I’ve debated whether to call this a marathon or an ultra marathon. My watch measured it as 26.5 miles and whilst *technically* that’s over marathon distance of 26.2 miles, it isn’t much over! So I’ve popped it in as my sixth marathon rather than my seventh ultra even though it doesn’t really fit well into either category… According to the race description on the website: The Lairig Ghru is a category C Long Hill Race run over 43km between the police stations of Braemar and Aviemore. This classic race takes place in a spectacular setting and follows an historic drove road rising to 835m between some of the highest peaks in Britain.
It was originally planned as an epic day out for the Adventure Crew (Robbin, Karen and I) however unfortunately Robbin moved back to Canada prior to the run – boo Robbin, why?!
On Sunday 28th June, Karen and I made the long trek up to Braemar (thanks to Alex, Eilidh and Lexi) and registered. There’s an enforced mandatory kit list for this race due to its remote nature with no aid for the majority of the route. Each item of mandatory kit – full waterproof jacket and trousers, gloves, whistle, compass, and food and drink – was checked during the registration process. We were given our numbers and a map too.
The race started at 10am with blue skies, and the first few miles were on road out of Braemar towards Braemar Lodge. Karen and I set a quicker pace early on because there’s a reasonably tight cut off at Derry Lodge at 1 hour 30 minutes after the race starts. It’s approximately 9 miles in, and on paper it is achievable, but in reality it’s much faster than you’d ideally want to start a long race. I was banking on post-Devil o’the Highlands fitness, but recovery mentally and physically from that has been longer and harder than I expected.
We made it with 8 minutes to spare, but there was some mild panic and faster running than you’d really want. I’d love to run this again a bit more relaxed! I found that in the miles after the first checkpoint I felt quite stressed and it took a while to calm down from that early ‘racing’.
The best thing about this race is the scenery. It was absolutely stunning. We got a great day for it, and took our time once we were past Derry Lodge. I definitely slowed Karen down, as she’s a mountain goat and can easily scramble over the bouldery stuff that I had to pick my way slowly over. There was also a brilliant river crossing that cooled us down.
Eating and drinking was the usual challenge (and there’s no water on route except the streams) but just had to try and keep doing little and often. Felt a lot better after eating my tuna roll! It was a warm day but thankfully some clouds and a breeze helped, along with the streams.
Once we got to the forest section around Rothiemurchus it felt nice and the trails around there are lovely to run on. I’d been tripping over and kicking rocks a lot prior to that, and getting annoyed at my big clumsy clown feet.
For some reason I had it in my head that this was a 28 mile run, but I was somewhat relieved to reach the end at 26.5, after 5 hours and 55 minutes. I was pretty knackered by this point!
There was some nice refreshments at the finish (watermelon and crisps, both tasted incredible at that point!) but I was a wee bit disappointed there wasn’t a medal or small memento. It was an inexpensive no-frills race, but I’d seen pictures from previous years showing a medal, so it was a shame there wasn’t one. Happy to pay a few more pounds to get a wee memento!
Still, it was a grand day out. Very challenging, especially given my lack of fitness, and in good company. A haggis supper and a can of irn bru was much needed for the way home, kindly given a lift by Karen’s pal Luca who had stayed in Aviemore the night before and taken the event bus to the start (a long and winding road!).
Some tricky logistics for this race but it’s a great experience. I’d definitely be keen to run the route again but without the stress of the first cut off! Overall, a cracking day out in a truly beautiful part of Scotland!
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