A spontaneous South Loch Ness Trail FKT attempt decided on the night before (my birthday) after a glass of wine with my partner.
Especially glorious this time of year with all the purple heather. The conditions were kind - especially the tailwind - with some welcome sunshine and legs that felt surprisingly good. I settled into the run and fuelled mostly on gels, Active Root and crucially, Mum’s homemade vegan Welsh cakes.
I caught the (£2!) Ember Bus from Inverness to the start in Fort Augustus and stopped once to fill my bottles up and use the public toilet in Foyers.
There were a few minor incidents …
First, I got quite travel sick and almost vomited in the Ember Bus toilet to Fort. Not exactly the pre-run routine I’d recommend, but thankfully things improved considerably once I actually got moving.
Then there was the sunburn. Despite there being actual sunshine, I somehow decided that suncream was unnecessary. Sweating onto already sunburnt skin was a particularly painful lesson in poor decision-making.
However I must admit this is a fantastic route! I'm sure the sun helped a bit, but theres some truly spectacular scenery on the 'wilder' side of Loch Ness. After the first climb up past Loch Tarff you get spectacular views over Loch Ness and the mountains beyond.
The running is a very enjoyable mixture of single track, gravel paths, forestry and quiet roads. One of my highlights was Fair Haired Lads Pass.
Overall this is a great route and one I would definitely do again. I was thrilled to get under 7hrs and finish less than half a kilometre from my front door!
Not a bad way to spend a day. :D