Should I run when injured? A doctor will say “definitely not” but I say “how injured am I?”

Like all runners I tend to ignore aches and pains by telling myself, “I’ll run it off.”

The day before this run I slipped and injured my back. I didn’t feel sore at the time. I was actually quite impressed by the quality of my fall to the ground. I managed to hold onto my phone all the way down. Even Tom Dailly the Olympic diver wouldn’t have fallen as gracefully.

I felt fine to start the run but during it I got sore twinges in my lower back so I did what any runner would do. I ignored them and hoped it would get better. It didn’t. By that evening I could barely walk as every movement sent a sharp paint through my back.

The next morning it took me 20 minutes to get up out of bed as I couldn’t twist without pain. I’d move a little bit of myself and then wait until the pain went away before trying again.

I had to get my wife to put my socks on me because I couldn’t bend over. Trouble getting up, scared to fall over and requiring a career – it was a good lesson in what old age will fell like to me.

Thankfully I feel better today but whilst watching the video below remember that I suffered for my art.

I previously wrote about Meikle Bin here. This is similar but it adds on some extra climbing by starting at the base of the Campsie Hills in Clachan of Campsie.

Check out the video to see the route.

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Review

An interesting route but the road section might put people off doing it. If so you could start at the forest entrance instead

Parking

Clachan of Campsie can be very busy

Facilities

None on the route

Nearest cafe

There is a cafe and in Clachan Of Campsie

Run Surface

20% road, 50% path. 30% off road.

Dog Friendly

Yes as long as you go back the same way you came.

Elevation

635M of elevation.

There is more than one way up to Earls Seat. It is commonly tackled from Dumgoyne but I wanted to challenge myself and see if it was possible to get to Earls Seat by following the Finglen River from Clachan of Campsie. It was easier than I thought but I only recommend it if you are comfortable navigating with no paths around.

Check out the video to see the route.

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Review

An interesting route but probably not a good way for most people as its pretty rough.

Parking

Clachan of Campsie can be very busy

Facilities

None on the route

Nearest cafe

There is a cafe and in Clachan Of Campsie

Run Surface

40% path. 60% off road.

Dog Friendly

Yes as long as you go back the same way you came.

Elevation

542M of elevation.

Early last year, I come home to discover a herd of cows had rampaged through my garden. A local farm had left a gate open and their cows had escaped. The cows came down the road from the farm, passing lots of other houses, and took a fancy to my place. They all ran in and caused a big mess!

My wife was working at home that day and she didn’t notice the cows were in the garden. Although, she did wonder why their was a lot of noise coming from the garden.

If she had noticed then she wouldn’t have gone out to investigate. She has a fear of cows. Which I think is stange. How can you be scared of something as laid back as a cow? But the very next day there was a headline in a newpaper that read “MAN DIES IN COW ATTACK!” and ever since then I’ve seen lots of similar headlines.

Maybe, I should be wary after all!

Dunglass is a volcanic plug. Which is a rocky formation formed by a volcano. The most famous examples of them in Scotland are both in Edinburgh – the land Edinburgh Castle sits on and Arthur’s Seat. There are a few more which you can read about here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Volcanic_plugs_of_Scotland

Dunglass is an excellent viewpoint which is next to the John Muir Way. Just a short scramble provides a good vantage point overlooking the route as it heads towards Kirkintilloch.

You can get to it from either Lennoxtown or Strathblane. Just walk along the John Muir way. You won’t miss it!

Any why was I talking about cows? Dunglass is in a field which normally has cows in it so be careful and give them plenty of space.

If you don’t bother them. They won’t bother you.

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Review

Amazing view for very little effort

Parking

There is plenty of parking in either Strathblane or Lennoxtown

Facilities

None on the route

Nearest cafe

There are cafe’s and a supermarket in Lennoxtown.

Run Surface

90% concrete path. 10% off road.

Dog Friendly

90% yes but there are cows in the field were Dunglass sits.

Elevation

59M of elevation.

