Scotland’s Biggest Prep School Cross-Country Competition Continues Success at Belhaven Bay
Belhaven Hill School in East Lothian has just welcomed runners back for the 40th annual Belhaven Cross-Country Championships. This is the biggest cross-country competition in the annual prep schools’ calendar.
The event is organised and hosted by Belhaven Hill School, the boarding and day school for 4 to 13-year-olds. Competitors run a course from the beautiful Seafield Pond at Belhaven Bay, overlooked by the school itself, out to the stunning John Muir Country Park and back.
After a late deluge of rain, in addition to the particularly wet winter we have had, the run, which has its start close to Seafield Pond, had to be reimagined at the very last minute this year. Belhaven Hill hosted eighteen participating schools from Scotland and the north of England. The popular annual event attracts a huge number of runners, with 348 pupils competing. Schools entered four to six runners into each race for boys and girls, divided into age groups: Under 9s, Under 11s and Under 13s. The routes, which run near the beach and through the woods, cover 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 km respectively.
“This course is the most challenging on the Scottish junior and prep schools’ calendar and is the highlight of the cross-country season, ” says Belhaven Hill School’s Noel Curry, who has run the competition since 2017 and been part of the organising team for a further eight years.
The schools taking part included East Lothian schools, The Compass and Belhaven Hill, as well as Longridge, Lathallan, Merchiston Castle, Fettes, Cargilfield, St George’s, Strathallan, St. Mary’s, Craigclowan, Ardvreck, and Edinburgh Academy. Local East Lothian primary and senior schools were also invited to take part, and Dunbar, West Barns, East Linton and Innerwick Primary schools, along with Dunbar Grammar all sent teams. Team coaches cheered on the runners around a lake, over sand dunes and down woodland paths with the sea breeze in the air. Many stayed afterwards for tea and prize-giving at the start/finish with the beautiful bay behind them.
Medals were awarded to the top three runners in each race and trophies given to the winning team in each category, with four records falling.
Noel Curry from Belhaven continues: “Belhaven boys and girls practice running every week and trained for the cross-country by running relays along our local beach and through the woods in their Patrol (house) competitions. Many of them manage the full 4.5-mile route from school out to John Muir Country Park over stiles, bridges, beaches, woodland in all weathers, from wind and snow to the most idyllic coastal sunsets.”
In the 2026 run, the U-9 boys and U-13 girls ran simultaneously; Belhaven Hill and Strathallan taking the team awards. In the U-9 race Harris A. and Rory T. of Belhaven Hill ran impressive races in finishing 5th and 8th individually, to take their team to victory while Belhaven came in third position. Tilly L. of St. Mary’s, perhaps the standout athlete of the day, won the U13 girls’ event in a record time.
The U-9 girls’ and U-13 boys’ races were up next, St. Mary’s and The Edinburgh Academy winning these, with Belhaven coming in fourth and second respectively of the fifteen teams. Patrick T. produced a notable performance for Belhaven, coming in fifth position in the U-13 boys, despite being a year young for the race.
The final pair of races was the U-11s, won by St. Mary’s and Lathallan, with Belhaven in second position in both races. Brixton O. (9th) and Annie F. (7th) individually did themselves proud for the host school.
BH Cross Country Championships 2026
In a tight competition, Belhaven was the only school of the eighteen taking part which finished in the top four positions in every one of the six team races.
The Belhaven organisational staff left with the huge satisfaction that their event, after Covid, storms, a venue change, flooding and now a new start/finish is now better, bigger and more successful than ever. You can learn more about sports and cross-country running at Belhaven here.
