Here’s a testing hilly 7 mile route for you which takes in a few of the West End’s big guns. The 7 Hills of Hell include:

• Gibson Street
• Gardner Street
• Clarence Drive
• Leicester Avenue / Winchester Drive
• Cleveden Road
• Winton Drive
• Oban Drive

Some facts according to the plot-a-route map:

• Gardner Street is the steepest with a peak gradient of 14.4% (no surprises)
• Clarence Drive is the longest at 0.39 miles
• Cleveden Road is the highest point

Using the Botanics as the starting point and running clockwise, head up Great Western Road, turning right at Coopers (the pub) and along Bank Street. You’ll meet your first biggie at the end as you turn right to go up Gibson Street (gradient 10%) towards Glasgow Uni. Take a left at the top, passing the library, cross the road and from University, run down Science Way (next to Glasgow Uni’s Bower Building) to join Dumbarton Road.

After a short jaunt through Partick, it’s time for Gardner Street, the urban mountain, always good for a before and after selfie. Up in a oner you go and recover as you cross the road and run down to Hyndland Road where you take a sharp left to run down Turnberry Road (use the pedestrian path on your right when you see it). Take the last road at the bottom of Turnberry, Dudley Drive, and fire yourself up Clarence Drive (gradient 5.6%), the longest hill on the route. See if you can resist the temptation to stop for a breather at the top.

Head towards, then take a left at, Great Western Road, running towards Kelvinside Academy playing fields. Next up is the long winding roads of Leicester Avenue and Winchester Drive. Don’t run to the top of Winchester, instead take a left at the second last street, Colchester Drive, and follow it all the way round to Cleveden. Take a short left to the bottom of Cleveden Road, compose yourself, and beast it up. Cleveden might be short but it’s tough with a steep gradient of 12.2%.

There’s now a long gentle downhill to recover. As you reach the shops on Cleveden, turn left on Kelvindale then a quick right as you pass the Mini Market, following the road up and round Balcarres Avenue as you get ready for the Winton Walloper.

Winton Drive is quite a long one with a max gradient of 7.8%, stick to the road if it’s quiet – it can be quite annoying on pavements with all the dropped kerbs for driveways. After that slog, you get an extended recovery session looping round Cleveden, Kirklee and Clouston passing the back of the Kelvin Meadow.

For your final hill, take a left along Queen Margaret Drive and turn right to burn yourself out up Oban Drive. It’s another steep one with a max gradient of 10% as it curves round to Fergus Drive where you can finally relax and be glad it’s over. Back to where you started is about 6.7 miles so give yourself an extra wee recovery make up the 7 miles. There’s a 7 hills of hell segment on Strava which begins and ends at the front of the taxi rank across from The Maggie.

Go smash it!