DIY MARATHON
When lockdown cancelled Scotland’s races, Sam Harper devised her own marathon on the Cairngorms’ Lairig Ghru pass
In the heart of Cairngorms National Park, the Lairig Ghru mountain pass traverses the region’s sub-arctic plateau, connecting Deeside in the south to Strathspey in the north.
Flanked by some of Scotland’s highest peaks, this 30km pass sees hillwalkers, munro baggers and trail runners flock to the area to revel in its remoteness. From the boulder fields at the Pools of Dee to the ancient woodlands of the Rothiemurchus forest, the terrain is diverse, picturesque and challenging.
Building blocks
As a Canadian, moving to the Scottish Highlands felt like a home from home and I immediately took to the trails through our base on Balmoral Estate. It was here that I found my love of trail running, forming a network from Lochnagar to Braemar, and into the neighbouring Invercauld and Mar Lodge Estates.
I turned toward the Cairngorm mountains for longer routes, and found myself lacing up at the Linn of Dee before my weekly long runs. As a novice, my running style was rooted in building endurance slowly and safely, and as a medium to explore my surroundings.
Setting a goal to run a marathon distance in the spring of 2021, I looked to my local mountains for inspiration after seeing all of the official races in Scotland cancelled or deferred in response to the lockdown. What better way to celebrate my first marathon distance than on the very trails that had got me this far?
Setting a tentative date, and planning adequate time to train, all there was left to do was to plan my route.
Plotting the route
The official Lairig Ghru Pass comes in at about 30km, with Linn of Dee at one end and Coylumbridge at the other. Needing to extend this by just over 12km to reach my desired 42.2km, I was spoilt for choice designing a route as both ends of the pass connect to a network of trails.
I first considered the route set out by Deeside Runners, a local group that puts on a trail race over the pass every June.
But I felt more inspired by designing my own, and began to recce different routes on my daily and weekly runs.
Though it can be run in either direction, I chose to run the south to north, and decided to end at Loch Morlich’s beach, one of the only places in Scotland where you can view loch, beach, evergreen forest, and snowcapped mountains all within one landscape. Hiking this route over two days with friends in early spring, I discovered I would only need to add 6km to make it a marathon, and found it a week later on the road towards the scenic Linn of Quoich. The full, true distance would only be done on the day and I anticipated a small margin of error, but still took excitedly to various sections of the route as the day loomed closer.
I shared my route with family and close friend
