Loch Ness Marathon Report

[Chickenears]

What a brilliant day!!

The organisation was seamless, the atmosphere joyful and the route scenic, beautiful and engaging.

A group of seven of us have come up to Inverness for this week as a holiday. Of the seven, three of us ran the marathon - my best mate of 40 years, Sean, and his girlfriend, Fiona. They are both experienced runners and have run marathons before and they loved this one too.

My plan was to keep my heart rate very low for the first 6 or 7 miles and let it slightly increase incrementally through the race. Unfortunately, as I started my Garmin showed that my rate jumped to over my normal maximum! I don’t think the connection to my chest strap was wet enough and was showing a false reading. Therefore, I just decided to run by how I felt. Sean and Fiona had disappeared off in front of me.

I stayed comfortable and steady for the first 16 miles or so, knowing that the big hill was due at 18 or so. When It came into sight, I just carried on running very slowly and after about a mile found myself at the top. Much less dramatic than I had feared!! 😂

At about 25 miles, Fiona appeared out of nowhere - she’d had some problems and had to slow down so we ran the last mile together. Then, with about 500 metres to go, we spotted Sean, whose calves had started cramping. So we all ran the last few minutes together. Just after we joined up, we were met with huge cheers from my girlfriend and our other three friends who had been waiting near the finish line. The dog didn’t look that pleased to see me, though - he looked away! We crossed the finish line as a gang of three. Such a nice feeling as we had a group hug after the line. We’d run separately but finished together.

The medal is brilliant! I bought all the merch, of course: hoody and bobble hat!😀

We’re now enjoying the rest of the week visiting castles and beaches and steam trains.

I can’t recommend this race enough. I’m so pleased that night in the pub last November when we all agreed to do this together happened.

[RunWillie Marathon]

Well done Chickenears 😍

[Chickenears Marathon in reply to RunWillie]

Thanks very much RunWillie 🙏

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon]

love this story of friends together x

[Chickenears Marathon in reply to Shake-and-run]

Awww, thanks Shake-and-run , it was a special day, for sure.

[Cmoi Marathon]

Congratulations Chickenears !

[Chickenears Marathon in reply to Cmoi]

Cmoi Thanks very much! I know you’re not a great fan of events, so I feel honoured!

[Cmoi Marathon in reply to Chickenears]

No problem!

To be clear, I'm not a fan of participating in events myself, for a whole bunch of reasons, many of which are doubtless incomprehensible to others. However I'm very happy to support those who do enjoy them!

[AlMorr Half Marathon]

Congratulations Chickenears on completing the Loch Ness Marathon, although your friends were a little ahead of you during the run you all finished together, well apart from the dog who somehow or another doesn't appreciate his owner running a marathon 🏃🏾, the rest of us do, you should be very proud of yourself ✔️✔️👍

[Chickenears Marathon in reply to AlMorr]

What a nice message. Thanks very much AlMorr . You’re always very supportive.

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles]

That sounds amazing, races are great and to do it with friends even better

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

Sounds a brilliant event. Well done to you all 👏

I did laugh about doggy though, there’s no pleasing some dogs 😂

[misswobble Marathon]

That sounds marvellous, and fancy you all ending up back together for the finale 😀🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️👏☕️🍰🏅

It sounds like your race strategy paid off 😀👊✊

Being able to continue the jollities with a holiday afterwards is just reward. Have fun 🙂

[Cowladyrunning Marathon]

Brilliant! That's a great report! I'm very impressed you kept going up the hill! I found that one hard. Have a great trip round too - it's beautiful there!

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

Just wonderful! What a fab race report. A great race, shared with friends, and an excuse for a trip to boot! I guess you guys will be rushing back to the pub to plan your next adventure. Massive congratulations 👏👏👏

[Freecloud Marathon]

Brilliant running! That's some achievement and dedication there. Hopefully I'll take some inspiration from your marathon and run all of my next one. It takes so much discipline. Huge congratulations 🎉🎉🎉🎉.

[CBDB]

that sounds like such a brilliant run! And I had a google to see the medal, and what a beauty it is (that lace/monster theme is so nifty!)

Huge congratulations for a brilliant marathon run!

[Sandraj39 Half Marathon]

Great run report and congratulations on completing your marathon! I love that you crossed the finish line with friends - that must have made it feel even more special! 👏🙂💪🏅