From Harry Brook-Dobson…

Photo credit Hamish Battle

Edwyn Oliver-Evans and I ran the Lairig Ghru Race on Sun 29th June. It’s approximately marathon distance and follows an old drovers road from Braemar to Aviemore. The going was pretty easy for the first third of the race, following the River Dee before passing the impressive Mar Lodge and taking land rover tracks to the more humble Derry Lodge. From here the tracks were narrower and rougher and required concentration on the gradual pull up to the Pools of Dee underneath Ben Macdui. The long descent through Rothiemurchus Forest was thankfully smooth and flowing and we were able to tick off the miles much quicker here. We finished together in just over 4hrs 30mins in 72nd (Edwyn getting the dip on the line) and 73rd (me) and had a fantastic day in the Scottish sun. Whilst it is a committing route, you manage to cover a lot of ground in amazing surroundings without needing to climb much at all. It’s a race I’d recommend highly but you will need to get organised with the entry as there are only 300 places available and they were gone within an hour this year.