Carnethy HRC heroes win their Italian job with Scotland strong, too

Monday 27th October 2025

Photo via Trofeo Vanoni event

Best of British as Carnethy win hill and fell Relays event

From Phil Mestecky in Italy

Scottish hill running club Carnethy HRC celebrated British Relay title success earlier this month.

And now the team in red are toasting a very significant European victory after winning the prestigious Trofeo Vanoni Relays in Italy – as they became only the second British winners in the 68 years of this stellar event.

The Carnethy trio of Matt Knowles, Finn Lydon and Finlay Todd posted a superb overall event win in a competitive field.

For Scotland, the focus of this event is as a development opportunity for younger runners so seven of the 10 team members were from U20 or U23 categories, gaining experience and a taste for European competition.

Cool and sunny weather meant perfect conditions for the race with spectacular views for those that had the time to enjoy them.

In the women’s race, strong runs from Kirsty Oldham for the Seniors, and Isla Paterson of Gala Harriers for our U20s, saw them both complete leg 1 inside the top 10 with Kirsty in seventh, just 17 seconds ahead of Isla in eighth.

Emily McNicol of Law and District stormed up the hill on the second and final leg for the women, overhauling two competitors by the top and holding on for fifth position on the descent.

Jessica Taylor of Edinburgh impressed on both the climb and descent to bring the U20W team home in sixth out of 63 teams. She was rewarded for her efforts with the prizes for third fastest U23 and youngest runner on the day. Isla was fourth fastest U23.

The men’s race saw Moray Pride of Lothian RC get our Senior team off to a great start coming home on leg one in an excellent 30.21 for fifth place with Carnethy’s lead runner, Matt Knowles, in third overall.

Meanwhile, for the U20 men, Moorfoot’s Thomas Hilton battled his way into a top 20 position by the handover in a time of 33.34. Despite a strong climb and skillful descent from Angus Wright of EUHH, a couple of teams passed to leave Scotland in eighth going into the final leg.

For our U20s, Alex Dunlop of Central AC extracted every last drop of energy from his legs to keep our top 20 position after leg two. Closer to the front, Carnethy retained third place after leg two thanks to a fine run from Finn Lydon.

On leg three. Strathearn’s Harris Pagett found the climb tough but made up for it with a superb descent.

He was the second quickest descender on the day and only missed out on retaining his trophy from last year by just three seconds. He brought the Senior team across the line in eighth place overall.

Rowan Taylor of Lasswade once again proved what a strong climber he is, as he moved his U20 team up two places by the summit. On the descent, two teams nipped past him as he crossed the line in 19^th place out of 109 teams. Nonetheless, his run was the third fastest by a U20 on the day (with Thomas and Alex occupying fourth and fifth in this category).

Meanwhile, Finlay Todd of Carnethy managed to overhaul the two leading teams by the top of the climb and hold off the strong challenge from the two leading Italian clubs and the French national team by the time he ran back into town.

He crossed the line to take the overall race win and become the first Scottish team and only the second British team to claim the top spot in the race’s 68-year history.

A hugely enjoyable and successful weekend for both clubs and country and a fitting way to draw a hugely impressive international hill running season to a close.

scottishathletics would, once again, like to acknowledge the donation of proceeds from the Ben Chonzie Hill Race which supported the two U20 teams participation in the event

Well done to all the athletes who raced at the Trofeo Vanoni.