Halkirk athlete crowned world mountain running series champion
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OFFICIALLY named King of the Hill, Andrew Douglas proved there ain’t no mountain high enough to keep him away from becoming number one mountain runner in the world.
The Halkirk athlete made history as the first British man to win the Mountain Running World Cup Series to secure the number one ranking.
The North Highland Harrier (NHH) collected the most points over six races during the series which ended in Slovenia last week.
Back home and recovering in Edinburgh where he works in the financial sector, Mr Douglas is still coming to terms with his new status as a world series champion.
“It will take some time to sink in as literally I won the title on Saturday and I was back in the office on Monday,” he said.
“It was a really proud moment for me – it just seems that everything went right during the course of the season.”
The series consists of six major races throughout the season with athletes judged on their four best performances.
Mr Douglas (28) got his series off to a flier by winning the first race in Slovenia in June before finishing third in France, sixth in Wales and fifth in the final race, giving him enough points to win overall.
He said the final race was the toughest challenge he faced due to the weather, which can prove more of a difficulty than the terrain.
“The conditions were wet and slippy due to the weather,” he said. “But it was also a technical course because the road was quite rocky and there was a lot of scrambling involved.
“It is not the best kind of course for me because where I train it is all rolling hills. However, I was pleased to come fifth which secured enough points for me to win the overall title.”
Just 30 athletes managed to score points during the six-race season but in each race around 200 competed.
The former Thurso High pupil was a member of Caithness Amateur Athletics Club before joining NHH and is currently coached by Sophie Dunnett.
A talented road runner, Mr Douglas has represented Scotland in road race and cross-country events since 2010.
However, he has suffered major injuries over the last few years which killed his ambitions of competing in the marathon event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
He only got into mountain running in 2014 when he took part in a trial race for the European championships and qualified for the Great Britain squad. But he has quickly established himself among the best in the world.
“As a youngster in Caithness I did a lot of off-road running as it is a great trail running environment,” he said.
“But in terms of proper hill running, I never really got into that until last year. I was mainly doing road racing and marathons before that but I seemed to suffer from injuries so I switched to hills and it appears to suit me a lot better.
“It is a recent transition but it’s one that has worked for me as not running on concrete appears to be easier on my joints.
“Hill running does strengthen your muscles and makes them more resistant to potential injuries.”
Mr Douglas has won events such as the Edinburgh and Inverness half marathons during his career as well as competed at a number of international events.
His next ambition is to gain medals at the individual European and World mountain running championships.
And he is also looking to get back into road racing and hopes to qualify for the Scotland Commonwealth Games team in 2018.
“I feel like I’ve got unfinished business in terms of my marathon career,” he said.
“I tried to qualify for Glasgow 2014 but injuries prevented me from achieving that. But I am definitely looking at Gold Coast 2018 to have another crack at qualifying for the marathon event.
“Unfortunately, mountain running becoming a Commonwealth or Olympic sport is unlikely to coincide with my career. But it would be great for the sport to achieve that level one day.”
