Glentress 7 MTB, 30 May 2026

What an event!

The Glentress7 is an iconic event in the Tweed Valley. It's a pretty tough race with lots of climbing (over 1000ft a 7 mile lap) and some great descents. Some of the trails are rooty, rocky and eroded, others are carefully manicured with nice flowy berms. 

I had my usual pre-race nerves, wondering why on earth I had decided to enter this event again. My plan had been to ride 8 laps, having achieved 7 laps last year. As it turned out, the route had been changed from the previous event and the laps were longer. Mountain biking is not my forte so my plan was to stay calm and just ride at a pace I could sustain for 7 hours. By lap 3 my back had started to ache and I wondered whether I could carry on. I think pre-race tension had caused the problem so I worked on relaxing and thankfully it passed. As I started lap 4 the emcee announced that the next 2 hours were always the hardest and it would begin to feel much easier after that. He was absolutely correct! With just under 3 hours to go I knew I could at least match last year's result. I had rationalised that the first climb was the hardest one, after that, there were two shorter, steep ones and then a zigzag climb to the highest point. Then it was fun, fun, fun all the way back.

I completed 7 laps in 6hours 31minutes. I didn't attempt another lap as I knew a 45 minute lap was impossible for me. I came 1st (out of 1!) in my age category of 60+ and 5th female overall. 

I am now wondering where the steamroller went that seems like it ran over me!

Andrea Pogson