This run follows the race route of the Antonine Trail 10K (https://antoninetrailrace.com/). The route passes by Antonine’s Wall. This was the furthest the Romans made it into Scotland. It is also referenced in the book World War Z which is about a zombie apocalypse. The wall was the last line of defence in Great Britain against zombies! I’ve done the route a few times and I’ve not seen any Romans or Zombies…yet.

The route for the race starts in Croy but I live near Twechar so I normally do it from there instead. I will describe it as if its the race route.

Start at the Roman Shield. It’s on the grass bank next to the car wash.

Head down the hill towards the canal. Keep an eye out for a Shrine to the Virgin Mary. it was built around a natural spring in the mid 1970s by local residents.

Follow the path onto Croy Hill. I’ve heard other runners call it Mt Cookie but I’ve never found an explanation for why. Please get in touch if you know why.

Head down off the hill and cross the road. Follow the path past the fields until you reach the forrest. Stay on the path. Don;t head right up onto Barr Hill. That is the way back.

Eventually you will head downhill through the Forrest.

The run comes out in Twecher. A local told me “only Feckers come from Twecher.” I assume he had a bad expereience there! It seems allright to me.

Follow the road until you spot a turnoff to the right signposted Barrhill Fort.

The roman ruins at the top is what I call “a maybe place.” It is somewhere where all the signs says maybe as in “maybe this was where the soldiers slept” or “maybe this was one of several out buildings” I’d rather the historians just made stuff up as they obviously don’t know. Just write “maybe this was the en-suite bathroom” or “maybe this was the snooker room”

From the ruin keep left and head up to the trig point for a great view of the campsies. Head off the trig point down back to the sheep fields. Just before you get to the main road keep an eye out for a left turn. This will take you down to the marina. From here head back up to the top.

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Review

One of my favorite local routes due to the amazing views and the challenging course.

Parking

There are plenty of places to park nearby.

Facilities

None on the route but as it is a figure of eight I can get anything I need from my car when I pass by it.

Nearest cafe

There is a cafe at the marina.

Run Surface

60% track, 40% off road

Dog Friendly

Yes but your dog will need to be on a lead at certain points due to the presence of sheep and cows.

Elevation

255M of elevation.

Rating: 10/10

An excellent route. Varied terrain, challenging hills and great views. What more could you ask for?

My ideal running route would start at my house and envolve a hill with a nice view that I can get to the top of before getting back in time for lunch.

Luckily, I live next to such a route but I’ve creatred the route so that it starts in Clachan of Campsie at the car park. If I marked the start as my house you would all be popping in to demand to use my loo or have a cup of coffee!

The route can be run in either direction but anti-clockwise is my preferred way as I can start with a nice flat run to warm up before tackling the hill. It’s then mostly downhill from the top with great views down the valley towards Strathblane.

I’ve run it in all weathers. I’ll admit this was one of the harder days. When I left the house the weather was sunny and the sky was blue but by the time I got to the top it was cold, snowy and I couldn’t see a thing.

Check out the video to see what I mean.

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Review

My favorite local route as I can run it from my house and be back in time for lunch!

Parking

There is car parking in Clachan of Campsie but it can get very busy on a nice day.

Facilities

None on the route

Nearest cafe

There is a cafe in Clachan of campsie

Run Surface

60% track, 40% off road

Dog Friendly

Yes but your dog will need to be on a lead when running near the farm before climbing up the hill towards cort ma law.

Elevation

519M of elevation.

Meikle comes from the Middle Scottish word “meikle,” “meikle” and “mekill” which meant “great,” or “large. Bin comes from Dusty Bin the star of 1980’s quiz show 3-2-1. Which makes this the only hill in Scotland dedicated to this great icon of our times. NOTE TO SELF: I should learn Gaelic so I can give more accurate explanations.

The common route up Meikle Bin is to go from Todholes car park in Carron Valley. I prefer this way which is much off track and a bit more adventurous.

Park at Lecket hill. Run down the road and then follow the path through the forest. Turn right when you come to the only fork in the road. The path will end in a clearing. You want to go diagonally left and through the gap in the trees. Check the ground near here and you should see other footprints and mountain bike tracks from previous travelers.

The ground here is very muddy so I normally walk into the forest on the right hand side and head down between the first and second row of trees where its much drier.

