HBT

Welcome to the website of the World-famous Hunters Bog Trotters. We consider ourselves to be Edinburgh’s finest and most social running club.

HBT was founded in Edinburgh in 1980 as a club for runners who liked the student lifestyle, but were sadly no longer students. It has since grown to become a large club that welcomes everyone, regardless of ability. Our ethos is all about running and racing for the fun of it – there’s no training plans or minimum required times. In essence, we are for runners who don’t take things too seriously.

A big part of the club is racing. We are affiliated to Scottish Athletics, and our members primarily participate in cross-country, hill races, road races and (ultra-)marathons. Sometimes we win things too, which is always a nice bonus, but never the main aim. Our philosophy is that the club has had a good race if we had the first runner, the last runner, and the most runners.

The club has a few long standing traditions and social events that might seem strange at first, but all add to the fun of being a Trotter.

Weekly Training

Trotter Training: Thursday night intervals, led by the club’s captains. Meet at DVC (“Dick Vet Corner”, the corner of the Meadows nearest the old Dick Vet School, now called Summerhall; see map below) at 7pm. No need to sign up in advance, just show up.

You will usually hear Trotters refer to this session as “TT”. It is the biggest training session of the week and invariably followed by post-training beers & refreshments in a local drinking establishment. There is usually a more casual social run option too.

In addition to our Thursday night intervals, we have training & social runs throughout the week and race regularly. Club members also meet up for bonus training sessions and informal group runs, especially in the Pentlands.

Trottettes: Wednesday group run for women members. Casual and social pace. Meets at a member’s home at 6:30pm and is followed by dinner. Contact Angela for more info: a.l.hicks@hotmail.co.uk.

MPC training: Intervals on Monday nights for anyone who considers themselves (or aspires) to be “mid-pack cack”. Meet at 6:30pm by the Sainsbury’s on Middle Meadow Walk. Contact Simon H for more info: simonh84@outlook.com

Other training runs: Trotters have been known to irregularly / spontaneously arrange long runs depending on the racing calendar. Usually either goes to the Pentlands, or along the Canal. Sometimes both.