Final fling. Falkland. Fife.
My apologies for the gratuitous alliteration but this is the kind of crap that rattles around inside my head. Anyway, to the matter at hand.
I was very pleased at my speed of recovery from the Burma Road last Friday so by yesterday, I was keen to get one final run in for 2025. The weather forecast here was excellent so not a day to be wasted pounding the greasy pavements of Dundee. A trail run was required. Nothing too long but substantial enough to justify any travel and somewhere that would maximise the few short hours of sun.
A running outing to Falkland in Fife can only really mean one thing…the Lomond Hills. In this case a very familiar route which takes in the two prominent peaks of East and West Lomond. At just under nine miles, it is an easy distance but there is some good climbing to be had to reach the top of both hills. East Lomond sits at 448 metres whilst its big brother West Lomond tops out at 522 metres making it the highest point in Fife. As you will see, both command outstanding panoramic views in good weather.
I gathered kit together in the morning and headed off in the car for about 1015. After crossing the Tay bridge, it is a pleasant little drive across the centre of Fife to the historic and picturesque village of Falkland. Falkland is most famous for Falkland Palace. The palace history dates back to the late 12th century but the building as stands today was the result of work carried out in the early 16th century. It has been home to a number of Scottish monarchs, including Mary Queen of Scots.
History taken care of, let’s get to some running.
Parking in the village, the route starts uphill. In fact, a steep mile straight to the top of East Lomond which towers over the village itself. The path commences up through woods, alternating between gravel path and long sets of wood-reinforced stairs. I tend to ignore the stairs and power up the verge to the side as the stairs are irregular in width and height and so break up your rhythm rather than helping.
I got a good rhythm going and could feel that there was plenty of energy and power in my legs. Soon, the top of the treeline is reached and you pop out onto the open hillside with the first view of East Lomond up to the right. The path was semi-frozen which was actually good as this is usually the first of some very muddy sections.
I continued up and it was already clear that this was going to be a popular spot, which I had expected. I passed a few groups on the way up and managed to hit the top of East Lomond in just over 20 minutes. Although there was a bit of a haze, the views were outstanding in all directions and I paused to take some photos.
Although my photos don’t show it (deliberately), there were about 20 people at the summit.
The view to the west is dominated by West Lomond, about two and a half miles distant.
The initial descent is always tricky as it is usually muddy and very slippery. Today it was equally tricky as the exposed mud and rocks were just icy enough to be hazardous. I picked my way down, using the grass as much as possible for grip and was only able to open up my running a little on the gentler lower gradients. Once down on more favourable ground I upped the pace on the long straight path that leads up and over the rise towards Craigmead car park.
As I ran, there were a lot of small groups going in both directions. It would be fair to say that today was by far the busiest day I have ever seen on these trails, including some excellent summer days. I couldn’t say that my run was spoiled. Far from it, but there were enough people to detract slightly from the overall experience. Difficult to believe the cheek of people choosing to walk on my running route. They’ll think it is a free country next.
I crossed the road at the car park and steamed on, up the first small rise on the track towards West Lomond. Having done this route many times, I was fully aware that it takes much longer to reach West Lomond than you would think. It looks fairly close but it is a couple of miles of rough, mostly uphill track to reach the base of the hill itself.
My running remained strong and I felt good as I started up the hill itself. Like East Lomond, it is a short climb, but steep. However, I made it up in good time, reaching the top of West Lomond in a minute or two over an hour. Once again, there was a fair sized throng on top and despite saying good afternoon I got a few sneary looks from a few of the walkers. Strange how a percentage of walkers and hikers just hate runners. Oh dear.
I admired the 360 degree views, back towards East Lomond in the east and south to Loch Leven. After a few more photos and some calories I headed off.
I usually take the main track down as it curves around the hill on a kinder gradient. On another day I would fly down but today there was enough frost to make the main track slippery so I took to the grass which was much quicker and I was back down on more level terrain in no time.
The route back to Craigmead follows the same path, slightly downhill in this direction. My legs were still feeling great so I sped up to a decent pace which felt good provided I maintained sufficient focus to avoid catching a toe on the very rocky path.
The last bit of downhill to Craigmead is grass and I was able to max out my pace, for fun as much as anything else.
The final section is a wide single-track path that descends down towards Falkland, following the Maspie Glen. This is a great running path with enough grip and downhill gradient to fly down at a great pace.
Near the bottom, there is path off to the right which goes down into Maspie Den. Interesting enough for a look but no use for running so I stayed on the upper path, down through the woods.
At the bottom, I followed my normal route which is to cross the bridge then duck off through an opening in the wall to the left. Following a muddy section through the woods, the final stretch is on path around open fields before reaching the road.
From there, it is about a half mile back into Falkland and the run came to an end in the main square with the palace and other historic buildings in the backdrop.
The winter conditions had brought their own challenges but nothing to detract from the overall experience of the run. I never tire of this route, and I have done it in different weathers. It is a decent distance but short enough to run at a tempo pace, with lots of variation in elevation and surface to make it an interesting and highly enjoyable trail run.
So, that’s it for 2025 then but what a great run to end the year on.
Next stop 2026 and I will shortly reveal my race plans for the coming year. Hope everyone has a great new year.
