hermit Seat | NJ 6453 2288 | 2:12 | — |
| Black Hill Trig | NJ 6348 2190 | 2:24 | — |
| Satter Hill | NJ 5961 2242 | 3:12 | — |
| Knock Saul | NJ 5797 2308 | 3:30 | — |
| Suie Hill Cairn | NJ 5544 2319 | 3:58 | — |
| Drop Bag Point | — | — | 8 minute break |
| Hill of Millmedden | NJ 5388 2296 | 4:18 | — |
| Mire of Midgates | NJ 5204 2301 | 4:36 | — |
| Dave's Hill | NJ 5138 2315 | 4:42 | — |
| Badingair | NJ 5072 2255 | 4:51 | — |
| Brux Hill | NJ 5011 2124 | 5:04 | — |
| Edinbanchory Hill | NJ 4942 2025 | 5:14 | — |
| Lord Arthur's Hill | NJ 5135 1979 | 5:33 | — |
| Black Hill | NJ 5226 1953 | 5:42 | — |
| Drop Bag Point | — | — | 11 minute break |
| Lesley's Hill | NJ 5037 1629 | 7:08 | — |
| Coiliochbhar Hill | NJ 5071 1532 | 7:15 | — |
| Drop Bag Point | — | — | 19 minute break |
| Scar Hill | NJ 4855 1127 | 8:30 | — |
| The Socach | NJ 4815 1013 | 8:45 | — |
| Pressendye | NJ 4907 0899 | 8:59 | — |
| Pittenderich | NJ 4961 07935 | 9:11 | — |
| Long Hill | NJ 5200 0675 | 9:39 | — |
| Drop Bag | — | — | 2 minute break |
| Craiglich | NJ 5330 0544 | 10:15 | — |
| Corse Hill | NJ 5463 06021 | 10:31 | Deer fence here. Top inaccessible |
| Mill Maud | NJ 5720 0676 | 10:58 | — |
| Drop Bag | — | — | 17 minute break |
| Tulloch Hill | NJ 5923 0773 | 11:39 | — |
| Benaquhallie | NJ 6064 0869 | 12:03 | — |
| Red Hill | NJ 6150 0953 | 12:17 | — |
| Green Hill | NJ 6354 0989 | 12:51 | — |
| White Hill | NJ 6402 1094 | 13:10 | — |
| Black Hill | NJ 638 1174 | 13:22 | — |
| Drop Bag | — | — | 20 minute break |
| White Lady | NJ 6385 1389 | 14:19 | — |
| Green Hill | NJ 6425 1457 | 14:30 | — |
| Cairn William | NJ 6561 1681 | 15:09 | — |
| Pitfichie Hill | NJ 6643 1710 | 15:34 | — |
| Finish | NJ 6726 1782 | 15:58:41 | — |
Page updated 15th February 2022