After a few hundred meters it will open up into a valley. Head across the river and follow the fence line. It will lead you to a firetrack path. Turn left and you will see the sign for Meikle bin.

Once you reach the summit head for the trees in the distance. There is a clear track to follow. Head into the forrest and keep following the track. It will open into a clearing. Head straight across and up through the trees. You will eventually reach a fence.

Jump over the fence. Turn right and follow it until it comes to a corner. At this point you’re on your own 🙂 I’v enot found a clear way to lecket hill so please comment below if you have one. I normally turn and head in its general direction and then keep an eye on my mobile phone app (https://maps.me/) so I don’t go too far off course.

Once you reach the hill there is a clear path all the way back to the car.

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Review

Amazing winter conditions for a tough but beautiful route.

Parking

There is a small car park at the bottom of Lecket hill

Facilities

None on the route

Nearest cafe

There are cafe’s and a supermarket in Lennoxtown.

Run Surface

40% track, 40% off road, 20% very off road!

Dog Friendly

Yes but keep an eye out for sheep when near Lecket hill as the wander the top of the Campsies.

Elevation

500M of elevation.

Holehead is the third highest point in the Campsie Fells after Earl’s Seat and the Meikle Bin. The weather radar station is a relatively new structure that was erected in the early 2000’s. It is a replacement for a similar station at Eaglesham which had to be decommissioned when a wind farm was built there.

Normally there is a great view from the top looking down over the Crow Road across to Meikle Bin and over carron valley reservoir but unfortunately not this time.

Murphy law states “what shall go wrong, will go wrong” but I think the trail running equivalent should be Todd’s law – “Whatever can block your view will block your view! When I got to the to the radar station there was nothing to see. It was beautiful clear blue skies for the whole run except the ten minutes I was at the station! Check out the video below to see how fog comes from nowhere to block the view.

This is a great loop that start at the top of the crow road in the Campsie hills. Park at the entrance to the forest trails, follow the path until it take you back to crow road. Run back up crow road until you see the road up to the radar station. When you get to the top follow the stone wall and you will end up back at your car.

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Review

A tale of two half’s. The first half was much easier than the second.

Parking

There’s a small car park in Clachan of Campise. You can park on the street if the car park is full. It can be busy on a nice day.

Facilities

None on the route

Nearest cafe

There are cafe’s and a supermarket in Lennoxtown.

Run Surface

90% track. 10% road

Dog Friendly

Sort of – look out for sheep and keep your dog on the lead when you leave the forest as its near a farm. The road up to the radar station is used to graze sheep so even if it looks clear keep your dog on a lead.

Elevation

354M of elevation.

This is a great route that will make you feel you are exploring a valley in the wilderness even though you are only 10 minutes from a MacDonald’s fast restaurant.

This route can be done either way but if you’ve not been here before then do it reverse to the way I did it. That way it’s easier to find the bridge over the river.

Start at Calhan of Campsie and take the road up past the Schoenstatt  nuns. Take the turn which says “walkers this way”. Walk until you reach the green gate and then come the path and walk along the wall past the stone house. Follow the rough path. It will lead to a small bridge.

On the other side follow the trees up the side of the valley. There is a pile of stones that make a great spot to admire the view. Keep heading up onto the top. From here you want to cut down into the valley to cross the river. The further you walk the less steep the valley becomes so walk as far as you need until you find a spot to come down.

Cross the river and follow the fence. It will rake you to the path that leads down the other side.

They say a picture paints a thousand word so a video must be billions of words! Watch the video and my description will make more sense but remember I’m doing it the opposite way. Play it backwards to see the route as described 🙂

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Review

A tale of two half’s. The first half was much easier than the second.

Parking

There’s a small car park in Clachan of Campise. You can park on the street if the car park is full. It can be busy on a nice day.

Facilities

None on the route

Nearest cafe

There is a cafe at the start and end of the run.

Run Surface

50% track. 50% off road (mud, tall grasses and lots of heather)

Dog Friendly

No – the farmer who has the field at finglen has a sign requesting no dogs even if they are on leads.

Elevation

452M of elevation.