The Poacher Run
Info: New entries for this event closed on Thursday 5th September 2019 at 21:00.
5k - £10 |
The Poacher Run
First up, as a taster on September 7th, before next year’s Border Reiver Trail Series three-race series, is The Poacher Run. Starting and finishing on the edge of the picturesque market-town of Kelso, the 10km route follows the old railway - decommissioned in the 60s and now a lovely well-graded and elevated route - to the historic village of Roxburgh and its imposing viaduct. Runners will cross the viaduct, drop down onto the river bank and follow the Teviot on the narrow, twisting Fisherman’s Path back to the finish. The course is fast and flat, although the twisting paths through the woods on the outward leg and along the river on the return mean that it’s not a place to be chasing your p.b. Much better to back off the pace a notch and enjoy the glorious Borders scenery.
A 5km run, suitable for those looking for a less challenging outing takes runners along pretty woodland paths for a mile or so, climbs to the old railway before descending to the Teviot, where it follows the river on a delightful meandering path through broad-leaf trees. Keep an eye out for roe-deer, badger setts, fox holes, and bird-life feeding on the river - the poachers of the animal kingdom...
Location of event: Spingwood Park, Kelso, Roxburghshire TD5 8LT
The Border Reiver Trail Series (BRTS)
The Borders has a fine and venerable tradition of kilted scallywags and hooded outlaws stretching back through the swirling mists of time. Turn a sod on any Borders hillside, and up comes a spade-lode of history, rich, dark and oozing with strife and lawlessness.
For several hundred years, the local industry was livestock theft and plunder, and the Border Reivers and the rideouts that celebrate their legacy have a cult status and a mystique that has travelled the globe. But that’s not where it ends.
The Berwickshire coast was a real hotbed of smuggling in the 1700’s, with contraband wine, spirits and tea being landed ashore and hurriedly carried along the Smugglers Way, inland to local farms where it was stashed in preparation for sale to local customers or distributed further afield
Similarly, salmon poaching on the areas main waterways, the Tweed and the Teviot and their tributaries has kept the bailiffs and landowners busy and perplexed for centuries. Seems like every old-timer you chat with has twinkle-eyed tales of adventures up the Kale and down the Bowmont. Of headlights-off journeys creeping along country lanes in the Ford Anglia, or sitting in the pub with the river-water pooling around their feet and a bag safely stashed where the polis won’t trouble it.
The BRTS commemorates this rich and roguish history with three races, each focussing on a separate brand of miscreant. Organised by the Border Search and Rescue Unit (BSARU) to raise much needed funds for a new team base. The series will be held across our area of coverage and will include:
- Poacher Run - 7th September, 2019, Kelso
- Raider Run - Spring 2020 (TBC), Cheviot Hills
- Smuggler Run - Summer 2020 (TBC), Scottish Borders East Coast
