The 7 Hills Of Edinburgh - A Personal Challenge
Arthur’s Seat
Dear Diary,
“19th of December 2021 - After 6 hours of walking across the entire city, up and down its hills, weathering the Scottish winter, Edinburgh Castle was finally in sight. We did it.”
I will never forget this moment.
The adrenalin kicks you get after you’ve achieved something you would have never thought possible.
I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I and three of my colleagues took on this incredible challenge of tackling all 7 hills of Edinburgh in one go.
But let’s start from the beginning. Time for a throwback.
You are Stronger Than You Think
Once in a while, it’s good to challenge yourself in a way that feels really daunting at first. It always pays off in the end.
I am a firm believer in this.
In June 2021, I got diagnosed with a heel fracture.
Doctors told me that recovery will take up to a year. For me, being a very active person, this felt like my death sentence. A year can be very long and I’m not very patient at all.
Though giving up is certainly not an option for me.
… 6 months later, I did a 30km walk, with over 700m of climbing. There you go!
The human body is a miracle and capable of a lot more than we might think. This is even more so the case when you really believe something is possible. I call it willpower.
So, when my company decided to raise funds and the idea of the 7 Hills Challenge came up, I wanted to take part. No matter what.
Yes, I had doubts. A lot of doubts.
I could still feel some pain in my heel after a long day on my feet. The thought of going for a run again still felt like months away.
Doctors would have probably told me that it was way too early to walk for such a long distance in one go. That this could delay my whole recovery process, if not cause another fracture.
Still, I wanted to make it work.
And … all is well that ends well. My heel survived the walk and I just felt super proud.
The 7 Hills of Edinburgh
I can only recommend doing the 7 Hills Challenge.
There is no better way to discover the city of Edinburgh than by climbing its highest points. And as those 7 hills are evenly spread across the city, you really get stunning views from all angles.
If walking sounds too easy for you they also do a race every year …
There is no firm route you have to take. We decided to tackle the highest one, Arthur’s Seat, early on whilst our energy levels were still high and legs not tired yet.
As you can see from the image above, it was a very dreich Scottish day when we started our walk in the early hours of the morning.
In fact, we could barely see where we were heading and when we finally made it to the top, we were surrounded by thick fog. But we made it.
So, here’s the entire route we took:
Calton Hill -> Arthur’s Seat -> Blackford Hill -> Braid Hill -> Easter Craiglockhart Hill -> Corstorphine Hill -> Castle Rock
I’m really keen to do it again next Summer. I think it is such a great way to spend an active day in this beautiful city.
Edinburgh Castle